Poor Farm Cemetery in 1997	Poor Farm Cemetery after 2003 Cleanup by Claude Simpson of SMC Maintenance & Facility Services, Inc. (photo courtesy of Mr. Simpson)

The old County Poor Farm was a home for indigents in the early part of the 1900s. One of the original structures exists today, adjacent to the Clark County 4-H Fairgrounds on Highway 62 near Charlestown. It was, until 2003, used a nursing home called Longworth Villa, but it was vacated late in 2003.

The Poor Farm Cemetery is located not far from there, inside the Plant itself, at the intersection of 14th Street and G Avenue.  An inventory of Plant cemeteries prepared in 1973 indicates there are no legible stones and none have been found in the 30 years since.

On October 11, 1997, one of the INAAP guards took me on a "dry run" in preparation for our bus tour of the facility in November.  Try as we might, however, we couldn't find the Poor Farm Cemetery. I returned to the Plant on October 12, 1997, armed with a better map and additional information on this site.  I found the site, marked only by the corner posts shown above.

Additional post-cleanup photos	Courtesy of Claude Simpson

In 2003, Claude Simpson of SMC Maintenance & Facility Services, Inc. <cesjy@insightbb.com> cleaned up the grounds of the old Poor Farm Cemetery, leveled the ground, built a fence around the site and researched the records donated to the Charlestown Library to determine who was buried here.

SMC Maintenance & Facility Services, Inc. maintains all of the 10 cemeteries inside the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant.

Mr. Simpson has posted a list of the 27 known burials at the cemetery, which he has graciously shared with us for inclusion here:

POOR FARM GRAVES (Indexed by Claude Simpson)
	First Name	Last Name	Age (if known)	Location	Death Date
1.	John	Barley			Oct 19, 1935
2.	Sadie	Bellamy			Jan 4, 1937
	Shelby	Campbell	77		05/09/1929
	James	Carroll			02/13/1937
3.	Henry	Curtis			May 31, 1933
4.	Boone	Dehaven			Dec 9, 1933
	Harvey	Gibbs	76		02/23/1937
	William	Gibson	71		02/11/1931
5.	Henry	Griffin			Apr 9, 1939
6.	Mary	Haley			Feb 25, 1939
	Andrew	Harmon			12/29/1935
	George	Hayes	About 80		05/20/19___
7.	Wm.	Heivitt (or Hewitt)	66	Jeffersonville	Jan. 2, 1924
8.	Price	Hunter	63		Feb 9, 1934
9.	George	Hutchings			Jul 29, 1933
	William	Johnson			10/05/1935
10.	John	Kane	78	Jeffersonville	Dec 18, 1923
	Ann	Landers			12/05/1928
11.	Thor J.	Leach	74	Jeffersonville	Jan 12, 1924
12.	Sallie	Lewis			Jul 1, 1938
13.	Geo	Lockhart	84	Charlestown	Sep 30, 1925
14.	Harriet	Mace			Mar 24, 1930
	Edward	Milbey			07/10/1932
	Frank	Miller	68		03/06/1927
15.	Jefferson	Miller ("Colored")		Jeffersonville	Jan 29, 1925
16.	A. V.	Musser	69		Mar 22, 1926
17.	Wanna	Ocompusa (or "Ocompus")		Jeffersonville	Dec 26, 1928
18.	Ella	Pangburn			Sep 23, 1937
	William	Pendegraph			02/22/1937
19.	William	Reeves		Jeffersonville	Jan 21, 1932
20.	Grace	Rockwell			Aug 29, 1933
	Nellie	Russel			09/19/1930
	John	Shellers			02/14/1936
	James	Smiller			04/11/1936
21.	John	Smith	85	Jeffersonville	Feb 5, 1924
22.	James	Smith			Apr 11, 1936
23.	Charles	Taylor	22		Oct 22, 1936
24.	Ellen	Thornsbury (or Thornberry)			Mar 11, 1933
25.	Sam	Tracenridei (or Tracenrider)	64		Feb 16, 1937
26.	Louis	Vanhook			Mar 11, 1932
27.	Pete	Wydner			Nov 6, 1939
	In memory of those less fortunate than we.			Site preservation donated by SMC Maintenance & Facility Services, Inc.

Below is a list provided circa 2001 by the staff of the Charlestown Library, a database of death records for 91 residents of the County Poor Farm who died there between 1923 and 1939.  At least 27 of these individuals are buried at the Poor Farm Cemetery (indexes above).  The deceased persons' ages range from 37 to 87, but most are listed without specific ages.
 

