Disclaimer: This cemetery listing was submitted to the LaPorte
County US Gen Web mail system. I am posting it here for those that might have
missed it or have not had the opportunity to view it. Although this is only a
list of names with no dates, perhaps it will help someone find that their
ancestors were indeed here in LaPorte County.
Old City Cemetery History - In the original grant for land upon
which the city of LaPorte was built, a small piece of land consisting of about
two and one-half acres was donated as a grave yard. There was no fee and/or
provisions made for any separate ownership lots. Therefore, any unoccupied
ground could be appropriated by any person and therefore interment together of
deceased family members soon became impossible. It was also discovered that the
amount of ground designated for this burial sepulcher was entirely inadequate
in comparison to the growing population. Although frequently discussed, until
the summer of 1856 when steps were finally taken to create articles of
association that were drawn up and a subscription of stock procured amounting
to $2000.
The first meeting of the members of the association was held at
the Court House, Aug 1, 1856. The first interment was in 1858. The number of
trustees was fixed at seven: Amzi Clark, Geo. L. Andrew, Gilbert Hathaway,
Abraham Teegarden, Ferdinand Roberts, Don J. Woodward and Lycurgus Sherman were
elected the first board, and the organization was completed by the election of
Gilbert Hathaway as president and Don J. Woodward as secretary and treasurer.
Immediately after its organization the trustees invited
proposals from all owning real estate in the vicinity of the city for the sale
of such lands as were suitable for a cemetery. Not only the tracts offered but
all the lands within proper distance were visited and carefully considered, and
the result was the selection of that portion of the county farm which lay south
of its bisecting highway and east of the Michigan City Plank road. The first
purchase considered forty-four acres and several years afterwards that portion
of the same tract lying between the Plank road and Pine lake was purchased of
the county, giving the cemetery the ownership of its entire frontage upon on of
the most beautiful lakes in the northwest, and a total of about fifty-six
acres.
Anyone wishing to donate burial or family tree information
about families in this or any LaPorte County cemetery, please contact
us.
LaPorte had what was named the" Old City Cemetery". This listing
includes a partial listing on only the Old City Cemetery of LaPorte city which
was moved to Pine Lake Cemetery.
On July 1, 2001 I stopped out at Pine Lake to take some of these
photos while returning home from another cemetery I had just photographed.
If you would like to offer additional information on the families listed
below, please contact us at laportecountyin@yahoo.com
Thank you to Terry Schliewe for submitting this
partial listing and to Fern Eddy Schultz, the LaPorte County Historian,
for researching and finding this valuable information. Here is a portion of the
information gleaned from his letter: There was an old cemetery on the west
edge of La Porte, called the Old City Cemetery. It was closed for the most part
in the 1870's, when both Pine Lake and Patton Cemetery had been established. In
a newspaper article dated 23 March 1893, a list of names were published of
those buried in the Old City Cemetery. It offered relatives a chance to
relocate their deceased loved ones to the cemetery of their choice. Those that
weren't claimed were moved in 1893 and are now buried in a mass grave in the
Pine Lake Cemetery.
The names printed in the Daily Herald as being reinterred
are: |