The Defiance Public Library is doing research on a local history project involving a cemetery that was created for African-Americas that died around northwest Ohio. The Worthington cemetery, as it is known, was located in Highland Township, southeast of Defiance and was established by a local farmer and African-American by the name of Archibald Worthington, with the first burial taking place in 1855.Worthington would register for the Union Army to serve in the Civil War at the age of 44, and after the war, returned to Defiance County. Recent research has led to the belief the cemetery is located in a field near Ayersville; but no headstones could be located. The land is currently owned by the Ayersville Water and Sewer district, and was the site they hoped to build a lagoon. But an archaeological survey revealed fragments of tombstones in the field, and the project is on-hold. Another piece of the story has conflicting information- some say Archibald Worthington is buried in his own cemetery; yet there is information of an Archibald Worthington who was buried in Wilmington, Ohio in 1895.You can track the story through the Defiance Public Library website, go to 'news', and then ‘blog’.