DATE	LAST NAME	FIRST	TITLE	AGE	BURIAL LOCATION
07/26/1934	BALL	Mary		?	Jeffersonville
10/19/1935	BARLEY	John		?	Poor Farm
01/04/1937	BELLAWAY	Sadie		?	Poor Farm
07/17/1926	BROADUS	John		75	Walnut Ridge
01/04/1930	BURKET	John		72	Henryville, IN
05/09/1929	CAMPBELL	Shelby		77	Poor Farm
02/13/1937	CARROL	James		?	Poor Farm
08/24/1929	COLEMAN	Mildred		?	?
08/13/1935	CUMMINGS	Josephine		?	Jeffersonville
05/31/1933	CURTIS	Henry		?	Poor Farm
12/09/1933	DEHAVEN	Boone		?	Poor Farm
05/04/1929	EAGAN	Emma		64	Charlestown, IN
09/02/1937	EMERY	Green		?	Jeffersonville
10/17/1925	FAUKNER	Hattie		76	Walnut Ridge
12/25/1931	FOGG	Harry		?	New Albany
01/23/1938	FOGG	William		?	?
08/26/1935	FUSCO	Marion		66	Unknown
02/23/1937	GIBBS	Harvey		76	Poor Farm
02/11/1931	GIBSON	William		71	Poor Farm
10/25/1923	GORDON	Lisa		83	Charlestown Cemetery
08/31/1935	GRAVES	William H		?	Hibernia
04/09/1939	GRIFFIN	Henry		?	Poor Farm
02/25/1939	HALEY	Mary		?	Poor Farm
02/22/1938	HALL	John R		?	Hibernia
12/29/1935	HARMON	Andrew		?	Poor Farm
09/11/1923	HARROD	John		83	Silver Creek
05/20/19??	HAYES	George		about 80	Poor Farm
01/02/1924	HEWITT	Wm		64	Poor Farm
03/16/1929	HILLYARD	Ike		?	Sellersburg, IN
11/23/1934	HUCKLEBERRY	Belle		?	Charlestown
02/09/1933	HUNTER	Price		63	Poor Farm
07/29/1933	HUTCHINGS	George		?	Poor Farm
11/12/1934	JENNY	Edward		65	Taken away for burial
10/05/1935	JOHNSON	William		?	Poor Farm
12/18/1923	KANE	John		78	Poor Farm
02/05/1931	KIMBREW	Sarah		77	?
12/05/1928	LANDERS	Ann		?	Poor Farm
08/--/1933	LATIMER	Thomas		?	New Washington
08/17/1929	LATIMORE	Mattie		?	New Washington
01/12/1924	LEACH	Thor J		74	Poor Farm
02/08/1937	LEASON	Jack		?	Jeffersonville
07/19/1928	LEE	Alford		80	?
07/01/1938	LEWIS	Sallie		?	Poor Farm
09/30/1925	LOCKHART	George		84	Poor Farm
03/24/1930	MACE	Harriett		?	Poor Farm
02/04/1933	MANN	Sallie		66	Sellersburg
02/26/1929	MCCARTY	Green		?	Jeff
10/01/1932	MICKSELL	Andrew		?	Union
07/10/1932	MILBEY	Edward		?	Poor Farm
03/06/1927	MILLER	Frank		68	Poor Farm
01/29/1925	MILLER	Jefferson	Col.	?	Poor Farm
04/14/1932	MORGAN	Julias		?	New Albany
10/09/1938	MOSS	Maggie		?	Taken away for burial
10/16/1932	MURPHY	Gertrude		?	Jeffersonville
03/22/1926	MUSSER	A V		69	Poor Farm
12/28/1926	OCOMPUS	Wanna		?	Poor Farm
10/08/1931	ORMAN	Lewis		?	?
10/23/1937	PANGBURN	Ella		?	Poor Farm
02/22/1937	PENDEGRAPH	William		?	Poor Farm
10/01/1933	PETERS	Allie		?	Jeffersonville
01/03/1937	PINNELL	Robert		?	Jeffersonville
12/25/1923	REDDING	Louis		87	New Chapel
06/10/1929	REEVES	Ernest		37	?
01/21/1932	REEVES	William		?	Poor Farm
01/22/1938	REYNOLDS	William		?	New Washington
08/29/1933	ROCKWELL	Grace		?	Poor Farm
08/23/1929	ROCKWELL	Grace		?	Jeffersonville, IN
05/11/1932	ROSS	John		?	Goshen
02/09/1932	RUSH	Albert		?	Charlestown
09/19/1930	RUSSEL	Nellie		?	Poor Farm
11/07/1934	RUSSEL	Samuel		?	Kentucky
02/15/1924	SHELL	Reischiel		77	Jeff
02/14/1936	SHELLERS	John		?	Poor Farm
04/08/1926	SHILLING	Katenia		66	Charlestown Cemetery
02/18/1924	SHOTMILLER	Matt		55	St. Joe
04/11/1936	SMILLER	James		?	Poor Farm
02/05/1924	SMITH	John		85	Poor Farm
11/22/1936	STEELMAN	Edward		?	Charlestown [Found in index for Union Cemetery]
09/20/1923	STINE	Katie		53	Eastern Cemetery
08/06/1934	STONER	Sherman		?	Lexington, IN
10/30/1928	STUFFMAN	Sira		77	?
08/21/1932	SYLVESTER	Charlotte		?	Jeffersonville
12/16/1933	TAFFLINGER	Lambert		?	New Washington
10/22/1936	TAYLOR	Charles		45	Poor Farm
05/11/1933	THORNBERRY	Ellen		?	Poor Farm
02/16/1937	TRACENRIDER	San (or "Sam")		64	Poor Farm
10/28/1935	TRUE	Lewis M		?	Jeffersonville
05/11/1932	VANHOOK	Louis		?	Poor Farm
03/11/1931	VANHOOK	Louis		?	Poor Farm Apparent duplication (see above)
04/25/1929	WILSON	Charles		69	Jeffersonville
11/06/1939	WYDNER	Pete		?	Poor Farm

I presently have no further information on this cemetery. This information was obtained from either the:

Jeffersonville Twp. Library     or      Charlestown Library

211 East Court Avenue                   51 Clark Road

Jeffersonville, Indiana 47130           Charlestown, Indiana  47111

Telephone:  (812) 285-5635              Telephone:  (812) 256-3337