Today, we bring you one of Sylvia Henricks’ “Remembrances.” You can read more of Sylvia’s columns weekly in The Franklin Township Informer, or in her book From The Ash Grove.
Headstones in Big Run Cemetery
Continuing Dana Crapo’s research on the history of the Big Run Church Cemetery, located on the northeast corner of Franklin and Indian Creek Roads, he writes “Before there was a Big Run Cemetery, there was a Smither Burial Ground here. Willis Smither established a burial ground on this corner of his property probably about the same time that the Big Run Church members erected their first frame building across the road in 1848 or 1849. Some stones were already there, but burials could have begun earlier. We have no written records from the Smither Burial Ground, such as who—where – or size of the grounds. We do have the information that is carved on the stones, and a few lines in the church member’s business meeting notes. We can see that the headstones are mostly carved on the west side. So we assume that the persons are buried on this side too, the west side.
The name of the cemetery did not become known as Big Run Cemetery until February 1861. In January, 1861, at the church member’s monthly business meeting, Willis Smither, who was a member of the church, asked the other members if they would like to have his burial ground for their church cemetery. The leaders directed him to draw up a deed, and present it in February. Willis and his second wife, Mary H. Smither, formalized a deed with Justice of the Peace, James Morgan, on January 21, 1861. They presented it in February, and it was accepted. The members paid Willis $20 for his burial ground and some additional land around it. That parcel was the space we see today, from the center of Franklin road on the west to the cemetery fence on the east, from the center of Indian Creek Road on the south to the property line of the house to the north. It was one-half acre in size.
A survey of the Big Run Cemetery was made in 1954 by Mrs. Leo C. Hoyt. That is, she read as many of the headstones as she could. Some birth and death dates and other information were added to her field notes by members of the church. These pages were submitted to the Indiana State Library and were accepted. An early member of our Society, Mrs. Olga Woolman, made photocopies of these pages about 1960, and they became the working list of who was buried in the cemetery. An alphabetical list was made using the photocopies, and this became the church’s permanent record. The last sentence on the report to the State Library was… “This completes the list of the markers in the Big Run Cemetery.”
But not all the stones were counted in the survey! (To be continued.)