On Mahoning Avenue in Warren stands The Old “Mahoning” Pioneer Cemetery, which is believed to be the oldest public cemetery in the Western Reserve.

Those who are frequent travelers of Mahoning Avenue are probably thinking to themselves that no such place exists. For years, it has been hidden by the building and parking lot that most recently belonged to Akron Children’s Hospital. In fact, no one has been buried there since Mrs. Eunice Woodrow, who died on March 21, 1897.

Although current members of the Warren community have long forgotten about Pioneer, the 19th century Warren community took great pride in the cemetery and were exceptionally protective of it. On more than a few occasions, offenders mistreated the cemetery. Their actions were then called out in the local newspaper, the Western Reserve Chronicle.

At one point, some hogs were routinely getting into the cemetery and causing a range of damage. They were digging up the sod, creating large holes where newer graves had been dug, and rubbing up against graves, thus soiling them and / or knocking them over. It was not long before these hogs and their owners were called out in the newspaper — complete with a threat fitting for the 19th century. On Dec. 7, 1859, an article titled “Scandalous,” stated, “Any man who knowingly allows his swine to commit depredations in such a place, is destitute of common decency and deserves a coat of tar and feathers.”

This scathing article didn’t stop farmers and their animals for too long, because three years later a series of incidents occurred with cows, wherein people were continuously allowing them to pasture in the cemetery. Perhaps still raging from the hog disgrace, the newspaper published the following quote on April 23, 1862: “It is our opinion that any man who has friends buried there, would be perfectly justifiable (morally if not legally) if he was to shoot the cows, and beat any two legged animal who turns them in, within an inch of his life.”

It wasn’t just animal visitors causing destruction to Pioneer, but human ones as well. There were several instances noted in the newspaper of people walking off with bouquets of flowers that were left on the graves of loved ones, or ripping planted ones out of the ground. There were also several trees in the cemetery that had their branches broken off. Over the years, the cemetery naturally fell into disrepair, which caused some individuals to take action and try to improve the land’s appearance. An article noting their efforts stated, “There is no greater disgrace to a town than a neglected cemetery.”

Hopefully those individuals would be proud of our community today. Although Pioneer and its interred individuals have been left behind as time moved on, recent groups have attempted to revitalize the cemetery and the public’s interest in it. The Trumbull County Historical Society and its partners are working to refurbish Pioneer and tell the stories of the people buried there. Each interred member was at some point an integral member of the Warren community, and it’s important that they’re remembered.