WEAVER CEMETERY

This cemetery is used by the negro people of the community. The earliest date on a stone being March 23, 1863. There are many graves in this plot which are unmarked. Early in the '40s the negro people began to move into the County, following their best friends, the Quakers.

Many of them settled in Liberty Township. In 1849 the first A.M.E. Church was built at Weaver. A Baptist communion was formed to the north of town in 1854 and in the '70s a Wesleyan Methodist church was built west of Weaver. These churches are now abandoned for the negroes have moved to town (Marion) and very little remains of the once thriving little village.

The land here is low and drainage very difficult. The cemetery is being used occasionally but most of the race prefer another place for their cemetery.

The above was written by the DAR in the 1940's.

On Jan. 26, 1990 an article appeared in the Chronicle Tribune about the Weaver Community. Below are portions of that article.

"At the intersection of 300 West and 600 South, hundreds of acres of flat, plowed farmland stretch out for what seems like forever. The scene is dotted by a handful of buildings, mostly farmhouses and barns, floating like bobbers on an earthen lake.

Welcome to Weaver.

Weaver was Grant County's first black settlement. Founded in the mid-1840's, it was home to free blacks and emancipated slaves from the South.

Descendants of the original five founding families are still a part of the Grant County Community, while the town remains only a memory - a mark on an out-of-date map.

The town consisted on one square mile of land surrounding 300 West and 600 South, known locally as the Crossroads. Fewer than a dozen houses can be found in the area now. At the turn of the century, there were about 50 families, two schools, two general stores, a church and a harness racing track.

'People used to come from all over to watch the races,' said Cleo Beck, 80, the grandson of Mathew Beck, one of the first settlers of the town.

Using his memory during a drive down 600 South, north of 300 West, Beck, rebuilt the town of his childhood.

'Down the road a little ways was a school,' he said pointing west on 300 West. 'And here, there was a store.' Beck pointed at the corner of the Crossroads.

The store belonged to John Henry Weaver, who gave the town its name. As a boy, Beck remembered Weaver and his store.

'Everyone had chickens and would go there to cash the eggs in for food. In the winter, when you couldn't do much work on the fields, that's where everyone went to talk,' he said. 'Weaver was kind of a stocky fellow, real jolly. He had a nice attitude and a nice personality.'...

.. Beck's grandfather, Mathew, and father, Fred, were part-owners of the race track. His mother, Zella, played the organ at Hill's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church was founded in 1849.

The original building was a simple wooden structure near 250 West and 600 South, next to land owned by the Weaver chapter of the Masonic Lodge. In 1957, the building was replaced by a white concrete block structure, a bit smaller than the original church.

By that time, however, Weaver was fast becoming a memory. The town was thriving at the turn of the century, but by the 1930's, many of its citizens had moved to Marion or other larger cities.

'The farms were too small to keep a man and his family busy,' Beck said. 'A lot of people moved to Marion. That's where the jobs were.'....."

The following year this obit. appeared in the Chronicle Tribune: "Georgia Jones, daughter of Weaver founder, dies at 92.
Georgia B. Jones lived among the history her family founded. Her father, John Henry Weaver, founded the town in southwest Grant County that bears the family name.

She, too, lived in the area, at 5400 S. 250 W., before moving into the Bradner Village Health Center in Marion. ....

Mrs. Jones was born in Weaver on April 19, 1899."
I visited this site in the fall of 1995. I found it much the same as described by the DAR in the 1940's. Many of the names recorded by the DAR are now gone. I recorded every name, that could be found, at this time, in this cemetery. This is just another of the fastly disappeaing burial sites that can be found in our county today.

