REED CEMETERY

 

Boone Township, Harrison County, Indiana

Submitted by Kevin Conrad, HCCRT Historian

 

Within a small clearing in the woods and situated off an old logging road resides the Reed Cemetery. The Reed cemetery is located on private property at 8515 Otterbein Rd., SE., Laconia, IN., 47135-8632. This parcel of land is located in the Southwest ¼ of Section 18, Township 5 South, Range 4 East, of Boone Township, Harrison County, Indiana.

 

On Saturday, 29 October, 2005, members of the Harrison County Cemetery Restoration Team (HCCRT) commenced to carefully restore the inscribed headstones and footstones as closely to their original condition as possible. This project was completed on 12 November 2005.

 

This cemetery contains at least thirteen 13 known graves. Of these graves, 6 are marked with inscribed headstones and 7 are marked with fieldstones. 9 of the 13 graves are also marked with a footstone. 

 

During the HCCRT restoration project, the property owners stated at one time, a rod-iron fence used to enclose the cemetery, but signs of this former fence are no longer visible. Today, an old wood fence partially encloses the cemetery. The owner’s also reported that at least one, but possibly several, additional grave(s) were known to exist outside the present day fence-line in the northwest and southwest direction from the cemetery. Several members of the HCCRT searched these areas for additional graves. No visiable graves or grave markers were found to the southwest  (beyond row four) of the cemetery’s fence-line. However, outside the fence-line (far end of row three and row four) to the northwest, one grave was identified. After the layers of leaves had been cleared, a fieldstone was found at this grave site.

 

A copy of the HCCRT’s restoration report for this cemetery is on file at the Frederick Porter Griffin Center for Local History and Genealogy, 117 West Beaver Street, Corydon, Indiana, 47112, Phone: (812) 738-4110.

 

 

Directions to Reed Cemetery

 

Take SR-135 south to Watson Road (about 1 mile beyond the Heth-Washington Road for Central). Turn left (east) onto Watson Road.

 

Continue east two miles to a bend in the road, followed by a right turn onto Union Chapel Road. Follow Union Chapel Road  (southeast), about 1 mile, to the Benny Watson Bridge crossing Buck Creek. Immediately after crossing the bridge, turn right (southwest) onto Otterbein Road, which is a gravel road.

 

Cross through the bottom land and travel up the steep hill, through the woods, and pass an old farmhouse (8505 Otterbein Rd), three silos (on the left), and the driveway to the home at 8515 Otterbein Road SE.

 

Go to the hill and turn right on the Quicksilver Road. Continue straight to the gas well that is nearest and outside the edge of the woods. Park in this area. Behind the well towards the woods is a narrow opening. This opening is the old logging road (a dirt road). Follow the old logging road about 150-200 yards. Reed Cemetery sits on the right hand side of the old logging road.

 

 

Headstone Inscriptions

 

ROW 1

 

Lemuel Reed, died Dec. 27, 1855, aged 34y, 4m, 8d.

 

William B., son of S. & L.A. Read, died Sep. 11, 1848, aged 1m.

 

Catharine A., daughter of S. & L. A. Read, born Aug. 21, 1840, died Oct. 4, 1858.

 

Emily, dau of S. & L.A. Read, died Aug. 2, 1860, aged 15y, 9m, 16d.

 

Samuel Read, died Jan. 19, 1862, aged 41y, 7m, 8d.

 

Marked grave, (Field stone)

 

Marked grave, (Field stone)

 

ROW 2

 

Marked grave, (Field stone)

 

Marked grave, (Field stone)

 

ROW 3

 

Margaret Reed Hunter, mother of Stephen Hunter, 1839-1864.

 

Marked grave, (Field stone)

 

Marked grave, (Field stone)

 

ROW 3 ½  (outside of the present day fence-line to the northwest)

 

Marked grave, (Field stone)

 

ROW 4

 

Marked grave, (Field stone)

 

 

Early History of the Reed Family

 

Samuel Reed married Anna McCarty on 01 January 1838, in Harrison County, Indiana.

 

In 1840, Samuel Reed is listed with in the census as residing with his family, in Boone Township of Harrison County, Indiana. Samuel is listed as the head-of-household and has four individuals living with him, including his wife (two of the individuals are females under the age of 5). Living close-by to Samuel Reed is the household of Margaret Reed, widow. Margaret may be Samuel Reed’s mother. Also living in Boone Township at that time was the family of William Reed (age between 20-29), his relationship to Samuel is unknown. Note: The spelling of the surname was “Read” for all three households, where as in the 1850 and 1960 the surname was spelled as “Reed.”

 

On 18 November 1850, the family of Samuel Reed was recorded in the census as residing in District 45 of Harrison County, Indiana. At that time, the household consisted of: Samuel Reed (head-of-household), farmer, age 29, born in Kentucky; wife Anna, housekeeper, age 28, born in Kentucky; daughter Margaret, age 12, born in Indiana; daughter Catharine, age 10, born in Indiana; daughter Rebecca J., age 7, born in Indiana; and daughter Emily, age 5, born in Indiana.  During the time the census was recorded, living adjacent to the Samuel Reed farm, was Lemuel Reel, laborer, age 27, born in Kentucky. At the time of the census, Lemuel Reed was residing within the household of Henry Huffman, age 41 and his wife Isabel, age 36, both born in Indiana. Also living close-by to the farm of Samuel Reed was the household of Margaret Reed, widow, age 60, born in Kentucky; and living with her is Jackson Reed, farmer, age 22, born in Indiana. 

 

On 27 November 1859, Samuel and Anna Reed’s daughter, Margaret Reed, married Charles M. Hunter, in Harrison County, Indiana.

 

On 26 July 1860, the family of Samuel Reed was recorded in the census as residing in Boone Township of Harrison County, Indiana. At that time, the household consisted of: Samuel Reed (head-of-household), farmer, age 41, born in Kentucky; wife Anna, housekeeper, age 41, born in Kentucky; daughter Rebecca, domestic, age 17, born in Indiana; daughter Emily, age 14, born in Indiana; daughter Elisabeth, age 8, born in Indiana; daughter Louisa, age 5, born in Indiana; son Henry F., age 4, born in Indiana; and son Samuel J., age 4 months, born in Indiana.

 

Note: There was some question whether Samuel Reed may have served in the military during the Civil War, since he died during the Civil War in 1862 and his headstone is decorated with a “star” (a symbolic emblem common with military service). A brief search into records was made, and no information surfaced suggesting that Samuel served during the Civil War.

 

Sources: 1840, 1850 and 1860  Harrison County Census Records; and  Harrison County Marriage Records.