Bridge Cemetery

Today's Walk Through The Tombstones is at Bridge Cemetery located off of Tunnel Road in Unionville, Indiana.

GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 39.24862, Longitude: -86.42275

We stopped by this cemetery on January 18, 2015.  It is a small location with only a little over 100 interments.  At the time, I didn't seem to find many interesting graves here as most of them were newer.  The original Bridge Church of Christ was built in 1881, but there are a few graves here that pre-date that.

UPDATE: (12/19/2016) As I have been researching the cemeteries that I have visited, I have wondered many times about how they got their names.  One that has baffled me for a while was Bridge Cemetery out near Lake Lemon.  It sits on the side of Tunnel Road (which I only recently learned really does have a tunnel somewhere on the other side of the lake) in a grassy field area.  But according to records, the original church and cemetery were located about a mile north of their present location near a bridge across Bean Blossom Creek.  When Lake Lemon was built in 1952, the church was under threat of being lost under the rising waters of the lake.  The cemetery, which stood on a nearby hill, would have become an island in out in the water.  Therefore, to save them both, they were moved to their current location but the names were never changed.  Some of the 140 burials at the original Bridge Cemetery were moved to Pleasant View Cemetery to the northwest, while a few were moved to the new location.  The publication County Cemeteries of Monroe County lists all 140 stones from both the old and the new Bridge Cemeteries.

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This is the only photo that I took that day.  It is of the grave of Michael David Fleener.

Born: November 19, 1817, Washington County, Indiana

Died: March 20, 1896

His obituary was in the Bloomington Stars, March 21, 1896.  It reads, "Michael Fleener died Thursday morning at his home near Unionville from the effects of an attack of la gripper.  He was 73 years of age and leaves three sons and six daughters."

His father was Johannes Fleener (1771-1853), buried in Nicholson Cemetery, Washington County, Indiana.  His mother is Mary Grisamore Fleener, but there is no information on her birth and death date nor where she is buried, though she may be buried in Nicholson Cemetery as well.

Michael was married to Rebecca Jane Barnett Fleener (1817-1892).  She is buried in Bridge Cemetery as well.

They are recorded as having 6 children:

Sarah E. Fleener Thomas (1841-1909) - buried in Bridge Cemetery, Monroe County, Indiana.

Abraham Michael Fleener (1845-1923) - buried in Young Cemetery, Monroe County, Indiana.

Isaac Newton Fleener (1847-1899) - buried in Valhalla Memory Gardens, Monroe County, Indiana.

Elizabeth Angeline Fleener Riddle (1853-1929) - buried in Pleasant View Cemetery, Monroe County, Indiana.

Margaret Fleener (1854-1903) - buried in Bridge Cemetery, Monroe County, Indiana.

Jacob Michael Fleener (1860-1913) - buried in Eastside Cemetery, Washington County, Idaho.

He had 8 siblings:

William Nicholas Fleener (1791-1872) - buried in Louisville Cemetery, Lincoln County, Missouri.

Mary Fleener Housh (1792-1854) - buried in Clark Chapel Cemetery, Knox County, Illinois.

Frederick Fleener (1796-1880) - buried in Wildwood Cemetery, Dodge County, Minnesota.

Abraham Fleener (1823-1885) - buried in Pleasant View Cemetery, Richland County, Illinois. 

Sarah Fleener Bowman (1825-1900) - buried in Mount Cemetery, Washington County, Indiana.

Isaac Fleener (1827-1909) - buried in Coleridge Cemetery, Cedar County, Nebraska

Henry Harry Fleener (1832-1923) - buried in Thompson Cemetery, Washington County, Indiana.

Martha E. Fleener Driskell (1835-1915) - buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Vermillion County, Illinois.

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If you have any information about the graves listed here, or have a photo request, please email me or leave a comment.

I hope you have enjoyed your walk through Bridge Cemetery.

Please visit the listing at Find-A-Grave.