According to a story from June 4, 1965, "The closing of a portion of the present
Bedford Road to allow construction of a new high school, and the extension of the Bedford
Road to connect with Flora Street will run the street through an ancient burial ground,
one of the most historical spots in...Washington."
Actually there were two cemeteries along Beford road, a Catholic cemetery and old city
cemetery, both had been abandoned for years.
Title has been in confusion for years, because as far as some can tell part of the land
might well still belong to the Indians.
A verified list of graves filed at the local lib library in 1936 shows 331 graves in the
City Cemetery and 334 graves in the Catholic cemetery. The names of some of the oldest
families are recorded in this list: Eskridge, Ragsdale, Hyatt, Graham, VanTrees, Colbert,
Hogshead, Aikman, Axtell. Rodarmel, Allen, Scudder, Cavanaugh, Burke, Cabel, Bordenet,
Padgett, Behle, Walters, Hefron, Zinkan, Keller, Walsh, Kauffman, Herr, Kidwell and
numerous others.
The Daviess Historical Society has a website
www.daviesscounty.history.org.
Carolyn
Daviess Researcher