Historic Grave Markers Replaced In Syracuse Cemetery
Posted
Tim Robertson-trobertson@timesuniononline.com
SYRACUSE - The historic graves of Syracuse co-founder Samuel Crosson and his family got a new look Tuesday.
The Kosciusko County Historical Society headed up the project to replace the grave markers of Crosson and three of his family members, and reset five other stones which had toppled in an effort to preserve county history. KCHS board member Jack Elam, Winona Lake, said he noticed the poor condition of the grave markers 20 years ago when he was researching Syracuse history for the town's 150th birthday celebration.
"I saw how bad it was and it's really been bugging me ever since," Elam said.
Elam attended a meeting of the Syracuse Cemetery Board this summer and discovered the board had no preservation budget, so he raised money to replace some of the historic gravestones in the pioneer section of the cemetery.
"Money for this first phase was obtained from the Harkless Foundation, The Ladies of the Round Table and Methodist Thrift Shop," he said.
Elam said he worked with a committee and several area businesses to make the project a reality.
"I hope this is the first phase of the project, and more dollars can be raised to restore or replace more monuments that are badly in need of work," he said.
Crosson was born in 1795, and died in 1844. He donated the land for the cemetery in 1835, two years before Syracuse was platted and named. Crosson's gravestone had become worn and faded with age before being replaced Tuesday.
Other grave markers in the cemetery, Elam said, were even older than Crosson's. Some are broken or have been toppled. "There are approximately 100 that still need working on," Elam said.
Elam said replacing or restoring those monuments would cost about $15,000.
"The Kosciusko County Historical Society hope by this labor of love that other towns and communities of Kosciusko County will follow suite and preserve their hallowed and historical grave sites of the early settlers of this county," Elam said.
