First headstones removed as tiny cemetery in road project's path is readied for new home
By Gretchen Becker
INDIANA--Richard Whitesell had not visited what may be his ancestor's cemetery until he heard the state was tearing it up. "I had no idea that cemetery was there," said Whitesell, a Northside resident whose family may be descendants of those buried in the tiny graveyard that bears his name off I-69 and I-465.
A few days ago, he stopped by to see the sacred ground where the remains of about 30 people -- buried in the early and mid-1800s -- are being lifted to make way for an expansion of the most congested highway stretch in Indianapolis.
"(When I was there) I thought, 'I bet they wonder what's running over their heads all the time.' "
The Whitesell family is one of about 20 families known by state officials to possibly have relatives buried at what officially is called the Wright-Gentry-Whitesell Cemetery, in the 8000 block of Castleton Road.
The cemetery was established in 1841. The most recent stone was marked 1868. After removal, the remains will be relocated to Crown Hill Cemetery.
On Monday, more than a dozen headstones were removed in a slow, deliberate process that should take another day or two to complete, said Megan Tsai, Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
The $400,000 move will set the stage for the 2012 expansion of I-69, a highway that will grow from six to at least 12 lanes, prompting the need to move the cemetery.
As the morning rush came to its end, Crown Hill Cemetery's John Harper and Geoff Barlow -- two burly headstone movers with a gentle touch -- joined a pair of archaeologists, Chris Koeppel and Ryan Peterson, to remove the first headstones around 9 a.m.
Using garden shovels and gloved hands, they carefully removed dirt from around the stones -- the first was knee-high and marked with the initials CIW. A crane will be used to hoist a few larger stones too big to move by hand.
Starting with the removal and repair of headstones, the grave sites and everything in them will be studied by forensic anthropologists and then reburied in the pioneer section of Crown Hill Cemetery -- the same way the graves are laid out at Whitesell, Tsai said.
Each stone will be carefully marked, lifted and strapped to a dolly for transport to storage at Crown Hill, Tsai said. The headstones also will be restored.
Crown Hill plans to provide a monument explaining the history of the Whitesell Cemetery, along with a map.
By Thursday, the state expects the start of the next phase: stripping off the top layer of soil with a backhoe to expose the grave shafts. That will be followed by a team of anthropologists, who plan to spend two to three weeks excavating the bodies by hand under the cover of a tent.
INDOT believes that in addition to the marked graves, there are at least four unmarked graves, according to research of photography, site maps, genealogical research and reports from the 20 or so people who have come forward with information about the potential for distant relatives buried at the site, according to Koeppel, administrator of the cultural resources section at INDOT.
Koeppel will be on the team of anthropologists that also includes noted local forensics expert Stephen Nawrocki and his graduate students from the University of Indianapolis.
During the mid-1800s, people generally were buried in wooden boxes and some metal, Koeppel said. In addition to bones, they might find coffin nails and handles, buckles and jewelry, although what they might uncover in the excavation is really a mystery.
Nawrocki and his students will study any physical remains for age and gender clues to match them with the correct headstones, Koeppel said. Research also has been done to find out the names of all of the deceased because some stones, like the first one removed Monday, are marked only with initials.
Security will be tight. Starting at 5 p.m. Monday, an officer will be on duty at the site 24 hours a day to keep watch, Tsai said.
Moving a cemetery does happen but not frequently, said Casey Miller, executive director of the Fort Wayne-based Indiana Cemetery Association.
"The process generally goes smoothly," Miller said. "Those people know what they're doing."
The last time a cemetery was removed that Miller could remember was three years ago when St. Joseph Boulevard was expanded in Fort Wayne.
Rita Hall and Janet Smith work at Wheaton Van Lines, across the parking lot from Whitesell. They were among a steady stream of people from nearby businesses and neighborhoods who came to check out the scene Monday.
"It's sad, but it has to be done," said Hall, making her first visit to the cemetery since she started working at Wheaton six years ago.
The biggest challenge will be figuring out the puzzle of graves that have been hidden for so long.
After analyzing the grave site, INDOT thinks headstones have been moved around over the years to make it look like family members were buried together.
"The stones were reset with good intentions," Koeppel said. "We want to make sure the right people are with the right headstones."
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