• North side of Wilmington Road (County Road 7), just west of Interstate 71, Washington Township, Warren County, Ohio
• "Ohio Cemeteries 1803-2003" by the Ohio Genealogical Society , Cemetery #12323, "Olive Branch Cemetery"
• Coordinates: 39° 25' 48"N, 84° 04' 45"W
• Virginia Military District: Survey #828

• USGS GNIS - Olive Branch Cemetery Feature ID #1044154
• TopoZone map at coordinates 39° 25' 48"N, 84° 04' 45"W
• Warren County Auditor for "Cemetery", Property Account # 7205902, Parcel ID 14364000010] - 1 acre
• Aerial Image of the cemetery location from Windows Live Local
• Virginia Military District Survey #828 from Warner's 1867 Warren County Ohio Wall Map
• Beers History of Warren County
  page 691
  "On the hill east of the river, Joel Drake settled, in 1815, where John Wilkerson now lives; he was from Southampton County, Va., and was a soldier of the Revolution, taking part at Yorktown and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis; he and his brother, Jordan Drake, left Virginia in 1807, and encountered a terrible tornado after crossing the Ohio. They arrived at Anderson’s Fork (they supposed at the time), in Clinton County, now Snowhill; but milk sickness prevailing, they disposed of their property and removed to Warren County and settled on the head of Olive Branch in 1815, Jordan Drake settling near by where Samuel Craig now lives. Jordan Drake raised a large family, his daughter in law, Mrs. John W. Drake, and his grandson, Henry M. Drake, remaining in this township. Joel Drake was an active and influential member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; his death occurred in 1841."
  page 705
  "There were a great many Methodists in the settlements, mostly in Clinton County, till about 1810, when Joel Drake and Jordan Drake settled on Olive Branch, where a society was organized and a log house built in 1821 or 1822. James Davidson and Adjet McGuire were preaching at different places before this time, and are spoken of as early preachers at Olive Branch. Some years after, a frame structure was erected, and, about 1843, was improved and finished in a comfortable manner.
  I have just been reliably informed that Leroy Swormstedt, while quite a young man, preached for some three years at Rev. Joel Drake’s house prior to the building of the church.
  The first person buried in the graveyard attached was Jordan Drake, aged about twenty one; the next, Mrs. Isaac Stutsel."
  page 706
  "Olive Branch Methodist Episcopal Church has a well-filled graveyard on the church lot, Jordan Drake, a young man, being the first one buried, about 1823; Mrs. Isaac Stutsel, about 1824; then a young woman named Almira Houston, who was killed by falling from a swing."
• Capital University Law School, Law Review Vol. 32, Issue 2,
  "The Standing of the Dead: Solving the Problem of Abandoned Graveyards" by C. Allen Shaffer [link is to a pdf file] includes discussion of the Olive Branch Cemetery situation.
• "Bodies Transferred," The Western Star (Lebanon, Ohio), Thursday, November 24, 1924

• D.A.R. Turtlecreek Chapter & Warren County Historical Society (available at the Historical Society Library)
  • Early Vital Records Volume 19, page 90-93
• Warren County Genealogical Society
  • Warren County Cemetery Records, Volume 7, Old Cemeteries from Six Townships page 474 -478 (see Name Index)
  • Ronnie & Sue Milby photographed all extant tombstones in November 2007 for the "Warren County Virtual Cemetery" Project. All their photos have been added to this website. Their efforts will be incorportated into the new cemetery books planned by the society.
• Other Known Transcriptions
  • Bowers, Dale, and Anita Short. Gateway to the West. Baltimore, Md: Genealogical Pub. Co, 1989 page II:692-693 (recorded 3 Apr 1968 by Mrs. HerretW. Everitt & Mrs. Ralph Giehls)
    This was republished from the magazine, Gateway to the West, Volume I, Number 3, July 1968, pages 113-114
  • Lisa Franklin from Alabama visited and photographed the cemetery in 2006.  Visit her blog at http://trackingyourroots.com/lisa.htm and see the entry for 4 Sep 2006 which contains a link to download her photos.

Depression Era Plat Map of Olive Branch Cemetery (#78) for the Veterans Grave Registration Project by the WPA

Plat shows retangular grid of 20 graves by 40 graves with the "Drake Lot" shown as a 6 grave parcel.

The only burial recorded on the plat was for Civil War Veteran William Grey. Other veterans known to be buried here are John W. Barkley (died while serving in the Civil War), Rev. Joel Drake (Revolutionary War Veteran), and George Zentmyer (War of 1812 Veteran)