* Asterisk denotes a stone not found at this time.
  Weaver Cemetery

Burden,
	Jane wife of Daniel Burden died Aug. 10, 1881 
		aged 63 years
	Lewis died July 6, 1890 aged 43 years
*	Margaret wife of Z. Burden died Sept. 29, 1870 
		aged 28y.10m.19d.
Evans,
	Cicero  1852 - 1941  S/S with Julia
	Julia  1854 - 1936  S/S with Cicero
*	Julia wife of Fountain Evans died Mar. 25, 1863 
		aged 42 years  (recently found)
Gulliford,
*	Thomas  
			"Sgt  Co. F  28  U.S. C. I."
Hill,
*	Eliza J. dau of C. & M. Hill died Aug. 16, 1863 
		aged 13y.5m.6d.
Jackson,
*	John W.  
			"Co. B  U.S. C. I."
Jones,
	Chas. died July 11, 1917
		(No age or birth date was recorded on this stone.)
	Ethel Ruth dau of Z. & F. Jones died Apr. 28, 1907 
		aged 9y.6m.
	Etta  (No dates.)
	Louisa wife of A. Jones  Feb. 27, 1865 - Sept. 13, 1916  
			"Mother"
	Zeno died Apr. 20 1899 aged 22 years
Keen,
*	Malissa A. dau of S. & M. Keen died Feb. 12, 1873 
		aged 1m.22d.
Mitchell,
	William S. died May 13, 1885 aged 24y.2m.26d.
		(This stone was badly weathered and illegible.)
Peters,
	Benjamin H. died May 27, 1881 aged 80y.2m.26d.
		(This stone was broken.)
Peterson,
	George W.  
			"Sgt  Co. F  28  U.S. Cld Inf."
Pettiford,
	Carlos Q.  1909 - 1947
	Carrie J.  May 13, 1881 - Sept. 11, 1939
	John W.  1879 - 19__
		(Death date not filled in.)
	Joseph J.  1861 - 1943
	Martha E.  1863 - 1940
Pulley,
	James died May 29, 1884 aged 80 years  "Father"
		S/S with Lucy
	Lucy wife of James Pulley  (No dates.)  "Mother"
		S/S with James
Robinson,
*	George died July 25, 1865 aged 43 years
Smith,
	Clarrinda J. dau of N. & P. Smith  
		July 16, 1877 - June 8, 1893
	Henry E. son of N. & P. Smith  
		Sept. 15, 1870 - Aug. 7, 1872
	Lydia E. dau of N. & P. Smith  
		Aug. 22, 1864 - Sept. 1, 1882
	Marcella  Mar. 1, 1914 - May 22, 1915
Stewart,
	Addie  1872 - 1941
	Frances A. wife of Samuel T. Stewart  
		Nov. 22, 1846 - Mar. 22, 1915
		S/S with Samuel T.
	Samuel T.  Dec. 5, 1844 - Sept. 17, 1914
		S/S with Frances A.
Wallace,
	Aaron T.  
			"Co. C  18  U.S. C. I."
	Eva  Nov. 29, 1877 - Aug. 2, 1939
	Lewis  (No dates.) 
				"In memory  
				Lewis Wallace
			who gave the Weaver Community
			this cemetery 1866."
Ward,
	Charles A.  1862 - 1952  S/S with Sarah L.
	Geo. W. born Mar. 14, 1884 died ____
		(No death date was recorded.)
	Lowdema  1946 - 19__
		(This stone was broken and part of it was missing.)
	Sarah L.  1861 - 1922  S/S with Charles A.
Weaver,
	Armilda died Sept. 6, 1880 aged 17y.7m.26d.
	Elizabeth wife of F. W. Weaver died July 6, 1881 
		aged 38 years
	Eugena died Feb. 24, 1890 aged 19y.2m.
	Frank W. died June 23, 1892 aged 52y.1m.28d.
			"Dearest Father thou hast left us,
			her thy loss we deeply feel,
			but tis God who hath berft us,
			he can all our sorrows heal."
*	Henry died Aug. 10, 1902 aged 69y.9m.23d.
*	Luemma dau of B.L. & N. Weaver died Sept. 28, 1864 
	Matilda  1820 - 1910  "Mother"
*	Sarah C. wife of U. Weaver died Mar. 26, 1900
	Sarah R. wife of J.H. Weaver died Feb. 9, 1888 
		aged 26y.2m.18d.
Wilson,
	Percillar P.A.  1880 - 1913
Young,
	Mary L. wife of Squire Young died Apr. 17, 1876 
		aged 53 years
		S/S with Squire, and Mary L. also had a separate stone 
		with the same information on it.
	Robert C. son of S. & M.L. Young died Sept. 7, 1876 
		aged 7y.1m.28d.
		(This stone was badly weathered and illegible.)
	Squire died Aug. 19, 1891 aged 74y.11m.19d.
		S/S with Mary L.


Old Weaver Cemetery

The following was taken from the book 'Less We Forget', published in 1921. The high school class of Cora M. Straughn visited some of the pioneer cemeteries of Grant County and recorded people that were born before 1840. "Another cemetery for colored people is located in a field about a mile and a quarter northwest of the Weaver cemetery. There was formerly a little Baptist Church located near this cemetery but it has fallen to decay. There is but one aged negro yet living who attended this church, Nathan Jones. The inscriptions are almost obliterated on the old stones." I found the following entry in the 'Atlas of 1877 of Grant County Indiana', "The Regular Anti-Slavery Baptists have a small class in the colored neighborhood. They have church property of the probable value of $100.00 and a membership of about 30. Jeremiah Shewcraft is local Pastor." Jones, * Charles born 1821 * William born 1759 Schucreft, * Jerry born 1770 From Cora Straughn's 'Lest We Forget', published in 1921. I visited this site in the fall of 1996 and didn't find any of the stones listed by Cora Straughn's class. I did find two stones not listed previously. This cemetery is located in Section 4 Twp. 23 N. Range 7 E. about 1/4 of mile south of State Road 22 and almost 1/4 of a mile west of 300 N., in a small woods, on a 13 acre parcel of land owned (1996) by Joan Wilson. Jones, Charles B. 1879 - 1915 White, Lindsey "Sgt. Co. F 28 U.S. Cld. Inf."
* Asterisk denotes a stone not found at this time.

...Original page by Sheila D. Watson

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