ALAMO — When Ripley Township Trustee Jamie Selby received a phone call from Wisconsin she didn’t answer it, thinking it was likely a spam call. A couple of days later when she listened to the caller’s voicemail, an interesting story about stolen tombstones from a Ripley Township cemetery began to unfold.
The was Kate Dennis, clerk-treasurer of Genoa City, Wisconsin. She told Selby she was in possession of three tombstones believed to have been stolen from the Texas Cemetery in Ripley Township. The revelation took Selby by surprise. Texas Cemetery is abandoned and is located at the intersection of C.R. 875W and State Road 234, just north of Deers Mill.
As part of her trustee duties, Selby has the cemetery mowed, however, she has little information on the final resting place of people from so long ago.
“At first I thought this had to be a mistake,” Selby said. “I had no idea any tombstones were missing.”
Records in the Crawfordsville District Public Library show only 15 graves in the cemetery. The earliest grave was dug in 1840 and the final grave was dug in 1870.
Selby, whose family owns a cabin in Wisconsin, was able to meet Dennis while her family was in the northern part of that state in September. During their meeting the story of the recovered tombstones made Selby certain that the markers belonged in Montgomery County.
“Who in the world steals tombstones,” Selby asked herself. “What kind of human being takes tombstones from Indiana to Wisconsin?”
Dennis said the tombstones were found in a corner of property owned by a recently deceased elderly man. The man’s property was being prepared to be sold. Workers were surprised to find the tombstones.
“Part of the property had a fence around it and the people doing the cleanup found the graves,” Selby said. “They immediately called the clerk to inform her of the surprise.”
Dennis said that when the stones were first discovered, she wondered if this was an old pioneer burial ground.
“The markers are from 1850-60’s,” she said. “It’s just off a main road in our village and perhaps wagoners traveling west, buried lost loved ones there along the way.”
Dennis then went to work tracking down who was buried on the property. There were no records indicating a cemetery was on the property. Upon further research it was discovered the tombstones actually were marking the graves of the man’s pets. Meanwhile, employees from the Genoa City street department retrieved the stones.
Once the tombstones were in Dennis’ possession, her next job was to find where the tombstones truly belonged. She was able to clean up the stones to read the names and then searched a national database, and to her surprise the name was traced to a small cemetery near Alamo, Indiana.
“As a clerk it is my responsibility by Wisconsin statute to properly record and preserve all burials within my jurisdiction,” Dennis said. “That is what my purpose was the day we recovered and cleaned the stones. When I found no local records, I went to the find-a-grave website and found two of the three families in the Texas Cemetery. I felt sad that these babies’ markers were not with their families. I could not locate the family for the third child, but felt he had spent decades with the first two and should stay with them at this time.”
That is when Dennis phoned Selby to let her know three tombstones had been discovered and she wanted to return them to their rightful place.
Dennis said she discovered the deceased man often traveled to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is speculated he somehow found the old cemetery and stole the tombstones. How the man was able to move the markers alone is still a mystery. Selby said markers are heavy and she doubted one man could remove and carry them.
When Selby returned from her family visit in Wisconsin, she brought the grave markers with her. With the assistance of C.J. Mullett, who mows the cemetery, the tombstones are back in the cemetery. However, no one knows where the markers should be properly placed. Selby hopes to someday have that answer.
For now, the tombstones that are symbols of loss more than 150 years ago, are back in the cemetery.
“I am glad that they made their way home and their story has a happier ending,” Dennis said.
