Dozens of residents converged on beleaguered Wesleyan Cemetery in Northside with impromptu cleanups throughout the weekend.

        Hundreds of gravestones, many of them overturned, can be found in this 24-acre cemetery at 4003 Colerain Ave. The site was established as Wesleyan Cemetery in 1843 but some of the graves go back to the early 1800s, including some veterans of the American Revolution, according to a website run by savinggraves.com.

        The cemetery's former administrator is on trial in Hamilton County for charges stemming from his alleged failure to maintain the cemetery.

        “The people working together now, they're family,” William Redmon, of Northside, said Sunday during a break from grass cutting. “Black, white, it don't matter.”

        Mr. Redmon's 5-day-old son, Christopher, was buried at Wesleyan. Recently, Mr. Redmon, 40, had his baby reburied at Spring Grove Cemetery.

        “This is just a sad situation, that people have to give up their time on a holiday,” he said.

        All weekend, they did.

        “Looking at the condition of the cemetery makes me angry,” said James Meatchem, 44. “What I would like to do is raise about $200,000 and give it to the city for upkeep. I think the city should take control.”

        Robert Merkle of Huber Heights is charged with three counts of theft and one count of failure to maintain an endowment fund intended to pay for upkeep, in the disappearance of tens of thousands of dollars of cemetery money. Closing arguments in the case are expected Tuesday.

        Judy Zimpelman, 50, of Norwood helped cut a path through waist-high grass so relatives could visit her parents' graves.

        “It's too dangerous to find without cutting a path,” she said. “There are ankle-high holes you could fall in and break something.”

        She said the family buried her mother in the cemetery about three years ago, despite the deteriorating conditions, because her mother wanted to be buried next to her father who died more than a decade ago.

        Enquirer reporter Tom O'Neill contributed

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