Cunningham Cemetery, Tippecanoe County, Indiana

OLD, TINY CEMETERY NEAR BUCK CREEK

Buck Creek-Nov. 9, 1939.--One-half mile east of Americus on a little knoll on the south bank of the Wabash and Erie canal, is a little family burial plot 20 by 30 feet, enclosed by a strong iron fence. It is the only cemetery or burial plot in Washington township which is not on record. John Cunningham located on this land in 1831, one year before the town of Americus was platted by William Digby, and lived there until he died, in 1859. Within the little enclosure are seven monuments and eight graves, those of himself, his wife Sarah, and four children, and the graves of two near relatives, James Gates and Mrs. Lucinda Goldsberry. A daughter, Margaret, died in 1833; Gates died in 1835, and Mrs. Goldsberry in 1837.

Mr. Cunningham enlisted in the war of 1812 under the command of Gen. Hull, who surrendered his army to the British at Detroit. He and six companions narrowly escaped with their lives and reached Chillicothe, O., in a starving condition. In 1832 he was elected justice of the peace in Washington township and served in that capacity several years; until his death, he was one of the leading citizens of Washington township.

Source: Lafayette Journal and Courier, November 9, 1939

Read and Submitted by: Mike & Mary Ann McCarty, Lafayette, Indiana
Last visited: April 27, 2002

Notes: John Jr. & Salome are buried in the Battle Ground Cemetery - [Bio]
Andrew Gates is buried in the Fink Cemetery, Lafayette, IN - [Bio]
It is unknown where Eliza Gates is buried

NAME	BIRTH	DEATH	ROW #
John Cunningham [b. in Penn.]	April 4, 1789	Feb. 7, 1859	2
Sarah McKinley-Cunningham 2^nd wife of John	Dec. 12, 1791	Feb. 9, 1844	2
Nancy Cunningham Daughter of John & Sarah	Feb. 4, 1829	Jan. 7, 1846 18y & 25d	2
Margaret Cunningham Daughter of John & Sarah	Sept 5, 1831	July 7, 1833	2
Amanda Timmons Possibly Amanda Cunningham-Timmons- Hamilton.	Oct. 15, 1832	Aug, 4, 1915 82y, 9m, 30d	Can’t find stone
GRANDCHILDREN OF JOHN & SARAH
James Gates Son of Andrew & Eliza Cunningham Gates	Nov. 10, 1844	Dec. 19, 1845	3
James M. Cunningham Son of John Jr. & Salome Bemenderfer	Jan. 20, 1863	Mar. 6, 1864 1y, 1m, 16d	2
Unknown Cunningham	Sept. 19, 1864	Feb. 4, 1868 3y, 4m, 15d	1
Ida Bell Cunningham Dau of John Jr. & Salome	Jan. 25, 1866	Nov. 14, 1874 8y, 9m, 20d	2
Minnie C. Cunningham	April 14, 1867	May 28, 1868 1y, 1m, 14d	1
NEAR RELATIVE OF JOHN & SARAH
Lucinda Goldsberry Wife of John Goldsberry	Nov. 18, 1811	Jan. 18, 1840 28y, 2m	3
ERIE CANAL WORKER
Michael Taylor Irish laborer on the Erie Canal	1829	Dec. 18, 1871 42y	3?