Betholene Cemetery, Boone TownshipIndex of Betholene Cemetery burials . . . .
The Betholene Cemetery is located south of Hebron in the southeast quarter of
the southeast quarter of Section 15, north of present day 900 South and directly
across from the Hebron Cemetery. Today, Betholene Cemetery is considered to be a
portion of the Hebron Cemetery. The 1876, 1895, 1906, and 1921 plat maps of
Boone Township clearly identify the location of the Betholene Cemetery.
An article titled "The Hebron School History of Boone Township" published August
18, 1936, in The Vidette-Messenger [Volume 10, Section 3, Pages 21-23]
provides the following information concerning the Betholene Cemetery:
"Death found its way into the little community in 1837 for the
first time when
Harriet Dinwiddie, a young girl, died. The second
death was that of Mrs. Orris Jewett,
the wife of the blacksmith,
1838. Soon after arrival here the
settlers had selected a site for
a cemetery just across the road from
the present Hebron
cemetery, but when it became
necessary to dig a grave for the
little Dinwiddie girl this location
was found to be so wet that the
grave filled with water. The site was
then changed to the present
Western part of the cemetery north of
the road where the little
girl was laid to rest."
According to Boone Township cemetery index published in 1997 by the Northwest
Indiana Genealogical Society, "When the [Betholene] cemetery was started the
Betholene post office was near by." The information concerning the post office
is likely to be incorrect, as numerous records concerning Indiana's postal
history fail to identify a post office named Betholene. It is more likely that
the Betholene Cemetery was named after the Associate Reformed Presbyterian
church in the area called the Associate Reformed Congregation of Bethlehem. The
following is stated in an article titled "The Hebron School History of Boone
Township" published August 18, 1936, in The Vidette-Messenger [Volume 10,
Section 3, Pages 21-23]:
"On the 28th day of July, 1838, a group of
pioneers led by
Samuel Turner, Thomas Dinwiddie,
Berkley Oliver and the
Rev. Mr. Hannan formed a
congregation known as the Associate
Reformed congregation of Bethlehem, later
Hebron. The original
congregation consisted of fifteen members, Mr. and Mrs.
Samuel
Turner, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dinwiddie, Mr. and Mrs. Berkley
Oliver,
Susannah Dinwiddie, Sr., Susannah Dinwiddie, Jr.,
Margaret Dinwiddie and Eloza
A. Dinwiddie. Samuel Turner and
Thomas Dinwiddie were chosen, ordained and
installed as ruling
elders and served in that capacity until their death.
It has been said that the congregation of Bethlehem was
composed at its origin
of poor people and was established
during the financial panic of 1838. They met
first in a small
school house, standing where the public burying ground now is,
in the home of Thomas Dinwiddie, and in nature's first temple,
the grove. For
the first two or three years the congregation was
favored with occasional
supplies, but being removed upon the
frontier, a pioneer congregation, their
supplies were few."
NOTE: If you have information that you
like to add to this database, including corrections, then please contribute it
to
Steve Shook.
DINWIDDIE, Harriet
Birth: 1832
Death: June 8, 1837
Note: daughter of Thomas and Mary Dinwiddie
Betholene Cemetery data prepared by Steven R. Shook