African Jackson Cemetery, cemetery in Miami County, Ohio
African Jackson Cemetery is a small burial ground north of Piqua in Miami County, Ohio, occupying about one acre of land. The site displays simple stone markers and sits in open countryside surrounded by fields and quiet roads.
The cemetery was established in 1866 for the residents of Rossville, a community founded by freed African Americans from Virginia. Their settlement followed the will of John Randolph, a Virginia planter who freed his slaves and provided funds for their relocation to Ohio in the 1840s.
The cemetery carries the name of an early landowner and served as the heart of the Rossville community. Families gathered here to honor their ancestors and maintain connections to those who had passed.
The cemetery is located north of Piqua and accessible by rural roads, so driving is necessary. Visitors should prepare for uneven terrain and limited signage, as this is a small, quiet historic site with a pastoral setting.
The cemetery remained in active use into the 1900s, whereas a nearby white cemetery was abandoned by the 1880s. This difference reveals how central this site was to the Black community and how their history persisted here over generations.
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