Entrance to Grayson Cemetery -- Restored 2001-2002 (photo taken 04/06/2002)

Grayson-Long Cemetery is located south of Gutford Road and west of Blackiston Mill Road in Clarksville, Indiana. Though it is in the middle of a heavily populated area, this one-acre cemetery is in the middle of a heavily-wooded tract of land and is rather remote.  To reach Grayson-Long Cemetery, turn West off Blackiston Mill Road onto Idlewood Drive. Go past two stop signs and turn RIGHT into a dead-end, which is the north end of Elmwood Drive. The little dead-end street is only about 40 or 50 feet long. Walk to the end of the sidewalk on the right side of the street and follow the well-worn path back into the wood. At the fork in the path, bear to the right and watch for signs of the cemetery at the top of a hill on the left side of the path. The approximate location of the cemetery is at UTM 16 606364E 4241226N (38.3147°N, 85.7834°W).  Click here for a topographical map of the area, courtesy of www.topozone.com.

We first visited Grayson-Long Cemetery after the April 4, 1998 meeting of the Clark County Cemetery Preservation Committee.  Until one stumbled across a broken tombstone (and they were all broken, except one), the place was pretty much unrecognizable as a cemetery back in 1998.

Though this site was neglected for many, many years, that all changed in 2001.  The photos at the top of this webpage show the condition of the cemetery in 1998.  See below for details about the 2001-2002 restoration of this beautiful family burying ground.
 

Ornately carved stone of EMMA N. PHIPPS, b. 05/08/1851, d. 07/1898. Notice the ferns carved into the lower portion of the stone and other foliage carved around the top. (1998 photo)	This 1998 photo doesn't do justice to the intricate carvings on the base of this GRAYSON monument. Behind the base and just to the left of it is the fallen stone of ROBERT GRAYSON, b. 01/11/1790, d. 04/25/1845.

Back in 1998, we saw dozens of broken stones and monuments and only one standing stone. I was particularly taken with the extremely beautiful, highly ornate monuments, particularly Emma Phipps' monument (above, left) with the huge carved ferns and the detail work on the base of Robert Grayson's monument (above, right). The site has been neglected, abused and vandalized terribly. Apparently the neighborhood children spent a lot of time there and have been responsible for most of the damage. I suspect some of the huge trees in the cemetery are also responsible for some of the damage The path is kept clear by the kids riding their bicycles through the heavy woods. There is even a piece of plywood nailed to a fallen tree to provide a ramp for bicycles.

(1998 photo)

The path back to the site is easy walking though you may have to step over the occasional fallen tree.  The wildflowers here in early April are simply breathtaking. We saw thousands of Dutchman's Breeches and May Apples in bloom. The beauty of the spot is enhanced by the fact that it is literally surrounded by subdivisions and commercial development. There are gorgeous ravines all around the cemetery that probably fill with water rather quickly during heavy rains. The cemetery itself contained several  huge depressions. About 30 years ago (circa 1970), a group of teenagers went into Grayson Cemetery and vandalized several of the graves here.  In fact, they dug up the remains of at least two people and later paraded around town with the deceased persons' skulls.  They were arrested and given a proverbial slap on the wrist.  See PDF of undated newsclipping from the Courier-Journal and the Jeffersonville Evening News. Opening this PDF file requires the Adobe Acrobat READER, available for free download at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Thirty years later, those gaping holes (some 3 feet deep and full of trash) where these vandals dug up these persons' remains have finally been filled, the site has been cleaned, the stones have been professionally repaired, a dozen or more dead and dying trees have been moved off the graves and a split-rail fence has been constructed outline the boundaries of the 1-acre cemetery.

Under the auspices of the Jeffersonville Township Trustee (Mr. Dale Popp), a clean-up of the long-neglected Grayson-Long Cemetery was undertaken in 2001.  I am pleased to report that the work is now finished!  The Clarksville Riverfront Foundation and either the Sheriff's office or Community Service workers (I still don't know which) have been involved in the clean-up. The Grayson Family (owners of Grayson Funeral Homes and the Charlestown Monument Company) repaired all of the stones found to date!

