This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------61892AC32F4A62C4EF409C33 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Some have e-mailed me to tell me that this cemetery stuff does not pertain to Franklin County...yeah you are right, but it should be of concern to each and every person that has relatives buried in cemeteries over 100 years old......Now with that said, this was posted this morning on the state PCRP website. After the weekend Indianapolis Star article, it is nice to know that some people DO have respect for the dead and are doing things right.... Just wanted to dabble the good in with the bad....Thanks Randy Klemme Franklin County Genealogy & PCRP Coordinator --------------61892AC32F4A62C4EF409C33 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Received: from fp-1.rootsweb.com (fp-1.rootsweb.com [207.113.233.233]) by si-net.com (8.9.0/8.8.5) with ESMTP id SAA13261 for <randyk@si-net.com>; Tue, 25 Aug 1998 18:04:55 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from slist@localhost) by fp-1.rootsweb.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id UAA16120; Tue, 25 Aug 1998 20:01:14 -0700 (PDT) Resent-Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 20:01:14 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <m0zBVpM-005D8NC@world.evansville.net> X-Sender: stnick@mail.evansville.net X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0.2 Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 22:01:33 -0500 Old-To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com From: Chris Myers <stnick@evansville.net> Subject: How to do it right. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Resent-Message-ID: <"qmLYEC.A.m4D.1p341"@fp-1.rootsweb.com> To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com Resent-From: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com X-Mailing-List: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> archive/latest/343 X-Loop: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com Precedence: list Resent-Sender: INPCRP-L-request@rootsweb.com The Evansville Press August, 18, 1998 Graves found at site where Mater Dei planned to build By Patricia Swanson Staff reporter Remains of three or four graves, part of an abandoned West Side cemetery that predates the Civil War, have been found near Mater Dei High School in an area that was to become a landscaped terrace. Robert Weyde, president of the Evansville Interparochial High Schools (Memorial and Mater fbi), said a University of Indianapolis forensic archaeology expert is working with the diocese to locate the graves. He said the area will be treated to comply with church teaching demanding respect for the dead and their burial places. Eleanor Tenbarge, a member of the Tri-State Genealogy Society who has been researching the area, said about 250 graves are located in the area, just north of the school. The area where the graves have been found on a hill north of the school, is the outer edge of what was known as the Perry Township Graveyard. She's found deeds dating to 1855 that mention the graveyard, which apparently has been abandoned for years. Tenbarge said there is no known record of who was buried in the cemetery, although it appears some Civil War soldiers were buried there. Most of the tombstones are gone now, although there are a few in the back of the cemetery. That area, she said, is covered with brush and trees and it's difficult to see any tombstones until winter, when the greenery has died out a bit. The society became involved, she said, when Don and Karen Schoenbachler, whose father had been responsible for mowing the area decades ago, approached the group to see whether there were any records available about the cemetery. Karen Schoenbachler had told her that the cemetery had walnut trees around it and that she was responsible for going in front of her father, picking up walnuts while he pushed the mower. Tenbarge, who is a genealogy researcher, was asked by the society to investigate. She has found mentions of the cemetery on county plats and in some records, but no definitive record of when the land became a cemetery; although, she has found a record of a deed that transferred the land in 1955 to Perry Township trustee for $2. However, trustee records don't mention the cemetery, nor is there any record of when the last burial was held there, but it appears to have been many years ago, possibly soon after the turn of the century. Weyde said once the diocese learned of the possibility people had been buried there, Stephen Nawrocki of the University of Indianapolis was called in. Using radar and other equipment, he identified several sites which might have contained graves. Weyde said they were excavated yesterday and three or four showed what appeared to be grave sites. The area was to be terraced and landscaping as part of a Mater Dei expansion and renovation project, he said, However, given the fact graves are located there, the committee that is overseeing the construction is looking at two options now. The first would be to rebury the remains elsewhere in the area; the second is to redesign the terrace to avoid the grave sites and leave them alone. He said that a permanent marker will be erected, regardless of which option is chosen, to note that this was a cemetery and residents were buried there during the 1800s. ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== Remember to give us your project updates at monthly Roll-Call! --------------61892AC32F4A62C4EF409C33--