One of the Consequences of Building a Large, New Army Camp
Camp Atterbury, Indiana

1,700 GRAVES IN CAMP AREA HERE
At Least Ten Cemeteries in County May Have to Be Moved.

If the army camp moves into Bartholomew county and takes over the big expanse of western land it has under consideration, the removal of a number of silent cities will follow.

It will be necessary to move several cemeteries in the Nineveh, Union and Harrison township territory to other locations, a job which will be one of considerable size.

Likewise. when the army moves in, the churches of the camp territory will go, for the army will have its own places for worship. In other localities where the government has moved in with camps of gigantic defense projects, the church organizations have been reimbursed well for religious property and the task of moving cemeteries has been handled by the federal workers.

Estimate 1,700 Graves.

A preliminary survey by the army representatives and engineers working on the camp planning survey showed 12 churches, eight cemeteries and about 1,700 graves in the entire area south of Road 252.

However, private advices indicate that there are at least 10 cemeteries in that part of the area which lies in Bartholomew county and that other burial grounds which are almost if not completely forgotten will be discovered before the survey is finished.

In Union township are St. John's English Lutheran church and cemetery. The church, housed in a brick structure, celebrated its 90th anniversary in 1938. It is in a parish with St. George's in Shelby county, east and a little north of Edinburg.

In the same township is Bethel Methodist church and cemetery about a mile west of Tannehill bridge over Driftwood, west. of Taylorsville. This church is in the Taylorsville circuit.

Ohio Ridge has a church which is now non-denominational and a cemetery. Relatives of those buried there gather yearly to clean off the cemetery arid 8 in Union, 5 in Harrison.

In Nineveh township are the Kansas, Garrison and Long cemeteries. The one at Kansas adjoins Methodist, which is a quite active church in the Indianapolis district. This church is in the same parish with the Edinburg Methodist church.

There are three churches and at least five cemeteries in Harrison township. In addition to the cemeteries adjoining Mt. Olive", Shiloh and Mt. Carmel are Crail cemetery near the Clarence G. Perry homestead and a little, almost forgotten graveyard on the D C. Loy farm.

Mt. Olive is a Methodist church Ogilville parish. It lies north of Road 46, and has a quite active congregation.

Shiloh is a Separate Baptist church. The congregation has been making some repairs on the building.

Mt. Carmel lies on the north side of Road 46, eight or nine miles west of this city. Holiness ministers have been holding regular there in recent year
Part of the small Crail cemetery was moved when a new pike between
the Georgetown pike and Road 46 was built. It lies half to three-quarters of a mile north 46.

The cemetery on the Loy farm occupies only half an acre and has had no attention or no burials in the last 35 years, neighbors say.
 

The remains of two persons were exhumed from a cemetery in the Army camp area, southwest of Edinburg and buried in Greenlawn cemetery here Tuesday, it was learned today.

Mrs. John McKee made provisions for the removal of the bodies of her husband, who died in 1912, and her daughter, who died in 1931, from the Kansas cemetery , in the heart of the territory surveyed for a proposed Army camp.

The bodies, one in a concrete vault, were brought here under the supervision of Dale C. Mutz, Edinburg mortician, and interred under the supervision of Ray McMurray, Greenlawn sexton.

There were rumors that Army camp officials had ordered the removal of bodies from cemeteries in the area, but it was learned authoritively, that Mrs. McKee had decided to move the remains on her own.

The Army camp survey however was given as a reason for Mrs. McKee to purchase a lot in Greenlawn and moving her relatives' remains before a possible decision to build the camp was given.

The living will not be the only ones moved from the 7,271 acre acre condemned for the army camp, as graves which interfere with the camp facilities will be moved. Among graves in the area are those of Revolutionary war soldiers, dead these last 100 years.

There are four cemeteries and at least one individual grave in the condemned area and it may be necessary to move some. Present plans call for moving only cemeteries which interfere with buildings or other camp facilities. Cemeteries in other sections will be fenced off.

At least one grave lies in a field inside the main building area north of Road 252. It is the grave of James W. Lyster, who died Jan. 21, 1851. It is difficult to tell whether or not there are others. In many cases markers are long missing, pieces of others remain. Some can be found by digging down under the long grass. Some are so weatherworn by years of rain and wind that they are illegible and others bear names of prominent families still residing in the camp area.

