Soldiers at historic cemetery

receive new grave markers

By BILL RICHMOND

City editor

A Veterans Administration program is providing recognition for local soldiers who lived in the county 160 years, or more, ago. The first commemorative gravestones were received several weeks ago and are due to be installed soon. Others are expected to arrive any day now.

The grave markers will be placed on plots at the Old Winchester (Heaston) Cemetery, on Western Ave., behind the Winchester Armory. The historic cemetery is the final resting place of more than 200 of the community's earliest residents. Established in 1844, it is listed in Indiana's Cemetery and Burial Grounds Registry of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The cemetery served as Winchester's only burial grounds until Fountain Park Cemetery was opened in 1880.

Winchester Graveyard Restoration Committee Co-chairperson Sharon Smith said they have received eight headstones, as of Monday morning, for soldiers buried at the Heaston Cemetery. Smith said they are due to receive markers for a total 14 soldiers buried there; three from the War of 1812, and 11 from the Civil War.

Smith said she believes two other War of 1812 veterans are buried at the Heaston Cemetery, but she can't get sufficient information from the National Archives to complete the paperwork requirements necessary for the new markers.

The monuments were received through a Veterans Administration program that provides markers for soldiers who don't have a gravestone of any kind.

The marble stones are specific for each war. In accordance with VA rules, the stones are shipped to Thayer Funeral Home, Winchester, where they are processed. The Winchester Street Department then delivers the markers to the cemetery where cemetery restoration committee co-chairperson Bobby Manning will soon put them up.

The first marker received was for War of 1812 veteran John Way. Smith said Way and his brothers were very significant in the history of Winchester. "They were Quakers who moved here from South Carolina," she said. "His brother Paul Way created the original plat map for the city of Winchester. John Way was a blacksmith and a carpenter. He was Justice of the Peace in 1821 and also served on the Grand Jury. John Way's wife Priscilla is also buried at the Winchester cemetery."

For more information about the cemetery restoration project, or to make a donation to the effort, contact Sharon Smith at (765) 584-7663.

The Winchester Graveyard restoration is a project of the Randolph County Historical Society.