| The Indiana Pioneer Cemeteries Restoration
Project was begun in October 1997 as an effort to generate public awareness
about the neglected pioneer cemeteries of Indiana. The state of Indiana is
home to thousands of abandoned or neglected pioneer cemeteries, the oldest of
which now approach 200 years.
The goal of this project is to restore and
preserve as many of these cemeteries as possible. This project was founded on
the belief that we owe our pioneer ancestors a better monument than a forgotten
grave amid bramble and thicket.
Grant county, Indiana is home to
many pioneer cemeteries. Some are virtually inaccessible, some are on busy roads,
a few are well-maintained, many need attention.
Rhonda
Stoffer in cooperation with the Marion Indiana
Public Library is the Grant County coordinator. Stoffer, head of Indiana
History & Genealogy at the Marion Public Library, has long been interested
in local history and genealogy.
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She and her family have done some restoration of
the Batson Cemetery in Wells County, Indiana. The marker to the left is one that
the Stoffer family had restored. It was then vandalized again and has been
restored again. The photo on the right shows several markers stacked together. |
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Stoffer has worked with teachers at Southern Wells Elementary School to develop a project for the
4th grade class.
The class visited the cemetery to make rubbings of some of the markers.
Students participated in cleaning up the cemetery. The immediate goal
of this joint project is to make
Batson Cemetery look more well-groomed and free
of trash. The long-term goal is to teach the children about cemeteries and their
importance to our heritage. Perhaps these children won't be the vandals who
desecrate graveyards.
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Click on
the Batson Cemetery link above to see pictures from the Southern Wells Elementary School restoration
project. |
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In
cooperation with Marion High School advanced placement history teacher
Bill Munn, Stoffer also worked to restore Weaver Cemetery in Liberty
Township, Grant County. Weaver, an African-American community, was located
at county roads 600 east and 300 south. Residents have scattered across
the United States but the cemetery remains. It is estimated that there are
200 graves but only a few markers remain.
On October 21, 2003
Rhonda Stoffer and Cathie Jo Childs and 5th grade class from Northview
Elementary School, Gas City, Indiana, spent the morning at
Walnut
Creek Cemetery cleaning tombstones and picking up trash.
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