2 Revolutionary War Soldiers.

Two Revolutionary war soldiers rest in the cemetery at the side of the Pisgah Methodist church in the condemned-- area. The graves have fairly new markers.

The markers read: 

Matthias Parr, New Jersey Pvt.: Dayton's 3 N. J, Regiment, Revolutionary War. April 17, 1846. 

John Poe, Virginia, Pvt. Belfield's company, Bland's Regimen,. Revolutionary War, Oct. 9, 1834.

Also in the Pisgah Methodist cemetery are graves of the Dragoo family. Members of this family are now leaving their homes in the condemned area.

Among these graves are those of Sarah Dragoo, who died in 1846, and William Dragoo, who died in 1853. These people were born in the 1700's and saw troubles of another kind.

A tragedy can be read from the inscriptions on three of the graves in the cemetery. A young mother of 20 years, her husband of 23 and their 3-month-old son died between the dates of March 6, 1879, and Dec. 26, 1880. One reads and wonders.

Another Cemetery at 252.

Another cemetery rests on a knoll at the southeast corner of Road 252 and the Mauxferry road. It is enclosed by a fence and large trees cast shadows over the leaning tombstones.

It is the Knapp cemetery and among its graves is that of John Knapp, who died in 1856. Members of the Bills, Burkhart and DeHart families also are buried there.

The area condemned for the camp includes two churches, the Pisgah Methodist and the Pisgah Christian. They are located on opposite sides of the Mauxferry road north of Road 252.

Plans for removing approximately 500 bodies from cemeteries in the cantonment area of Camp Atterbury were announced today by John R. Walsh, project manager.

Mr. Walsh said approval of the site for a new cemetery for all the bodies had been received today from Col. Henry Hutchings, Jr., district engineer at Louisville, and now waited only final court approval.

The new cemetery site consists of approximately seven acres and is located on the land of Nate Wells just outside the camp area about two miles north of Edinburg. The tract lies on the south side of a public lane leading to the Barnett camp from Road 31 and is about one-fourth of a mile west of Road 31.

The new site is across the lane from the Freeman cemetery and will be just as wide as the Freeman cemetery.

To Copy Original Lay Out.

Bodies in the cantonment area, the part now condemned, will be moved to the new cemetery. Each cemetery from which the graves are moved will be laid out in the new cemetery, with the graves in exactly the same relation as in the original cemetery, Mr. Walsh said.

He also explained that the War department will bear all costs connected with re-interment. He said that in each case the stone marker and all ornaments will be moved to the new site.

He also explained that persons who wish to re-bury bodies taken from the cemeteries inside the cantonment area in a cemetery beside the planned site may do so, but must pay the cost of moving and burial. The War department will pay for taking the body out of the ground in either case.

Persons who wish to move bodies to other cemeteries than the one prepared by the government should contact the real estate department at the Columbus armory.

Those who wish to be present at the time the bodies are exhumed from the cemeteries and at the time of burial in the new, cemetery may do so, Mr. Walsh said.

Five Burial Sites Affected. 

Graves in five burial sites in the cantonment area will be moved. These sites are the Pisgah Methodist church cemetery, which contains the bodies of two Revolutionary war soldiers; the Harriett Creek Burial association cemetery, northwest of the Pisgah Christian church; the Knapp cemetery on Road 252; five graves on the Ira Prichard property north of Road 252 and one body in the Prichard property north of Road 252 and one body in the Prichard property near the Schoolhouse road.

Titles to the lots will be transferred and persons owning lots in these cemeteries will own lots of the same size in the new cemetery established by the government.

Control of the cemetery sections in the new cemetery will be in the hands of the trustees of the present cemeteries.

Specifications for work of removal of the bodies will be sent his week to prospective burial companies who may bid on the work. The bids will be opened in he district engineers office in Louisville.

The task of removing the remains of 483 bodies from five old cemeteries in part of the Camp Atterbury area will get under way here within a week, according to specifications for bids to be opened Saturday morning at 10 o'clock in the district offices of the Louisville Corps of Engineers.

The transfer of bodies, while considered by some to be unfortunate, will actually be just the opposite according to the requirements set out for the successful bidder.

