Published: April 24, 2009 10:54 pm      

Groups bring past residents to life

COVINGTON, Ind. — Did you ever wonder what it was like to be a pioneer living in Fountain County, Ind., in the 1820s? Or what life was like for a soldier of the Civil or Revolutionary War?

On May 2, colorful residents long deceased and buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery on Liberty Street in Covington, Ind., will come to life for a day to tell their stories during a cemetery walk sponsored by the Fountain County Genealogy Society and the Fountain County Art Council.

Through genealogy research, census figures, old newspapers and, in some cases, by contacting relatives of the deceased, the members of the genealogy society have uncovered the life stories of 16 people buried at the cemetery. During the cemetery walk, they will be portrayed by local reenactors dressed up in historical garb.

“It will be a chance to see history come to life. Everything is factual, nothing is made up,” said Carol Freese, president of the art council.

Esther Test Wallace, mother of Lew Wallace and the most famous person buried in the cemetery, was a shoo-in for the walk. The event will also feature soldiers from the Revolutionary and Civil wars, and pioneer families with interesting, amusing and sometimes heartbreaking life stories.

“I was taken with this one couple who had seven or eight children and they all died really young,” said Kim Martin, a member of the genealogy society who helped do the research.

Tickets for the event cost $5 and can be purchased in advance at the House With the Lions Antiques on the east side of the square in Covington, or the day of the event at the historical Clerk’s Building and Museum at 516 Fourth St. The event runs from 1-4 p.m. EDT with three separate walks starting at 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15. Parking is available at the Clerk’s Building, and attendees will be escorted to the cemetery by horse and wagon.

Throughout the day, members of the art council will serve refreshments and offer a program on cemeteries and tombstone symbolism at the Clerk’s Building, which will open for the season in conjunction with the cemetery walk.

The event is a fundraiser for the two organizations but the main objective is not to make money, said Martin. “Our main goal is to promote awareness of the lives of the people who lived here. We’re also trying to promote the preservation of historic buildings and cemeteries in our county.”

According to Ed Moyer, also a genealogy society member, this will be the first time the organization is sponsoring a cemetery walk in Fountain County. “But we’re already planning another one next year at a different cemetery. Depending on how it’s received we’re hoping that it’ll be an annual event,” he said. “They’ve run before in other places, like Danville, and we thought it’d be a neat idea to do it over here. A lot of folks are excited about the possibility of doing reenactments.”



FYI

For more information about the May 2 cemetery walk, contact Carol Freese at (765) 793-2710 or Sharon Roberts at (765) 793-4584.