The surrounding woods are being turned into a park and the cemetery will be protected.

Of further interest is the fact that on our April 6, 2002 visit, we found 8 "new" stones -- stones that were not on the circa 1960s index we found at the Jeffersonville Library several years ago -- stones that probably have not seen the light of day in 40 years or more!

I was so pleased on 12/15/2001 to see the progress made at Grayson-Long Cemetery and then to see the finished project when we returned on 04/06/2002 was a genuine treat!  Take a look for yourself!

Above:  Views as one approaches Grayson-Long Cemetery from the trail.
	Above:  Stone of Robert E. Long	Above:  Stone of George Walker
Above:  Stone of John W. Long	Above:  Stone of George W. and Janie Long	Above:  Stone of George L. and Harry E. Long
Above:  Stone of infant Johnie Pittman	Above:  Stone of Emma Phipps and Julia A. McComb	Above:  Commemorative stone donated by Grayson Family in 2001
Above:  Commemorative stone donated by Grayson Family in 2001
Above:  Commemorative stone donated by Grayson Family in 2001	Above:  Stone of Nancy Grayson	Above:  Stone of Robert Grayson
Above:  Stone of John F. Straw	Above:  Footstone of D.M.P.	Above:  Stone of Andrew Jackson Stewart
Above:  Stone of Laura Collins
Above:  Views of Grayson-Long Cemetery from eastern boundary
Above:  Views of the "heart" of the cemetery		Above:  View of the ravine at the northern boundary of the cemetery
Above:  View of the ravine at the northern boundary of the cemetery	Above:  View of cemetery from the western bounday	Above:  View as one leaves Grayson-Long Cemetery
The photos below were taken on 04/06/2002 -- after construction of the new split-rail fence by Dale Popp, the Jeffersonville Township Trustee, and includes photos of previously undiscovered stones found during the cleanup and restoration.
View from interior of Grayson Cemetery on 4/6/2002	Stone of Cynthia J. HEWITT, daughter of R. & A. Hewitt, b. 04/25/1862, d. 8/12/1864	Homemade concrete stone of Martha S. WILLIAMS, b. 10/11/1868, d. 7/15/1886
Homemade concrete stone of Emma WILLIAMS, on the backside of Martha S. WILLIAMS' stone, birth and death dates illegible	Homemade concrete stone of Melissa STITES, b. 3/31/1864, d. 4/18/1889

The following index was done by B. C. Holmes (date unknown, probably in the 1960s):

BISHOP          Flora                   b. 12/21/1890   d. 01/22/1891



COLLINS         Laura                   b. 1870         d. 1894



DAVIS           Martha A.               b. 01/08/1812   d. 12/28/1878



GRAYSON         George Franklin         b. 11/25/1856   d. 05/08/1866



GRAYSON         Mary E.                 b. 01/18/1847   d. 10/21/1875



GRAYSON         Nancy                   b. 12/31/1801   d. 03/18/1886

                (wife of Robert;

                dates added 04/06/2002)



GRAYSON         Robert                  b. 01/11/1790   d. 04/25/1845

                (husband of Nancy)



HEWITT          Cynthia J., daughter    b. 04/25/1862   d. 08/12/1864

                of R. & A. Hewitt

                (added 04/06/2002)

LIVINGSTON      Cora A.                 b. 03/28/1895   d. 07/16/1895



LONG            Elizabeth               b. 1857         d. 1928

                (wife of William N.)



