If you listen carefully you will be able to hear the rushing rapids of the South Fork of the Wildcat. A peaceful walk takes you by the final resting place of some of our forefathers who walked the earth in the 1700’s.
Providence Cemetery in Washington Township near Camp Cullom needed some attention. Washington Township Trustee Jeff Sigler, local Funeral Home Owner Mark Genda, neighbor Chuck Shepherd and his grandson spent time recently restoring a dozen markers at the cemetery that needed attention. Several markers were laying down, fallen and had to be reseated. The foursome took on the project this week and left the beautiful cemetery in even better shape.
According to Sigler several veterans are laid to rest at the cemetery. Many graves are from pre-civil war days. Sigler said several headstones indicate many people born in the 1700’s are buried at Providence. The earliest-born person Sigler has record of was a gravesite from a person born in 1761. That person was 15 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, birthing our new nation. This means this individual buried at Providence Cemetery in Clinton County was born under English rule.
Publishers Note: French rule in Indiana did not end until 1763. British rule in Indiana spanned 1763 to 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. The treaty of Paris resulted in the British formally recognizing American Independence east of the Mississippi. Consequently, this individual buried in Providence cemetery lived under French AND British rule prior to Indiana formally entering the United States in 1783, when this person would have been 22 years old!
Kaspar Media learned about the project when Russ Kaspar asked Jeff “what you been up to?” when Jeff drove by Kaspar Media in his pick up truck when Russ was getting into his car.
The music of the Wildcat still plays on while the seasons change through the centuries. Perhaps in 100 years four more considerate Clinton County Residents will do the same for some of us.