Crown Hill to bury pioneers June 2 <mailto:Scott.thien@indystar.com> and
dedication June 11. For decades, countless vehicles whizzed by the
Wright-Gentry-Whitesell Cemetery on the Northeastside, a small pioneer plot
near the split of I-69 and I-465.
But what was supposed to be a final resting place in the 8000 block of
Castleton Drive turned out to be a roadblock in the state's plans to expand
the six-lane I-69 to 12 lanes in the next few years. So in August, the
Indiana Department of Transportation worked with a private excavator to
remove the 33 graves from the cemetery established in 1841. Their eventual
new home: the existing Pioneer Cemetery at Crown Hill Cemetery in
Indianapolis.
<
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03/1310/ARCHIVE> Students and staff from the University of Indianapolis
helped unearth and study the graves, determining gender and family lineage
for some unmarked plots, officials said.
Now, a date has been set for the remains and their refurbished headstones to
be reburied in their original configuration: June 2.
A formal dedication ceremony is set for 11 a.m., June 11, at Crown Hill.
Invitations for the dedication were sent out about two weeks ago, said Crown
Hill spokeswoman Marty Davis, adding that descendents are expected to
attend.
The cemetery was home to early Central Indiana pioneers, ranging from
newborns to senior citizens. Some headstones were marked with the exact
number of days people lived, while others have only two or three initials.
The most recent stone at the original site was erected in 1868.
INDOT is working to have a pastor from Castleton United Methodist Church
speak at the reburial because its founding pastor, the Rev. James Wright,
was buried in the cemetery.