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Olde Methodist Cemetery, 66 West Lincoln Street, is the final resting place for two of Westerville’s pioneer families, the Sharps and Westervelts. It was established in 1849 when Garrit Sharp and his son William sold the plot for $1 to the Methodist Episcopal Church for use as a burying ground. Garrit and Anna Goodspeed Sharp came to Ohio circa 1810-1812. They, and their sons, were abolitionists and known Underground Railroad operatives. The Sharps, five of their children, and other relatives are interred in Olde Methodist. The Westervelts arrived circa 1818. Westerville, originally known as Sharp’s Settlement, took its name when brothers Matthew and Peter Westervelt donated land to establish both the village and a Methodist college in 1839. Peter Westervelt is buried in Olde Methodist alongside other Westervelt family. (Continued on other side)
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Players of the Cleveland Browns gathered eleven Black professional athletes and future mayor Carl Stokes to discuss with boxer Muhammad Ali (January 17, 1942-June 3, 2016) his refusal to serve in the Vietnam War. After their private meeting on June 4, 1967, the twelve men decided to “support Ali on principle” and held a lengthy national press conference. The boxer, considered the “greatest heavyweight of all time,” garnered national scorn and paid a high price for his stance. Ali was arrested, found guilty of draft evasion, his passport confiscated, titles stripped, and U.S. boxing licenses suspended. The men in attendance also faced condemnation and threats. In 1971, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned Ali’s conviction. The Cleveland Ali Summit is considered “one of the most important civil rights acts in sports history.”
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The Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church (GABC) organized with 250 members on December 16, 1945, at a Phillis Wheatley Association meeting. Led by its first pastor, Rev. John Rollins Plummer, the congregation raised $47,000 to purchase the Jewish Synagogue at East 105th Street and Tacoma Avenue from the Beth Hamedrosh Hagodel Beth Israel Congregation in 1946. It later purchased a parsonage, land for parking, and created a Federal Credit Union. Tragically, Rev. Plummer was killed in a car accident on October 22, 1951. The church’s lower auditorium was remodeled and dedicated as J.R. Plummer Memorial Hall. Honoring its missionary and pastoral care foundations, the church built a $3M senior citizens complex nearby. An endowment fund, instituted by its pastor’s savings in 1995, ensures that this commitment to civic leadership endures.