Olive Hill Cemetery
Greens Fork, Wayne County, Indiana, USA
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Get directions 1 mile north of the I-70 Centerville exit.
Greens Fork, Indiana, USACoordinates: 39.87456, -84.99222 - Cemetery ID:
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Add PhotosKennedy Chapel Cemetery.
CLOSED FOR BURIALS.
LAST BURIAL: 1890 (According to tombstone inscriptions).
CURRENT STATUS OF CEMETERY:
With the demise of the Olive Hill community, the burial ground fell out of use. It has been maintained over the years by the land owners.
Not accessible except by crossing the land owner's property.
Its current condition is unknown as I have not been able to visit the grounds,(as of Sept. 2013).
RECORD OF TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS
When Beverly Yount read the stones in 1968 for her work, "Tombstone Inscriptions in Wayne Co., IN.", she wrote, "The cemetery is in poor condition. Probably many of the stones are now under ground. A few names of persons buried here who no longer have stones were found in a series of articles by Mr. McKinney that were published in the Palladium-Item newspaper in August of 1935."
NOTE: All burials listed on these pages for this cemetery are taken directly from Beverly Yount's book. Since the grounds are not easily accessible, we are indebted to her tireless work in compiling this data for future generations while many of the remaining stones were still visible.
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THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS GLEANED FROM THE BOOK, "History of Northeastern Wayne County, Indiana." Published by Unigraphic Inc., Evansville, Indiana, 1976.
[Some portions shortened & reworded for space constrants].
LOCATION:
In the southwest corner of Webster Township, south of State Road 38, on the Centerville - Williamsburg Road. Go to first road before crossing the railroad, turn left at large two story house, owned by Everett Mull family. The old cemetery is just north of a big red barn and about 300 feet back from a road that used to go all the way through to Nolans Fork Road.
THE CEMETERY:
The cemetery is known to be 150 years old or older by stones that can be read. [This was in 1976].
There are about 50 stones, some of them are broken, and some are so old that the writing is no longer legible. The oldest stone is believed to have been placed there in 1826. It has the following inscription: In memory of John N. and Jane, son and daughter of Robert and Rebecca Culbertson. John died July 25, 1826 at the age of 10 years, 9 months, and 11 days. Jane died october 1825. Her age and rest of the writing was obliterated.
There are three graves of the Hoovers, close relatives of Daird Hoover who founded Richmond and distant relative of former President Herbert Hoover.
Whether Henry Hoover, a brother of Daird, is buried on the Hoover lot is not known as no stone was found with his name. His wife, however, and a daughter are buried there. Suzanne, wife of Henry Hoover died in 1853 at the age of 65 years. Martha Culbertson, daughter of Henry and Suzanne Hoover died in 1889 at the age of 71 years. A third stone shows that Emma C., daughter of Allen and Maria Hoover, is buried on the Hoover lot. She was born in 1852 but the date of death is erased by age.
The cemetery has been maintained by the Mull family since the early 1900's. William Mull until his death in 1951. Then Everett Mull, his son maintained it until his death in 1965. William D. Mull and David W. Mull, sons of Everett, continue to maintain it.
The cemetery is still being visited by persons having ancestors buried there.
[It would appear that the cemetery may predate the chapel since burials began in 1825 but the deed for the chapel land is dated 1843. Or some persons where possibly moved here at a later time.]
THE KENNEDY'S CHAPEL:
The site of the old camp meetings which were famous in their days was on the land of John Kennedy, in the woods north and east of the cemetery. This site in recent years has been known as Marcus Reynolds farm and most recently left to his twin grandsons Carl and Merle.
John Kennedy gave the land for the erection of the first church which set just inside the gate of the cemetery. It was a Methodist Church known as Kennedy's Chapel.
Wayne County, IN, Deed Book 5, page 113, records the following deed, in part: "One square acre of land off of the south side of the south west quarter of section 32, Township 17, Range 14 East, being Ninety four rods from the South East corner of said quarter section...that they shall erect and build thereon a house a place of worship for the use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America..." This is the original deed from John Kennedy to Henry Hoover and others for the land on which to build their chapel. The deed is dated August 7, 1843.
This church was constructed of sawn timber. It was partially destroyed when a tree fell on it, probably in the Fall of 1877 or the ensuing winter. The surrounding area being a dense forest of poplar trees.
The next summer [1878] a new church was built, being remodeled in about 1885 as evidenced by the date on the front of one of its stoves.
The chapel measured about 24 feet by 32 feet. It had 2 small stoves, one at each end, that cast off quite a lot of heat into the building. The room had oil lamps, high-backed benches, a small reed organ, a captain's chair for the minister, and a small table that was used as a pulpit.
The coming of good roads and the closing of the nearby school in the spring of 1922, spelled the doom of the little community of Olive Hill. The congregation disbanded at its meeting of January 14, 1922.
The chapel building was sold about 1926 to Earl Cheeseman who removed it to his farm on State Road 38. He also obtained the table, captain's chair, 2 benches and the stoves. A man from Williamsburg, Clifford Duke, moved the building for around $90 to Mr. Cheeseman's land. The moving took the greater part of two days, and was done by rolling it up the Pike atop logs. The purchase price of the building was also around $90.
At first, Earl Cheeseman used the chapel, still intact, as a shed for the storage of some of his farming machinery. In 1925, he decided to remodel his home, using timber of the Chapel. The joists of Kennedy's Chapel were used to make the joists in the east wing of his home, and the uprights were used in the same way that they were in the former building, without shortening them. The windows of the home are halves of the windows used on the west and east sides of the Chapel. "Those windows probably were seven or eight feet high. I could use only half of each one here in the house, " according to Mr. Cheeseman.
This description & history written by Find A Grave member:
tombstone2c (#47280299)
from various historical sources.
