Jacoby Church and Cemetery is a historic community church and cemetery located in Center Township, Marshall County, Indiana. The church was built in 1860, and is a one-story, Greek Revival style frame building, measuring 32 feet by 40 feet.
The Jacoby Cemetery predates the church by approximately 10 years, (some records suggest 12 years) and was officially established in 1850. This historic cemetery is listed in Indiana's Cemetery and Burial Grounds Registry of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Jacoby Church was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
John Jacoby and his family arrived in Marshall County in November of 1847. The Jacoby's purchased all of Section 35 in Center Township. John was one of the founders of the St. John AKA the Jacoby Reformed Church. There were no churches in the area at the time and John was inviting a preacher to his home for worship. There was also a school built north of the church though there is little to no trace of its existence on the property today.
John Jacoby deeded an acre of his property for the cemetery and then to build the church and school. This space was located on the northwest corner of the Jacoby farm. The cemetery came first as they needed a space to bury Catharine Jacoby who was the first person to be buried in the cemetery. Catharine was John Jacoby's young daughter that died from Typhoid Fever. She was buried on April 25, 1850. At the time of her death, there were no established cemeteries in the area.
There are approximately 166 burials in the cemetery. The cemetery is still being used for burials. The earliest being for Catharine who died on April 23, 1850. Individuals of note buried here are John Jacoby and several generations of Jacoby descendents. There are several veterens from the war of 1812, The Mexican War, Spanish-American War, Civil War and World War I. In 1935, the local chapter of the Daughter's of the American Revolution documented the cemetery including reading and sketching the markers.
While the Jacoby Cemetery is not the earliest cemetery in the township it is one of two that began during settlement times that are still in use today. The other being the Stringer Cemetery. The Stringer Cemetery was established in 1840 and is located outside of Plymouth's city limits.
The church was a largely German Reformed/Lutheran congregation. In 1904 the church was updated with the addition of the front foyer and the bell tower. The church operated in several generations and congregations. The church was closed for approximately ten years before another group began to meet there for a few years in the 1960's, while their church was being built in nearby Plymouth.
Sadly, there was a period of time where the church and the grounds fell into disrepair. There appeared to be some confusion as to who owned what at some point. Thankfully, in 2005 a group of volunteers came to work with the township to save the church. After three years of restoration the building was given a new roof, restored siding and new windows, One corner was jacked up by nearly a foot and there were foundation repairs.
While the outside was looking great, the inside went through a restoration as well. It is reported that the original wood 1860's ceiling was exposed and restored, the original pot-bellied stoves were put back in place, the plaster was restored, and the original pews and furnishings cleaned and put back.
It's looking pretty good these days considering it is 162 years old!
You are looking for a mid sized plastic container wrapped in camo tape.
You are free to walk the grounds and explore the cemetery. The doors to the church are always locked. You may park on the grass in front of the fence and can enter the property on either side. Please be respectful of the property.
Please continue to preserve the game by putting the cache back exacty as you found it!!
BYOP
No night caching!
CONGRATS to archeoarchiac1939, ebmonon36 and Kblookers for being the FTF!