Category: Cemeteries

I have a difficult time making spacial relationships in my head, which is why I rely so heavily on maps and GPS. Plotting out local cemeteries on a large wall map doesn’t just give me an idea of what’s where, but it helps me figure out which cemeteries I can group together for a single trip. The little dots have numbers on them which correspond to entries in the master list, each of which is annotated (township, is it on private property, is it easily accessible from the road, etc.)

It’s supposed to storm all weekend, but the forecast for Friday is good. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out and take some photos.

I usually don’t pay much attention to headstone inscriptions while I’m actually photographing them, aside from doing my best to make sure the text is as legible as possible. It’s not until I get home and have time to transcribe them that the stories they contain begin to unfold. This is an especially sad one.

L. E. Stump / Born July 5, 1861 / Died Oct. 11, 1862
E. F. Stump / Born Nov. 7, 1867 / Died Jan. 1868
M. Stump / Born Nov. 10, 1870 / Died Nov. 13, 1870
J. W. Stump / Born July 6, 1876 / Died Oct. 18, 1877
Infant / Born & Died / Nov. 15, 1872

Five children of Millie and Christopher Stump, all dead. One didn’t even live long enough to be named.

I also went to Splinter Ridge Cemetery yesterday. It’s still in use, so there were some kind of amazing memorials.

Wind chimes and piles of stuffed animals around a baby’s grave and a large memorial for a young woman who died a few years ago. That, too, was decorated with gifts, including a ceramic piggy bank.

The graveyard was dominated by one huge monument. Very fancy, in the shape of an arch with an urn on top. It also featured the clasped hands that typically symbolize marriage in graves of that era.

In contrast, there were numerous graves with no permanent markers. Owen County is poor, and a lot of families there just don’t have money for a headstone.

Today’s cemetery trek involved not just a drive in the country, but a drive in the way deep backwoods country. Pot-holed and patched blacktop gave way to gravel, which gave way to dirt. The scenery was gorgeous, and the weather couldn’t have been nicer. Bright blue sky, a refreshing breeze, and cool enough not to get overheated.

I ended up going to two cemeteries. Mount Moriah Cemetery was the first. It was kind of a let down. There are some old–for the area–graves there, but most of the older markers have been damaged. It looks like someone tried to clean them with something that stained the stone. They’d be good candidates for rubbings. The cemetery is still in use and isn’t in bad shape, but there are several stones that have fallen. Some are buried in the ground. Too many names have completely worn away. There are also a number of plain fieldstone markers.

Shadows

Old Gateposts

Fieldstone markers

Concerete Grave Marker

Grave Marker Depicting Union Battle Encampment
Isaac S. Buskirk, 14 November 1845-11 July 1864
Mount Gilead Cemetery, Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana

He was only 18 year old when he died, six months after enlisting with the Union army. This is the most elaborate Civil War headstone I’ve seen so far. Most of them are plain stones with just a simple shield decoration.

Moss, McKinley Cemetery, Delaware County, Indiana

Stepp Cemetery, Morgan-Monroe State Forest, Monroe County, Indiana