Remembrances - Big Run Cemetery

The Big Run Cemetery is one of Franklin Township's pioneer cemeteries. The Big Run Primitive Baptist Church was organized in 1848 at the farm home of Knowles Shaw, on the old Michigan Road (now Southeastern Ave.), a short distance east of New Bethel. The founding members named their church for the stream, "Big Run," which flowed through the property. The congregation met in District School No. 5 (at the corner of Edgewood and Franklin Roads) until 1849 when, at their request, Samuel Smith donated a small northeast corner of his property along Franklin Road for their church. The land for the cemetery across the road was either donated by, or purchased from, Willis Smither. The frame church the congregation built was replaced in 1871 by the brick church which stands there today.

The cemetery is much as it has been through the years. The first burial appears to have been in 1854. A total of 92 stoned are noted in the society's "Called Home," the Pioneer Cemeteries of Franklin Township (1999).

When students or scouts visit the Meeting House, we often include a tour of the Cemetery. This sometimes appears to be a new experience for some. ("You mean there are actually dead people buried under the ground here?") Dana Crapo usually conducts these tours. He points out art forms and other symbols often found on cemetery stones, verses of scripture or lines of poetry. He calls attention to the many family names familiar in township history or as names of local roads.

In 2005 the Society was successful in getting our building and the Big Run Cemetery listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and accepted by the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures. Plaques on the building and in the cemetery mark these events.