The graves, most of them rundown, untended for years, and the majority of them without even markers, will all be moved to a large field adjacent to the Freeman Cemetery, on the west side of Road 31, a half mile south of the Durham road intersection. Each of the five burial sites will first be surveyed so that each grave will have a corresponding position in the new cemetery. In other words, each of the five old cemeteries will be transferred just as if they were moved in a complete unit. 

New Vault For Each.
This will enable relatives of the dead who know the graves only by location to find the exact grave in its new location. New burial vaults will be required, for each body and the huge task must be undertaken within five days after the bids are let. Grave markers, tombstones and monuments will be transferred and set up, and in the case of unmarked graves which are not identified, special markers will be erected and labeled "Unidentified Body".
All five of the burial sites which have not been used as cemeteries for years, and many contain bodies laid to rest as long as 125 years ago. Remains of several Revolutionary War soldiers are included among those to be transferred. Those who have visited the five burial sites are aware of the fact that the transfer of the bodies is not after all an unfortunate necessity brought about by the new Army cantonment, because of the condition of these cemeteries. Plots Badly Kept.
Vaults have collapsed and graves have sunk. Tombstones and markers have been broken, removed, stolen. Weeds have grown up and graves have leveled off until it is almost impossible to determine where burials have actually been made. Removal of the bodies from the cantonment area is to be considered a fortunate incident, because the remains will be placed in new vaults, each grave will take on a much improved appearance and countless graves which have gone unidentified for years will be marked once again. The company which will receive the contract Saturday will do all the necessary work in conjunction with moving the bodies, under the supervision of a government inspector. Persons who wish to have bodies removed to sites other than the one chosen by the government have been asked to contact the real estate department at the armory. They mist move the bodies at their own expense.

Two hundred and ninety-five bodies have been moved from the cantonment area of Camp Atterbury and reburied in an attractive new cemetery about two miles north of Edinburg and west of Road 31.

The new cemetery consists of approximately seven acres and been enclosed with a wire fence. The steel fence posts have been painted white and a road built through the center of the tract.

The graves from cemeteries in the cantonment area have been located in the new cemetery in exactly the same order in which they were in the original cemetery and each cemetery keeps its identity inside the new tract.

The monuments have been moved along with the bodies and ranged in neat rows. A number of the graves were unknown and these have been marked with cards enclosed in glass cases. 

Five Burial Sites Involved.

Removal of the cemeteries was done by the Wearly Monument company of Muncie under a contract awarded by the government. Costs of moving the cemeteries were paid by the government.

The new cemetery is located on the road which runs west from Road 31 to Barnett Bluffs and is on the south side of this road, across from the Freeman cemetery.

Five burial sites were moved from the cantonment area. The sites included the Knapp cemetery formerly at the southwest corner of State Road 252 and the Mauxferry road, Harriett's Creek cemetery north of the Pisgah road and west of the Mauxferry, Pisgah Methodist church cemetery on the Pisgah road, a cemetery of five graves on the Prichard property north of Road 252 and one grave in a field on the Prichard property.

Few recent burials had been made at the sites and many of the markers had fallen over, were broken or gone entirely. A few markers were ordinary stones on which were carved the names. At one grave only the initials and date of death were carved on a fiat stone. In many cases all ground indications of the graves had disappeared and tall grass hid the markers.

The cemeteries include the members of the pioneer residents of the Johnson county area which, has gone to make way for Camp
Atterbury.

The burials date back to at least 1820 and some may have been earlier. Two Revolutionary war soldiers were buried in the Pisgah cemetery. They were John Poe, who died in 1834, and Matthias Parr, who died in 1846.

The wife and daughter of John Poe also were buried in the Pisgah cemetery, along with several other members of the Poe family.

A number of other cemeteries are in the Camp Atterbury area, but as far is is known the government has not taken steps toward moving these and some may remain inside the area.
 

Starting this week, graves in the Ohio Ridge cemetery, in the Bartholomew County portion of the Camp Atterbury reservation will be moved to the new cemetery plot north of Edinburg.

Persons who have relatives buried at Ohio Ridge were given a final opportunity to visit the cemetery for four hours Sunday during the calling hours for the purpose of learning of any unmarked graves which might be located in the area.