LONG            George L.               b. 1868         d. 1934

                (added 04/06/2002)

LONG            George W.               b. 1831         d. 1916

                (dated corrected

                04/06/2002)

LONG            Harry E.                b. 1871         d. BLANK

                (added 04/06/2002)



LONG            Janie                   b. 1846         d. 1926

The grave of Nancy Jane Long (1846-1926) was vandalized circa 1970 by five area teenagers, who were charged with disturbing graves "for the purpose of taking the body or parts thereof or property interred there."  According to a Louisville Courier-Journal article, "Some property, including jewelry, believed taken from one of the graves has been recovered."  The newstory also reported, "The Clarksville Police Chief, William Day, called the vandalism 'one of the most gruesome acts I've seen'.  A deputy sheriff reported tombstones were overturned and broken, and that one grave marked '1846-1926' was dug up."

See PDF of undated newsclipping from the Courier-Journal and the Jeffersonville Evening News. Opening this PDF file requires the Adobe Acrobat READER, available for free download at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

LONG            John W.                 b. 03/22/1866   d. 03/05/1898

LONG            Robert E., Indiana      No birth date   d. 01/19/1931

                Corp 22 Engrs.

                (military stone; added

                04/06/2002)                



LONG            William                 b. 02/12/1832   d. 04/20/1859



LONG            William N.              b. 1857         d. 1929

                (husband of Elizabeth;

                dates corrected 04/06/2002)



McCOMB          Julia A.                b. 09/28/1828   d. 01/01/1906

                ("Formerly Phipps";

                "Mother"; dates corrected

                04/06/2002)



PHIPPS          Daniel W.               b. 1824         d. 1891



PHIPPS          Emma N.                 b. 05/08/1861   d. 07/15/1898

                ("May she rest in peace";

                date amended 04/06/2002)



PHIPPS          George W.               b. 10/11/1854   d. 01/24/1885



PHIPPS          Peter J.                b. 12/07/1885   d. 12/14/1908



PITMAN          Dora                    b. 03/02/1885   d. 11/24/1893

Footstone:      D.M.P.



PITMAN          Johnie                  b. 07/11/1892   d. 01/16/1893

                ("Son of W. D. & L. A.

                Pitman")



STEWART         Andrew Jackson          b. 05/01/1832   d. 09/28/1887



STEWART         John F.                 b. 09/25/1824   d. 05/28/1849



STEWART         Elizabeth Nancy Grayson

                Stewart {per book by

                Florence Salyards re

                descendants of Robert

                Stewart; E.N.G.S. never

                had a stone; Mrs.

                Salyards is deceased}      Nov. 1837 (only date)

STEWART         Nannie Belle            b. 02/26/1866   d. 02/23/1892

STITES          Melissa                 b. 03/31/1864   d. 04/18/1889

                (Homemade concrete

                stone found during

                2001 restoration;

                added 04/06/2002)



STRAW           John E.                 b. 09/25/1824   d. 05/28/1849

                (added to index

                on 04/06/2002; on

                same stone as Randal Straw)

STRAW           Randal                  b. 11/25/1827   d. 06/02/1849

                (dates added 04/06/2002)



TRAVIS          Samuel H.               b. 01/14/1827   d. 08/24/1862

                (surname spelling

                corrected 04/06/2002)



WALKER          George                  b. 11/14/1896   d. 08/14/1897

                ("Son of T. W. & I. M.";

                "There was an angel band in Heaven.

                That was not quiet {sic; "quite"} complete.

                God took our darling George

                To fill the vacant seat.")

                [Inscription notations added 04/06/2002]



WALKER          Ida N.                  b. 07/05/1869   d. 06/14/1901



WILLIAMS        Emmet                   b. 10/15/1868   d. 08/16/1883

                (stone mostly illegible

                in 2002; could say "Emma"

                or "Emmet"; on the back

                of Martha's stone)

WILLIAMS        Henson (?)              b. ????         d. ????

                (homemade concrete

                marker; largely illegible)

WILLIAMS        Martha                  b. 10/11/1868   d. 07/15/1886

                (homemade concrete

                marker with "Emma" or

                "Emmet" on the back)

Inscription on partial monument (NO NAME):

"Tis sweet to gaze upon the sod

That wraps thy mouldering clay

To think thy spirit rests with God

Who called it hence away."