Here is some of the history of the cemetery for our out of town friends and
families.
The beautiful I.O.O.F. cemetery just above the city of Marion on the
bank's of the Mississinewa has many points of historical interest. On Dec.
9, 1825 John Ballinger entered a part of section # 8. This was later owned
by Isaac Jay. In the fall of 1828 a small log house was built on the John
Ballinger farm and used by the Society of Friends as a meeting house. This
was called the "Mississineway Meeting" and according to Quaker custom a
cemetery was adjoining or near the meeting house. The church house was later
moved away but the cemetery continued to be used for some time. "John
Ballinger who was buried where the Friends cem. now is, was the first
deceased Friend and the second person buried in the first cemetery of the
county. Samuel Adamson, his son-in-law, being the first. (Historical Atlas
of Grant Co. pg.19, 1877)
Mr. James Hood who wrote a pamphlet called "the history of Mississinewa
Lodge No. 96 I.O.O.F. tells on pg. 31 -" Eli Thomas was one of the early
settlers of this vicinity and a prominent worker in the Quaker Church. The
writer a few years ago met his son Marcus M. Thomas in the Friends part of
the cemetery. At that time Mr.. Thomas pointed out the site of the graves of
the first two buried there. They were John Ballinger and his son-in-law
Samuel Adamson. The graves are in the south east corner of the old cemetery
and are unmarked. This info. was given to Mr.. Thomas by his father."
On Sept.. 24, 1944 Mr.. Hood stood at this spot pointed out to him by
Mr.. Thomas and I took a picture of him. The old cemetery was on the plank
road leading to Jonesboro and in 1856 was one mile south of Marion. At that
time the land was owned by Isaac Jay
Near the entrance of the I.O.O.F. cemetery is a marker erected by the
Junior Historical Society of Marion High School which reads, "First church
erected in Grant Co. in 1830 by the Mississinewa Meeting of the society of
Friends. Used until 1837."
The earliest dates on stones are Aug. 19, 1844, Eli Harman and Dec. 17,
1840 on the stone of Nancy Hiatt wife of Jonathan Davis.
Since this was a Friend's burying found many graves were unmarked.
In March of 1855 a committee was appointed by the Odd Fellows Lodge to
select a piece of ground that might be purchased for the purpose of locating
a cemetery, this committee decided that some land adjoin the old Quaker
cemetery on Isaac Jay's farm was a desirable location but being unable to
find the gentleman at home asked that the committee be dismissed. In Aug.
of 1855 another committee reported that it had been successful in contacting
Mr.. Jay. He was willing to sell three acres lying immediately south of the
Friends cem. on the plank road to Jonesboro for $150 per acre. Nothing was
done by the lodge until Mar. 28, 1856 when another committee was appointed.
Other committees were appointed and reported their findings and provided for
the purchase of the three acres from Mr.. Jay. The date of the purchase is
June 30, 1859. This acreage has been increased until there is now a little
over 78 (1940's) acres in this cemetery. the unplatted part had been uncared
for and presented a bad appearance and was a source of regret to members of
the Church. Finally the trustees of the two organizations took the matter
up and came to an agreement whereby the Lodge took over the care and
management of the friends part of the cemetery. By the terms of the
agreement the Church paid the Lodge $600.
THE ABOVE WAS WRITTEN BY THE DAR IN THE 1940'S
The cemetery is located on the oldest road of grant
County, once known as the Campbell Trail of 1812. It has had several names
throughout the years, presently it is known as Lincoln Blvd.
In 1859, the IOOF bought the property and surrounding area, which
now includes about 200 acres. In 1895, the office of the cemetery burned and
all the records , preceding that date, were destroyed. I am not quite
clear as to how the maps survived this fire, but they could have been
reconstructed. Even though the church was moved about 1837, the Friends
continued to use this burial ground. When the IOOF bought the property in
1859, the cemetery was opened to all denominations.
By Sheila Watson, from the Grant Co. Gen Web.
The I.O.O.F. was in private hands for several years and a few years
ago, there were serious financial troubles, the cemetery was not being kept
up and mowed at all, there were many burials that were not even recorded.
Below is an article that appeared in the Grant Co. Genealogy Clubs
Newsletter, The Beacon, Winter, 2000.
Neil Jeffries was the Cub's speaker and told us how the cemetery fell
into bankruptcy, and had not been taken care of properly for several years.
The cemetery is now open under non-profit ownership. There has been much
work to improve the grounds, there has been the removal of 40 dead trees.
For $200, they will plant a dogwood or other flowering tree and place a cast
bronze memoriam plaque with names and dates of life as close to your loved
one as possible. He would love to see the cemetery awash in spring with
blooming trees. There are plans to pave all roads in the cemetery (this
hasn't been done yet,) and to restore the wrought iron fences.
They are starting a genealogical project to record and keep on permanent
file the history of our ancestors and descendents. We are asking that each
of you who have family buried in the cemetery, to take an hour or so to
either come to the office to share your history with us or to mail it to us.
If you have any cemetery records, could you please share those with us also.
We are doing a hands on inspection of all the files that we have, to make
sure that we have as accurate record of your family as possible. Address,
1101 S. Lincoln Blvd. Marion, IN. 46952...............This is such a
wonderful old cemetery, with many different section, from the very old
Quaker part, which was the original part, to the Victorian stones with all
of their ornate ness, to the the row upon row of single graves, many during
the flu epidemic of 1918 and during the great depression of the 30's.
Jackie C. Thomas
Pres. Grant Co. Gen. Club