War Provides Grisly Opportunity to Young Worker

War touched everything.  Even, as Dale Reeves discovered, the dead.  In central Indiana, one of the signs of the tidal wave of activity brought on by the country's entry into World War II was a decision to build an Army training base, Camp Atterbury.

Some 40,000 acres in Johnson, Bartholomew and Brown counties were snatched up for the base, there thousands of soldiers would be trained.

But as Reeves found in 1942, the transformation involved a bit more that a land purchase.

Reeves was 17 at the time and expected to be drafted any day.  With the war on, he had dropped out of high school in his senior year and was working in a greenhouse for 20 cents an hour.

One day a stranger sidled up to Reeves, who was hanging out in Franklin with his cousin and a couple of friends.

"You boys working ?"

He knew of some jobs, he told them.  The pay was $2.25 an hour, almost unheard-of-wages, Reeves said.

There was a catch.  "You may not want it when you find out what it is," the stranger told them.

There were 1,300 graves in 13 cemeteries that needed to be moved to make way for the Army base.  And the work had to be done by hand.

Reeves was the youngest of the 30 people hired, and now, at 75, is likely the only one still alive.

But the first day on the job, thee was no digging by hand or otherwise.

In preparation for the job, government representatives had contacts cemetery boards to get maps and lists of graves.  As Reeves recalled, they also indicated no graves would be moved.  When word got out that bodies would be moved after all, it caused an uproar, he remembered.

"We were met by people who had relatives in there and they weren't going to allow it to be done," Reeves said.  Some even came armed with shotguns.

Military attorneys met with the angry populace, and the work to move the bodies to a cemetery near Edinburgh eventually started.

Nowhere to eat

The digging crew soon earned a reputation that it could have lived without.  None of the restaurants nearby would serve the workers.

Reeves said he's watched on television criminal cases in which bodies had to be exhumed.  In those cases the workers wore all kinds of protective gear.

In 1942, his protective gear consisted of a pair of hip boots he ordered from Montgomery Ward.

As for other amenities ?  He recalled that after they had been digging up graves for about three weeks, one supervisor suggested that water should be provided so the men could wash their hands before eating lunch.

The work troubled some of the crew, Reeves recalled.  One of the men was very religious, and he told  the others he went home after work one day and went out into the yard.  He told the others how he looked up at the sky and said, "Lord, if you don't want me to do this, tell me."  When he didn't get an answer, he continued on with the work, realizing he and his family could get by for a long time on the money he was making.

The oldest grave Reeves remembers anyone digging up was from 1839.  His first grave was from 1860 and belonged to an 11-year-old girl.

Reeves instructions were pretty simple:  Dig down until he it something, then call one of the government inspectors who were to supervise the work.

Like a number of the oldest bodies, the girl wasn't buried in a casket.  All he found were pieces of the skull and some arm and leg bones.

There was something else -- a grey streak running through the grave.  That's what's left of the body, he was told.

The inspector watched Reeves scoop up what he could of the material.  With that, the inspector told him he was done with the grave, and Reeves moved on to the next one.  The work allowed Reeves to uncover a progression of funeral techniques.

Around the time of the Civil War, evidence of homemade caskets turned up in the form of hinges and other hardware, such as rough-cut nails.  And people began trying homemade attempts to preserve the body.

The bottoms of graves were sometimes lined with brick, and several inches of timbers were placed over the casket.  The diggers sometimes discovered this by falling through the rotted wood.

There was a period from about 1900 to World War I when cast-iron caskets, shaped like mummy cases, were common.  One feature was that the iron plate over the face of the body could be lifted up, revealing a glass plate so the person's face could be seen.

New outlook on afterlife.

Finding water-filled burial vaults led Reeves  and others to reach the same conclusion: "If we were going to be buried, we wanted to be buried with no casket."

In a nutshell, he discovered that time wasn't always kind to the human form.  His wife had a uncle who was a minister.  When he preached at a funeral, he said, "The body is laying there waiting for judgment day, and when judgment day comes and God calls and the trumpet blows, the body will raise up out of the grave ready to meet God."

Reeves had his doubts.  "I'd get to thinking, 'Hey, half of me is here and half of me is over there.' "

The company that moved the graves left town and headed to Tennessee for another job.  Reeves stayed home and entered the Army.