Today's Walk Through The Tombstones is at Walden Cemetery in Spencer, Owen County, Indiana.
This cemetery is located at the end of Hillcrest Drive, just outside of Spencer on St. Road 46 in a small housing addition. It's located just on the right side of the road in a little meadow. It is a lovely little cemetery with some very interesting history. It is also known as the Wilson Cemetery and the Negro Cemetery. It may also have been called the Secrest Cemetery, but I didn't find much information for this one. The sign at the front of the cemetery reads:
"The cemetery was founded in 1843 by Richard Walden on 40 acres he purchased in 1836. It was in use before that time as Walden noted, at the time he made the donation, that his mother was buried here." It goes on to state excerpts from his will showing the location and who was to be buried there. There is some history under his will, stating "Richard Walden came to Owen County about 1825 as he purchased lot 119 at the second auction of Spencer town lots in 1826, and is mentioned in the 1830 census. Walden came to Owen County, from Chatham or Randolph Counties North Carolina with other members of his family. The Walden family an probably be traced to a John Chavis Walden born c. 1725 in Virginia. In 1749, John Chavis Walden was in Southampton County, Virginia, and died in Brunswick County, Virginia where his will was probated in 1761. Richard Walden had a store in Town County, stock in the Spencer Stream Mill and his probate papers show many debtors to his estate. He died shortly after the donation and will were made and presumably is buried here. The cemetery was being used as late a 1918 when Martin Scott was buried there. Scott was in Company I, 18th(?) Indiana Volunteer Regiment. He was wounded and captured at the Battle of the ?? and was held prisoner in Andersonville Prison. This burial took place in April 1918." The sign is very worn and hard to read.
From reading this sign, it is hard to determine where the name Negro Cemetery comes from, though it states in his will "...forever for the uses as a burying ground for myself and all my colored friends & relations forever..."
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Our first stop is at the grave of John C. Cline.
Born: 1842, South Carolina
Died: April 21, 1908, Spencer County, Indiana
He served in the Civil War as a Private in Company D, 28th USCI. I had to look up what USCI meant and I was surprised to find that it stands for United Stated Colored Infantry. This is our first connection to the reason behind the name Negro Cemetery.
Unfortunately, I have no information for his family.
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Our next stop is at the grave of John T. Wilson.
Born: 1840
Died: 1907
I don't have any information on his parents or any siblings.
He was married to Adeline S. Thomas Wilson (1851-1905). She is buried with him in Walden Cemetery.
They had at least one child:
Sarah Ollie Wilson Eagleson (1878-1939) - buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana (she is the mother of Wilson Vashon Eagleson whose name is now being used instead of Jordan Avenue.)
He is listed as having served in Company D, BUSCI. I can only assume that this is also the Colored Infantry, though I can't find out what the "B" stands for.
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This is the grave of Ellen Burnett.
Born: March 1846, Indiana
Died: unknown
She was married to Leonard "Len" Burnett (1851-1919). He is buried in Walden Cemetery near her.
They had one child that I have found:
Thomas B. Burnett (1886-1964) - buried in Saint Mary Cemetery, Elyria, Lorain Count, Ohio
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Here is the grave of Mary Magazine.
Born: August 8, 1856
Died: April 2, 1864
She was the daughter of
Mary Boone (?-?). That is the only information that I have for her family.
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We now stop at the grave of Nettie Evans.
Born: December 14, 1865
Died: March 18, 1872
She was the daughter of P. Evans (?-?) and Clorenda Evans (1847-1892). I think that her name is listed on the other side of the headstone. I am not sure of her father's name or where he is buried.
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This is the grave of Adeline S. Thomas Wilson.
Born: June 9, 1851, Orange County, Indiana
Died: October 19, 1905, Spencer, Owen County, Indiana
She was the daughter of Mathew Thomas (1808-1870) and Mary Thomas (1817-1867). They are both buried in Little Africa Cemetery, Orange County, Indiana.
She had a few siblings:
Joseph N. Thomas (1835-1866) - buried in Little Africa Cemetery, Orange County, Indiana
Sarah A. Thomas (1841-?) - buried in Little Africa Cemetery, Orange County, Indiana
Samuel A. Thomas (1853-1856) - buried in Little Africa Cemetery, Orange County, Indiana
She was married to John T. Wilson (1840-1907). His name is listed on the other side of the headstone.
