The Atterbury Cemeteries were moved from their original location on the land that would become Camp Atterbury and moved to a new location just north of Edinburgh. The Johnson County Museum of History, in partnership with the Johnson County Public Library, will give a presentation on the cemeteries at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
RYAN TRARES | DAILY JOURNAL
CAMP ATTERBURY — They are at rest now.
Generations of residents settling in the area had found their final resting places in small country cemeteries in the southern part of Johnson County. For more than 100 years, those gravesites remained undisturbed.
But when the U.S. Army made plans to build a new base as World War II broke out, a quandary emerged — those cemeteries would have to be moved.
“It’s such a fascinating history behind it,” said David Pfeiffer, director of the Johnson County Museum of History. “OK, the military is coming in, we’re moving all of these farmers. Oh, and there’s all of these cemeteries. We’re not to just bulldoze over those, we’re going to physically move all of these graves.”
The story of how those historic cemeteries were transported away from the land that became Camp Atterbury and moved to the current location outside of Edinburgh is the focus of a special program planned by the Johnson County Museum of History. Karen Shank-Chapman, the museum’s curator, will present “Saga of Atterbury Cemeteries,” part of its Voices of the Past storyteller series.
The discussion, which is free and open to the public, will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the museum.
“It’s the sort of thing that not that many people know about,” Pfeiffer said. “Atterbury has been such a huge part of county history. But we want people to try and think about what happened before the camp was there. There were people there — farmers and families and cemeteries. You don’t think about that.”
Driving down U.S. 31 south of Franklin, the Atterbury Cemeteries are hidden from the road. The only indication the burial grounds are near is a small sign, warning that the cemeteries are off-limits from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. each day.
Down a narrow county road, underneath a canopy of trees, leads to a small parking area. Spread out in a series of adjacent fields are hundreds of weathered stones.
“You go down this little gravel road. There’s this curtain of trees and cutout you drive through, and there’s this whole vista of cemeteries,” Pfeiffer said.
Decades of erosion have worn many of them smooth; some of the grave markers have fallen over, while others are tilting at varying angles.
But a number of the markers are still legible. Walking from stone to stone, each offers a glimpse into the past.
Up until 1942, all of these graves had been spread across farmland that had been home to more than 500 families. Plans were coming together to create a training camp in southern Johnson and northern Bartholomew and Brown counties even before the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. But plans accelerated as the U.S. entered World War II.
By the spring of 1942, preparations were made to move hundreds of remains from existing cemeteries and place them in a new location, known as the Atterbury Cemeteries.
The burials date back to at least 1820 and some may have been earlier. Two Revolutionary War soldiers were buried in the cemeteries — John Poe, who died in 1834, and Matthias Parr, who died in 1846, according to a story in the Aug. 1, 1942 edition of the Columbus Republic.
“One of the first things they did when they were building the camp was contract with a company to move those cemeteries,” Pfeiffer said.
But for most residents of Johnson County, this history has remained hidden. That inspired local organizers from the Johnson County Museum of History and the Johnson County Public Library to pursue a program educating people about it.
The group called CommUnity has focused in recent years on helping local residents explore the county, Pfeiffer said. They’ve created different “quests” encouraging people to get out and discover some of the parks, arts and history.
“We kicked around the idea of exploring some haunted history this year. Everybody likes that, some of the spooky history, and then we can tie in some of the other events,” Pfeiffer said.
Programs have been offered to look at some of the more well-known cemeteries in the area, including Greenlawn Cemetery in Franklin and Greenwood Cemetery.
At the same time, the group hoped to expand the existing Voices of the Past storyteller series.
The two goals came together for a program on the Atterbury Cemeteries.
“A few years ago, we did a cemetery clean-up out there,” Pfeiffer said. “I was blown away by it.”
The presentation will be spearheaded by Shank-Chapman, featuring photographs and visual slides telling the story of the cemetery relocations.
Up-to-date images will give people a sense of what the cemeteries look like, and where exactly they are.
“I’ve really enjoyed the research so far, and I think people will enjoy it too,” Pfeiffer said.
IF YOU GO
“Atterbury Cemeteries”
What: A presentation by the Johnson County Museum of History and the Johnson County Public Library telling the history of the cemeteries and gravesites moved during the construction of Camp Atterbury in 1942.
When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Johnson County Museum of History, 135 N. Main St., Franklin
Cost: Free and open to the public
