Today's Walk Though the Tombstones is at the Merritt Memorial Gardens. This one in particular is a strange situation that we stumbled across while looking for a different cemetery. The cemetery itself, Merritt Cemetery, also known as Doctor Mason's Farm Cemetery and Moore Cemetery, is located in the woods off of SR 267 south of Avon, but the stones were moved for some reason by a Boy Scout Troop to this location behind the Avon Town Hall. I am not sure what the purpose of this move was, but there is a sign at the head of this spot that calls it the Merritt Memorial Gardens and was a project of an Eagle Scout group.
I can only assume that the purpose of moving these stones to this location was to preserve them as several of them appear to have been repaired with some sort of yellow adhesive. I also noticed, while walking amongst these stones, that several foot stones were placed off on their own, as if they were stones of their own, so it makes it look as if there were far more memorials than there should be. I understand the desire to preserve these stones, but because of their removal, locations of the graves have been lost as they were not documented when the move happened. This is a loss for genealogists and historians as the move disrupted locations and the possibility of locating any other graves that may have actually been marked with field stones.
Let's move on to the headstones. I will not be referring to these as graves since it is known that these are only the stones.
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Born: unknown
Died: January 29, 1853, Indiana
She was the wife of Lorenzo D. Mitchell (?-?). I am not sure where he is buried.
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Born: December 22, 1850
Died: February 10, 1852
He was the son of C.R. Williams (?-?) and Elvira Williams (?-?). I haven''t found any reference to where they are buried.
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Born: September 19, 1830
Died: May 12, 1838
He was the son of R. Ross (?-?) and V. Ross (?-?). I don't know the names of his parents of any siblings, or where they are buried.
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Born: April 16, 1842
Died: April 19, 1881
I am not sure who her parents were or any siblings.
She was the second wife of William Joseph Merritt (1832-1900). They were married on May 13, 1863 and he is buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana.
They had at least two children:
George Pendleton Merritt (1867-1934) - buried in Danville South Cemetery, Danville, Hendricks County, Indiana
William Otis Merritt 1874-1948) - buried in Danville South Cemetery, Danville, Hendricks County, Indiana
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Born: July 31, 1834
Died: February 18, 1863
She was the daughter of Seth Hurin (1803-1877) and Matilda Ross Hurin (1802-1846). He is buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana, while she is buried in Gossett Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
She had many siblings:
Enos Hurin (1832-1890) - buried in Gossett Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Seth J. Hurin (1838-1921) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Louisa Hurin Barker (1840-1923) - buried in Gossett Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Sarah Delitha Huron Gossett (1852-1916) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Nancy Marilla Hurin Wherly (1855-1896) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Harvey Hezekiah Hurin (1857-1937) - buried in Maple Hill Cemetery, Plainfield, Hendricks County, Indiana
William M. Hurin (1861-1952) - buried in Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois
Phebe Hurin Baldwin (1865-1927) - buried in White Lick Presbyterian Cemetery, Avon. Hendricks County, Indiana (her obituary states that she was killed instantly when she walked in front of a gravel train; she was deaf and did not know that the train was there as it was running on a different schedule than what she was accustomed to)
She was the first wife of William Joseph Merritt (1832-1900) who is buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana.
They had a few children:
Armsted Merritt (1853-1937) - buried in Maple Hill Cemetery, Plainfield, Hendricks County, Indiana
John S. Merritt (1855-1919) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Infant Daughter Merritt (1857-1857) - buried in Merritt Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Lafayette "Lafe" Merritt (1860-1924) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
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Born: November 26, 1802, Stokes County, North Carolina
Died: March 4, 1866, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
She was the daughter of William Carden (?-?) and Sarah Hunt Carden (?-?). I am unsure as to where they are buried or the names of any siblings.
She was married to George Stewart Merritt (1789-1853) on November 1, 1813/1818 in Stokes County, North Carolina. He was buried in Merritt Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana. He was a Private in Captain James Cumings' Company of the Mounted Infantry under Colonel Samuel Bunche's Regiment of East Tennessee Militia during the War of 1812.
They had nine children, though I haven't found all of their names:
Armsted Merritt (1817-1868) - buried in Armstrong Cemetery, Rushville, Buchanan County, Missouri
George Washington Merritt (1820-1908) - buried in Abner Creek Cemetery, Danville, Hendricks County, Indiana
Sarah Merritt Williams (1824-1904) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
William Joseph Merritt (1832-1900) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Mary J. Merritt Williams (1841-1861) - buried in Merritt Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana (there appears to only be a foot stone left for her)
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Born: April 20, 1789, Stokes County, North Carolina
Now we stop at the headstone for Mary Jane Williams
Died: July 5, 1853, Hendricks County, Indiana
He was the son of John Stafford Merritt (1754-1825) and Lydia Elizabeth Moore Merritt (1758-1824). Both are buried in Hulitt Cemetery, Highland County, Ohio. Records show that he was born in England and immigrated to America in 1770. He served in the Revolutionary War.
He had a couple of siblings:
Sarah "Sally" Merritt Upp (1784-1856) - buried in Hulitt Cemetery, Highland County, Ohio
Charles Merritt (1792-1875) - buried in Liberty Cemetery, Petaluma, Sonoma County, California
He was married to Jane "Jincy" Carden Merritt (1802-1866). She is buried in Merritt Cemetery as well.
They had nine children, though I haven't found all of their names:
Armsted Merritt (1817-1868) - buried in Armstrong Cemetery, Rushville, Buchanan County, Missouri
George Washington Merritt (1820-1908) - buried in Abner Creek Cemetery, Danville, Hendricks County, Indiana
Sarah Merritt Williams (1824-1904) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
William Joseph Merritt (1832-1900) - buried in North Lawn Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Mary J. Merritt Williams (1841-1861) - buried in Merritt Cemetery, Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana (there appears to only be a foot stone left for her)
He was a Private in Captain James Cumings' Company of the Mounted Infantry under Colonel Samuel Bunche's Regiment of East Tennessee Militia during the War of 1812.
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Born: August 31, 1844
Died: October 7, 1864
She was the young child of John Williams (?-?) and Sarah Williams (?-?). I am unsure as to where they are buried, but I believe that her mother may be Sarah Merritt Williams (1824-1904) who is buried in North Lawn Cemetery in Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana. I am not completely sure, though.
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Born: December 7, 1851
Died: July 10, 1853
He was the young son of John Williams (?-?) and Sarah Williams (?-?). He may also be the son of Sarah Merritt Williams (1824-1904), who is buried in North Lawn Cemetery in Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana. I am not entirely sure of this connection though.
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As a note, the pictures for these stones on Find-A-Grave were taken around 2007. Mine were taken in 2020 and the differences are drastic. They have weathered terribly since the photos were taken and probably since they were moved from the Merritt Cemetery.
I hope that you have enjoyed your walk through the Merritt Memorial Garden.
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