Just to let everyone know for the past couple of days I have started a
cemetery tour around Franklin County, township by township. Today I was
able to clear off Blooming Grove, Bath, Springfield, Laurel and Metamora
townships, so needless to say I have a long way to go. During the tour
I am snapping a picture of cemetery and documenting the condition. As
time goes all of this will be added to our website. We have visually
seen 29 cemeteries in the last two days and drove nearly 200 miles of
country roads. I have not been able to locate the following cemeteries
so far....
Hansel, White, Ancient, Anspach, Gray, Jenks, Laurel Township,
Longnecker and the two Gobel cemeteries.
In connection with that same cemetery list, we are continuing to add
burial lists for the cemeteries. This also is a long process and many
thanks have to go to Larry Christiansen in San Diego, Kris Bain in
Indianapolis and Ruth Schlemmer in Harrison for their major contribution
to the listing. If anyone would like to help please get in touch with
me. All three of these folks have gone out of their respective ways to
put together their own webpages to help all of us out to become a very
good overall website.
If you do not get the Brookville newspaper, I made the Letter to the
Editor column again as I am on hands and knees hoping for some
volunteers for this years cemetery restoration project. We still have
to finish the one we started late last year and a second is already on
the drawing board.
The best all around scenario is to have a captain in each of Franklin
County's townships to assist with projects in each of the townships.
(BTW Ruth I am on hands and knees now hoping you will be the captain for
whitewater township since you have done so much work so far.) Each
captain will keep a watchful eye on the cemeteries in the township to
make sure they are taken care of....
In case you didn't get my letter to the editor....here's a copy...
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Dear Editor:
We are preparing to move into the next year of the Pioneer Cemetery
Restoration Project in Franklin County. Soon we will begin to complete
the Quick-Shank Cemetery project and will get the next project underway
at the Zion Lutheran Cemetery on Pine Road.
To re-fresh everyone's memory, the PCRP is a new state organization with
individual county coordination. The PCRP.is designed to locate and
restore cemeteries containing the remains of our pioneer settlers
and.are cemeteries that are not currently being cared for by the county
due to its age and non-activity.
Last fall, we started the Quick-Shank Cemetery project and got a great
start before the winter set in. Thanks to Buster Raines, Gina Cook, .Boy
Scout Troop 45 and several others, we were able to do this. Now it is
time to complete the project by uprighting and repairing stones and
finish the ground work.
We are in great need of volunteers and tools to finish. We need someone
with experience in repairing tombstones and also a wench or some type of
equipment to upright fallen stones.
In addition, we are searching for clubs and civic groups who could offer
a short term committment, like one Saturday, to assist with our cemetery
project. I would love to speak before any club or group to answer any
questions.
Anyone with internet access can reach me thru PCRP website at
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6893, the Franklin County Genealogy
website at
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6863 or by e-mail
at randyk(a)si-net.com. My home phone number is 765-827-4413.
Respectfully,
Randy Klemme
722 Western Avenue
Connersville, Indiana
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If anyone has any questions at all about what we are trying to do with
either the genealogy or cemetery restoration websites, please ask..
Randy Klemme
Franklin County Genealogy & PCRP Coordinator