Kennedy Chapel Cemetery.
CLOSED FOR BURIALS.
LAST BURIAL: 1890 (According to tombstone inscriptions).
CURRENT STATUS OF CEMETERY:
With the demise of the Olive Hill community, the burial ground fell out of use. It has been maintained over the years by the land owners.
Not accessible except by crossing the land owner's property.
Its current condition is unknown as I have not been able to visit the grounds,(as of Sept. 2013).
RECORD OF TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS
When Beverly Yount read the stones in 1968 for her work, "Tombstone Inscriptions in Wayne Co., IN.", she wrote, "The cemetery is in poor condition. Probably many of the stones are now under ground. A few names of persons buried here who no longer have stones were found in a series of articles by Mr. McKinney that were published in the Palladium-Item newspaper in August of 1935."
NOTE: All burials listed on these pages for this cemetery are taken directly from Beverly Yount's book. Since the grounds are not easily accessible, we are indebted to her tireless work in compiling this data for future generations while many of the remaining stones were still visible.
----------------------------------
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS GLEANED FROM THE BOOK, "History of Northeastern Wayne County, Indiana." Published by Unigraphic Inc., Evansville, Indiana, 1976.
[Some portions shortened & reworded for space constrants].
LOCATION:
In the southwest corner of Webster Township, south of State Road 38, on the Centerville - Williamsburg Road. Go to first road before crossing the railroad, turn left at large two story house, owned by Everett Mull family. The old cemetery is just north of a big red barn and about 300 feet back from a road that used to go all the way through to Nolans Fork Road.
THE CEMETERY:
The cemetery is known to be 150 years old or older by stones that can be read. [This was in 1976].
There are about 50 stones, some of them are broken, and some are so old that the writing is no longer legible. The oldest stone is believed to have been placed there in 1826. It has the following inscription: In memory of John N. and Jane, son and daughter of Robert and Rebecca Culbertson. John died July 25, 1826 at the age of 10 years, 9 months, and 11 days. Jane died october 1825. Her age and rest of the writing was obliterated.
There are three graves of the Hoovers, close relatives of Daird Hoover who founded Richmond and distant relative of former President Herbert Hoover.
Whether Henry Hoover, a brother of Daird, is buried on the Hoover lot is not known as no stone was found with his name. His wife, however, and a daughter are buried there. Suzanne, wife of Henry Hoover died in 1853 at the age of 65 years. Martha Culbertson, daughter of Henry and Suzanne Hoover died in 1889 at the age of 71 years. A third stone shows that Emma C., daughter of Allen and Maria Hoover, is buried on the Hoover lot. She was born in 1852 but the date of death is erased by age.
The cemetery has been maintained by the Mull family since the early 1900's. William Mull until his death in 1951. Then Everett Mull, his son maintained it until his death in 1965. William D. Mull and David W. Mull, sons of Everett, continue to maintain it.
The cemetery is still being visited by persons having ancestors buried there.
[It would appear that the cemetery may predate the chapel since burials began in 1825 but the deed for the chapel land is dated 1843. Or some persons where possibly moved here at a later time.]
THE KENNEDY'S CHAPEL:
The site of the old camp meetings which were famous in their days was on the land of John Kennedy, in the woods north and east of the cemetery. This site in recent years has been known as Marcus Reynolds farm and most recently left to his twin grandsons Carl and Merle.
John Kennedy gave the land for the erection of the first church which set just inside the gate of the cemetery. It was a Methodist Church known as Kennedy's Chapel.
Wayne County, IN, Deed Book 5, page 113, records the following deed, in part: "One square acre of land off of the south side of the south west quarter of section 32, Township 17, Range 14 East, being Ninety four rods from the South East corner of said quarter section...that they shall erect and build thereon a house a place of worship for the use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America..." This is the original deed from John Kennedy to Henry Hoover and others for the land on which to build their chapel. The deed is dated August 7, 1843.
This church was constructed of sawn timber. It was partially destroyed when a tree fell on it, probably in the Fall of 1877 or the ensuing winter. The surrounding area being a dense forest of poplar trees.
The next summer [1878] a new church was built, being remodeled in about 1885 as evidenced by the date on the front of one of its stoves.
The chapel measured about 24 feet by 32 feet. It had 2 small stoves, one at each end, that cast off quite a lot of heat into the building. The room had oil lamps, high-backed benches, a small reed organ, a captain's chair for the minister, and a small table that was used as a pulpit.
The coming of good roads and the closing of the nearby school in the spring of 1922, spelled the doom of the little community of Olive Hill. The congregation disbanded at its meeting of January 14, 1922.
The chapel building was sold about 1926 to Earl Cheeseman who removed it to his farm on State Road 38. He also obtained the table, captain's chair, 2 benches and the stoves. A man from Williamsburg, Clifford Duke, moved the building for around $90 to Mr. Cheeseman's land. The moving took the greater part of two days, and was done by rolling it up the Pike atop logs. The purchase price of the building was also around $90.
At first, Earl Cheeseman used the chapel, still intact, as a shed for the storage of some of his farming machinery. In 1925, he decided to remodel his home, using timber of the Chapel. The joists of Kennedy's Chapel were used to make the joists in the east wing of his home, and the uprights were used in the same way that they were in the former building, without shortening them. The windows of the home are halves of the windows used on the west and east sides of the Chapel. "Those windows probably were seven or eight feet high. I could use only half of each one here in the house, " according to Mr. Cheeseman.
This description & history written by Find A Grave member:
tombstone2c (#47280299)
from various historical sources.
Nearby cemeteries
Centerville, Wayne County, Indiana, USA
- Total memorials373
- Percent photographed83%
- Percent with GPS56%
- Added: 10 Jun 2010
- Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2357455
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