HISTORY OF PEAVEY CEMETERY written by J. Wesley Edmonson (1888-1971) John B, Poe, an early settler of Lewis Township (Clay County, IN), entered the land on February 18, 1836, at which time Andrew Jackson was President.   Included in his plot of land was the land on which the Peavey Cemetery is now located which was known in the old days as the Poe Cemetery.  Tradition has it that this ground had been used by the Indians as a burial ground.  Mrs. David Inman is believed to have been the first woman buried in the Poe Cemetery, but there is no record of verification.  Minerva Cooprider, who died August 8, 1847, is the first burial recorded on the monuments.   This burial plot did not become public property until 1863, when John B. Poe deeded the plot to A.J. Baker, who was trustee of Lewis Township at that time.  Mr. Poe left Lewis Townsh;ip, but in August 1881, at the age of 99 years, he was returned to be buried.   Some years later, a Mr. Hazen Peavey obtained the farm on which the Poe Cemetery was located, and seeing the cemetery was nearly filled, gave additional ground enlarging the cemetery to about three acres.  A few years later, he fenced between his land and the cemetery--making it advisable for the community to fence the entire cemetery.  The cemetery was never surveyed, so it has held its original shape.  Mr. Peavey saw the need of an entrance to the cemetery, so he built a gate at the southeast corner of the land and allowed the public to wind around with a road through the trees and brush to the east side of the cemetery where they entered the cemetery through a wire gate.   The cemetery was badly neglected--at that time the community was thinly populated, and the men with their meager ways were struggling just to support their families; but, they did try to get it mowed with the scythe and cut with the ax once a year.   I can remember when I was a very small boy, the death of my Grandmother.  It was in February and it had been raining, then suddenly turned cold.  The roads were very muddy and the sudden freeze formed a crust over the ground which made it almost impossible for the horses to travel.  The men followed closely behind the little black hearse and pushed it out of the mud as the wheels would become buried.  When they came to the gate leading into the cemetery, they wound around through the woods until they came to the creek.  The creek had washed out, making it impossisble to cross, so the men carried logs and posts to fill the creek, so they could cross into the cemetery.  This was only one of the many incidents they encountered in burying the dead.   As time went on, the railroads came through Jasonville and later one through Howesville; mines were being sunk, population increased and jobs were more plentiful.  The people became more conscious of the neglect of the cemetery.  Ben Jordan, who then owned part of the land which lay on the west and south side of the cemetery, offered to give a roadway from the main road into the cemetery if the men of the community would haul rock and grade the road.  They had rock sent in at Howesville by train, and the men with their teams and wagons hauled two flat cars of rock and made what we thought was a very good road leading into the cemetery.  Later, the women of the community went around the communiity soliciting money to resurface the road.   As time went by, the old cemetery was again being filled.  Mr. Jordan saw the need for more burying ground, so he decided to give an additional plot of ground and charge for the lots.   The community now saw the need of someone being responsible for the care and maintenance of the cemetery, so they had a meeting and appointed Bill Wolf and Oscar Rumple as caretakers.  These two men did a very good job with the small amount of money they were able to receive.  They bought a lawn mower and some other small tools and kept the lots mowed.  The old cemetery was looking much better with their efforts.   Time has now moved on to the 1940's and 1950's.  Ben Jordan has passed away and also Bill Wolf, leaaving only Oscar Rumple in charge.  The neighbors, when they met together, would remark how hard Mr. Rumple was working to keep the cemetery clean and mowed.  Mr. Paul Jones was then the owner of the land on the west and south of the cemetery.  He, too, saw the need of more burying ground and gave an additional plot of ground.  He had buried his wife a short time before giving this plot.   Time has moved on into the 1960's.  The cemetery was now being filled to capacity again with very few lots left.  The community decided to try to buy another addition.  The ground on the north and east side of the cemetery was owned by Virgil and Stanley Marlow, and when they heard the community was wanting more land for the cemetery, they offered to give what land they wanted if the men of the community would fence and build a roadway around this new plot.    A meeting was called at the Wilson Church, and a decision was made to elect a board to take care of the business of the cemetery.  It was also decided to accept the ground on the terms the Marlow brothers had offered.  Enthusiasm was running high, so they set a date to start cleaning the fence row that went around the old cemetery.  The men worked about two weeks cleaning the new plot as it was full of large and small trees, briars and stones.  They burned the brush, blasted the stumps, and bulldozed the smaller trees.  They then had the ground plowed, leveled, and worked smooth--ready to seed.   The questions then arose as how to get the ground plotted.  To the surprise of the men, Mr. Brandon from the Holt Monument Company of Bloomfield, having heard of the community's interest in their cemetery,came over to see if he could be of any help.  To our surprise, he offered to have the cemetery plotted free of charge.  We appreciated this very much, and when the surveyor came, some of the men came and helped to survey the ground.  A short time later a map was received with some recommendations, one of which was to mark each corner of every plot.  This took 400 markers, so another meeting was called and it was decided to measure and mark the ground so as to tell where to place each marker.   We were all so proud of our cemetery, but as we looked toward the old part of the cemetery, we saw that there were about fifty monuments leaning and some even fallen over.  Mr. Brandon again came to our assistance.  He offered to send his machine and operator over to lift the monuments so we could put new bases under them.   We set a date and a number of men came to straighten the monuments and also place the new markers.   This project was only possible through the endeavor of those presently living in our community and those who are friends or natives of this community.  All the labor, financial assistance, and donations of material and machinery has created something we all look upon with respect and pride.   Now as I walk around over the cemetery, reading the names of my many friends written on the monuments, I realize that I, too, will be laying here in the future.  My mind goes back to a verse of the poem written by one of the great poets:   "We live that when thy summons comes to join this enumerble cavern, that marches down to that mystrious realm, approach thy grave as one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams."   HISTORY OF PEAVEY CEMETERY The Jasonville Shopper, November 26, 1964 --------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. 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