The Vincennes Cemeteries

In the late 18th century, there were three types of burial places which were church yards, family plots on private land and public cemeteries. In the 18th and 19th centuries overcrowding in the cities caused health concerns which led to cemeteries being placed in the more rural areas. A movement to introduce landscaping, winding paths, scenic vistas and artistic monuments began. This showed civic pride and the cemeteries did double duty and acted as parks where families could stroll and have picnics. In Victorian times, monuments and sculptures with carvings of religious beliefs and club emblems like the Mason’s, Odd Fellows and Woodmen of America started to appear on the gravestones.

The Vincennes City Cemeteries consists of different sections: Greenlawn established in 1788, is the oldest public cemetery in the state of Indiana. Fairview was established in 1898, Memorial Park Cemetery in 1938, Babyland was established in 1940 and in 2017 the new Veterans section of the cemetery was added.

Greenlawn was called the “Public Burying Ground” this was to extinguish it from the Catholic burial grounds. The oldest legible stone belongs to Dolly Blackman, wife of Truman Blackman. She was 32 years of age. Other burials in Greenlawn include Robert Buntin, Veteran of 1812, and Knox County Clerk, Elhu Stout, first newspaper publisher in the Northwest Territory, Samuel Thornton Scott, the first presbyterian minister in the Northwest Territory.

One of the more prominent burials is that of Francis Vigo, 1747-1836, Italian merchant and patriot who financed George Rogers Clarks 1779 Campaign in his capture of Fort Sackville from the British. Greenlawn’s grounds contain thousands of undocumented burials many before the time of records.

One of the more interesting burials at Fairlawn was Israel Brown, who was a former slave and an active member of the AME Church who reunited with his wife of 43 years through a newspaper story. In Memorial Park Section you can find the grave of Joseph Elmer Skelton also known as Joseph Elmer Earhart. He is the father of Red Skelton. The next section is the Babyland section established in 1940. When the section was dedicated, an airplane flew over and dropped flowers from the plane. The last section which opened in 2017 belongs to the Veterans. Many flags and decorations can be seen in this section.

Today, cemeteries are seeing changes in using cremation burials due to lack of space and the higher cost of funerals. Lack of funding for the upkeep of grounds has caused issues in maintaining cemeteries. The Vincennes Cemeteries remain open to the public and are maintained by the Vincennes cemetery crew. We owe the crew a big THANK YOU for all they do in maintaining our cemeteries. They are after all the ones caring for our loved ones who have went on before us.