Gibson County
Montgomery Township Cemeteries:
1. Antioch
2. Benson
2. Benson
3. Clark - It is not an old abandon cemetery like we hoppers usually seek out, but any cemetery in the dark near Halloween is almost impossible for us hoppers to avoid. We did see something interesting. In the photos you will see a headstone of a baby-on-the-halfshell. We looked up what the shell means in gravestone symbolism, and found it to stand for "baptism or rebirth". Any time we see a gravestone for a baby, we seem to gasp or sigh in sympathy for the family that suffered these losses. Also, I couldn't miss the opportunity to take a photo of Peaches and Cream (Peach and Creamer), and of course, Hopper
4. Emerson Pioneer - Something really cool happened when we went here with our father. As we were driving out to show him this one, he said he went to grade school with an Emerson and maybe we would find her headstone. Well, he was quite senile, so we all just nodded our heads and smiled and told him maybe we would. When we got out and started our hop through the farmer's path that had been cut through the field, the farmer started coming down the road to greet us. He and his dog were both very friendly. He told us the history of the cemetery. As we were leaving I mentioned to the man the name of the woman my dad had asked about. Well, that woman was his mother and had died quite sometime ago. He told us that she was buried just up the hill in a cemetery we had not known about called Emerson Hill. It's a small world.
5. Garrett - A small cemetery in a woods. We had quite an experience with one of the neighbors. She did not like us parking next to her long driveway even though we were off to the side. That was really our first negative experience with anyone when we have hopped a cemetery near their home or on their property. Maybe she was just having a bad day.
6. Gudgel - We hopped this one as the sun was setting. We had to knock on a farmer's door to ask permission to access this one because it was directly behind his house in the middle of his bean field. He and his wife were both very kind and directed us to the grass-cut path they had made for people who want to visit the graveyard.
7. Herring
8. Johnson - There were only a few stones here and, as you can see, Johnson was the name on one stone. Again this one is located in the middle of a farmer's field on a raised little area that was quite weedy. In the background of one photo you can see our car. That gives some perspective on how far into the field it is located.
9. Keneipp - Location unknown.
10. Kimball
10. Kimball
11. Knowles - Again in the middle of a field. Many stones here are newer but, as we found out, are replacement stones. As you can see on this one, the date of death was 1903. The one next to it is more indicative of that era.
12. Lucas - We attempted to approach this one from the north by knocking on the door of two houses with no answer at either. So driving around the block and walking up the edge of a harvested corn field became our third attempt. Success was in our cards. We found it in the middle of some very heavy brush. There is no way we would have been able to reach this one in or around summertime because the brush would have made it impossible to find or reach. To our dismay there were only a few stones, and they were all lying on their sides. The photo of the wide open view is on the back side of the cemetery, and you can see by the other photos just how thick some of the brush was getting in and out of this hop.
13. Marvel
14. Mauck - We hopped this one as the sun was setting and the moon was nearly full and very beautiful. Huge trees lined the drive up to the cemetery.
15. Maumee
16. McClure
17. Robert Montgomery - Not found.
16. McClure
17. Robert Montgomery - Not found.
18. Mounts - This is another cemetery located in the center of a farmer's crop field. As we have mentioned before, most all cemeteries are located at the top of a hill. Not sure whether this is because people figured low lying land would flood out the caskets during torrential rains, or to place their loved ones "closer to heaven". We've heard both. This little cemetery was in a patch of weeds head high at the highest point in this field. Of course the weeds were there because the farmer doesn't want to disturb the burial sight and because no one does the upkeep on this one. We tried to beat back some of the weeds.
19. Mullen
20. Novets Johnson - completely destroyed
21. Oak Grove
22. Owensville IOOF
23. Old Owensville - We were out in the cold weather to hop this small old cemetery in the middle of Owensville adjacent to a park. We had to cross a small red wooden path bridge to reach it. The iron fence around one of the main stones had seen better days but still was interesting enough to capture our attention.
20. Novets Johnson - completely destroyed
21. Oak Grove
22. Owensville IOOF
23. Old Owensville - We were out in the cold weather to hop this small old cemetery in the middle of Owensville adjacent to a park. We had to cross a small red wooden path bridge to reach it. The iron fence around one of the main stones had seen better days but still was interesting enough to capture our attention.
24. Perkins
25. Philip W
26. Redman
27. Rugles
28. Sand Bluff - It is not actually a cemetery, but more of a burial site. There is an old story that an Indian girl threw herself off the top of the bluff you see in the pictures when her lover rejected her for another. Not sure of the supposed year of this apparent suicide, but I see how it could have happened. The bluff cliff seems to be about 80 feet high. We did see a few stones that may have marked the site but never really pin pointed the exact burial spot. The picture of the smoke stacks is a power plant far in the distance.
25. Philip W
26. Redman
27. Rugles
28. Sand Bluff - It is not actually a cemetery, but more of a burial site. There is an old story that an Indian girl threw herself off the top of the bluff you see in the pictures when her lover rejected her for another. Not sure of the supposed year of this apparent suicide, but I see how it could have happened. The bluff cliff seems to be about 80 feet high. We did see a few stones that may have marked the site but never really pin pointed the exact burial spot. The picture of the smoke stacks is a power plant far in the distance.
29. Saulmon - One of our first hops.
30. Benjamin Sharp
31. George Sharp
32. Skelton aka Thompson aka Union Church
31. George Sharp
32. Skelton aka Thompson aka Union Church
33. Andrew Smith - This is one of our favorites. The beautiful rolling hills off the back of it, plus the fact that we had a beautiful day to hop and spend time together made it seem awesome.
34. David Smith aka Bethel - Not a hidden or forgotten one, but still very old and cool headstones. We hopped this one again at nighttime. There is just something very intriguing about doing night hops, especially around Halloween. There are shots are of a fresh grave and 3 small toadstools that were growing right beside the grave. They seemed significant at the time. Not sure why.
35. William Smith - As you can tell, many of the cemeteries we hopped are in the middle of a farmer's field. This one is as well. One of the stones shows Major James Andrew Smith. He signed the Indiana Constitution. The first time we tried finding this one, we failed. So one of my brothers and his wife went out there the next day and happened to run into an Indiana archivist who was there to prepare for a Founders Day celebration to honor Major Smith. He told them about Major Smith and that he was getting ready to be honored because it was an important anniversary of the signing of that Constitution.
36. Waters
37. Williams
38. Wilson - 13 stones located at the edge of a corn field; we had to drive down a long grass path and a failing concrete bridge.
37. Williams
38. Wilson - 13 stones located at the edge of a corn field; we had to drive down a long grass path and a failing concrete bridge.
39. Yager - This cemetery almost defeated us earlier in the year. We searched and searched for it, and finally gave up. Then, when we were near the area again, armed with the plat map and a useful website, we set out to find it again. As you can see by the very tall weeds, it was very hidden. Hoppers win again.