They had at least one child:
Sarah Ollie Wilson Eagleson (1878-1939) - buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana (she is the mother of Wilson Vashon Eagleson whose name is now being used instead of Jordan Avenue.)
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We now come to the grave of John M. Wilson.
Born: unknown
Died: January 30, 1884
I have no information on his family, but I do know that he was a Civil War Soldier. He enlisted on January 15, 1864 as a Private in Company D, 28th USCT (United States Colored Troops). He mustered out on November 8, 1865 in Corpus Christie, Texas. He had been promoted to a Corporal by the time of his muster out.
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Here is the grave of Corporal Joseph Walden.
Born: unknown
Died: unknown
He served in Company D of the 28th USCI in the Civil War. Unfortunately, that is all the information I have about him at this time.
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This is the grave of Annie Wilson.
Born: August 16, 1872
Died: February 22, 1885
I am not sure of who her family was at this time.
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Here is the grave of John Walls.
Born: April 26, 1872
Died: January 2, 1891
There are no other Walls buried here as far as I know, so I am not sure of his relation to the others or where his family is buried.
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This is the grave of Clorenda Evans.
Born: August 1, 1847
Died: April 1, 1892
She was the wife of P. Evans (?-?)
They had one child that I know of, whose name is listed on the back of the headstone:
Nettie Evans (1865-1872) - buried in Walden Cemetery, Spencer, Owen County, Indiana
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Our final stop is at the grave of John D. Wilson.
Born: unknown
Died: unknown
He served in the Civil War in Company D of the 28th USCI.
He is not currently listed on Find-A-Grave and each time I try to list him, it removes the initial D. and tries to make him someone else. Which may be the reason why he isn't listed currently.
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These are all of the visible graves at Walden Cemetery, but because there are only 28 interments at this cemetery and this is, in my opinion, an important location due to its connection to African American history in this area, I am going to list the remaining interments below:
E.L.B. (1848-?)
Leonard "Len" Burnett (1851-1919)
Sarah "Sadie" A. Cole Hays (1856-1909)
William Hays (1856-?)
Baby Powell (1841-1841)
Elizabeth "Betsey" Walden Powell (1810-1841)
Lincoln "Link" Reid (1860-1905)
Leanne Walden Scott (1819-?)
Charles Wagstaff (1862-1930)
Hannah Garlits Wagstaff (1869-1910)
Morton Wagstaff (1894-1966)
Jesse Walden, Sr. (1795-?)
Morgan Walden (1798-?)
Nanney Evans Walden (1772-1842)
Richard Walden (1790-1842)
Ulysses Grant Willis (1864-1943)
E. Wilson (1851-1905)
Information about the Walden Family starting with Richard's father, Eaton Walden is listed on a website about the Lost Creek Settlement of Vigo County, Indiana. You can take a look at it
here.
After visiting the cemetery, we stopped at the Owen County Library and on a whim asked about the genealogy room. The librarian was kind enough to unlock the room so that we could have a look. We found an entire folder just about the Walden family and took a bunch of pictures. A lot of it doesn't really have anything to do with this cemetery in particular, but some of it does. Such as Richard Walden's will. This is the information that is stated on the sign at the entrance to the cemetery where he states that this is the last resting place for his friends and family.
There was also a listing in the Owen County Cemetery book that lists this cemetery as the Negro Cemetery and shows some burials. This list doesn't show the full list of 28 burials. I am not sure when this list was dated, but I know that the WPA did a lot of cemetery surveys in 1939, so this may be one of them. Regardless, it should show more burials. Is this possibly only a list of the African American burials in this cemetery? I am not sure.
This cemetery is extremely important, in my opinion, to free African Americans in Central/Southern Indiana. So much of their history has been lost or just erased and here we have a wonderful, lovely cemetery. I doubt that anyone just walking through would even have a clue that this is a part of the freed African American history that needs to be remembered. Rest In Peace.
You can look at Walden Cemetery on Find-A-Grave
here.
