TERRE HAUTE — Lost Creek Township Trustee Rick Long said he did not know the cemetery existed until he received a phone call five years ago from a terminally ill man who wanted to be buried on the grounds of the former Vigo County Home for Dependent Children.
Long and the man walked several acres on the Seelyville property in search of the cemetery, but did not locate it.
“It was like we were looking for mushrooms. You don’t see anything but leaves and trees,” Long said. “It’s kind of a difficult situation when you’re a trustee taking care of 10 to 12 cemeteries and somebody says, ‘Hey I want to be buried here,’ and you don’t know where it is,” he said.
Now, Long wants to erect a memorial for the children buried there. Long said he gave up searching for the cemetery until a few months ago when a representative from the Vigo County Children’s Homes contacted Long concerned about surveyors’ flags at the site of the cemetery.
Long said he found himself walking around in the middle of the woods again at the site, but this time the location of the lone tombstone was marked with yellow plastic caution tape. One stone was discovered next to a dead beech tree. The grave marker reads, “Sept. 18, 1906. David R. Anderson. April 18, 1908.” Trees and time have decimated the cemetery, located in a wooded area on the grounds of the former orphanage.
“We want to do something, but not in the middle of the woods,” he said, “because somebody will tear it up.” Long said he is working to erect a monument for the former orphanage at the Chamberlain Cemetery on Maple Avenue, located across the street just off U.S. 40.
The new monument is estimated to cost $3,700 and will be 3 feet wide and 5 feet tall, made from granite and etched with gold-colored inscription. Long said it will be installed in late June or July. Jennifer Krockenberger designed the front and back of the black granite stone. She developed an interest in the project through her work as an advocate for adult adoptees.
The Vigo County Home for Dependent Children was active from 1903 until 1979, when it was deemed impractical to renovate. The orphanage is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Laura Followell can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or laura.followell@tribstar.com.
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