Henry County families, historians hope to preserve 200-year-old cemetery frequented by vandals

HENRY COUNTY, Ind. — Surrounded by fields and off the beaten path you’ll find Batson Cemetery, a quiet resting place as old as Henry County itself.

Ghosts are not known to walk the centuries-old grounds, which are instead haunted by vandals. Suspected to be teenagers, they litter the place with spray-painted obscenities and even shotgun shells.

“Even people who don’t have family here would be distressed by that. It’s very disrespectful,” Soni Mullen, who has four generations of family buried there, said. “We have veterans here. We have a lot of history here. We don’t know what anyone would gain from that.”

Worst of all, beyond the expected wear and tear on headstones belonging to Civil War veterans and casualties of an 1830s cholera outbreak, dozens have been cracked, toppled or ripped from the soil entirely.

“Many of these stones – because of the way they were formed originally – we may not be able to match the workmanship,” Mullen explained. “The most we can hope for is to put them back so they’re at least upright.”

Many names tucked away in the northeast corner have been blurred by moss and time, but not forgotten. So, Mullen and some local historians hope to raise money, clean them up, add fencing and security cameras, and revive the old, one-room church building.

“Recent restoration back about 25 years ago added a metal roof, which has saved us this far, or this might already be gone,” Mullen added, about the church.

No longer is there a preacher or congregation to care for the shattered windows and missing floorboards. The property is managed by a group of trustees, including Jim Millikan.

“We’ve done everything we could do [to protect Batson],” Millikan said. “In spite of that, vandalism has occurred.”

According to Millikan, as maintenance costs rose over the years, they ran out of money. A thousand dollars is the maximum insurance payout they could receive for recent damage. So, Millikan said they’re working on finding more funding with the township, and they’re open to allowing volunteers to help clean up this spring. But, in the past, he said fencing proved “ineffective.”

“Anyone that would come out here would feel the peace of the place,” Mullen said. “I think that more than anything we just want to preserve the fact that it’s been here 200 years.”

Some are calling for police to increase patrols in the area. Millikan confirmed the sheriff’s office is aware of the issue.

If anyone is interested in donating time or money to cemetery restoration efforts, Millikan can be contacted through his office at 1315 Broad Street in New Castle, or by phone at 765-529-1315.