Pioneer Cemeteries and Their Stories,

Madison County, Indiana

Holson Cemetery

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aka  Holston

Richland Township

Location: west side of CR 140E, south of SR 128 (CR 800N)

          

    A little over a mile from where the Holson/Holston Schoolhouse once stood, the Holson Cemetery sits on a little knoll in the nook or "dog leg" of CR 140E.  The cemetery is on land once owned by the Holson/Holston family and across the road from what were the farmlands of the Maynard and Vermillion families, all early settlers of Monroe and Richland townships.  Vermillion and Maynard are the names on most of the tombstones in this quaint little mid Victorian graveyard.  Another family plot in this burial ground is that of the Swindells.  Located among this latter family is the unmarked grave of Perry Swindell, a Revolutionary War veteran.

 

Perry Swindell was a native of North Carolina and served in the Revolutionary War in the military forces from that state.  He is recorded in Margaret Water's DAR Supplement, and she mentions a possible connection to Willis Swindell, another Revolutionary War veteran buried in Madison County.  Perry lived near the Richland/Monroe Township border and may have had the nickname of "Parky."  He is buried in the family plot in the southwest corner of the Holson, probably near the grave of descendent John Swindell.  As pictured at left, an American flag is placed on or near this relative's grave in honor of Perry.

   

    The Maynards are one of the oldest families in Monroe Township.  Patriarch of the clan was Moses Maynard, who was born in 1767 in North Carolina.  He lived to be 107 years old, passing away on June 18, 1874, and is buried at the Holson.  Moses ventured to Kentucky in 1788 after marrying Sarah Greenstreke.  She was born around 1774 and died in 1846 at seventy-two years of age.  While Moses no longer has a stone, Sarah's is in excellent condition and is pictured at right.  

    Madison County's oldest resident at that time, Moses was very strong and enjoyed excellent health all of his life. His obituary reported that he worked hard in the farm fields into his nineties.  He was proud of the fact that he had voted in all Presidential elections except the very first one--George Washington's. 

    Moses, Sarah, and their married sons came to the woods southeast of Alexandria from Kentucky in 1834.  In June of 1842,  Moses Maynard, along with ten others, organized the "Little Killbuck Old School Baptist Church" at his home.  In 1844, the congregation built a log meeting house on the land owned by son Christopher, 1815-1862.

 

   

   

    Son Barnabas was born April 7, 1813, and married Lucinda Fuller in 1833. Barnabas and Lucinda had fourteen children, "one of the largest and most interesting families of the county" according to Harden who also reported that the mother Lucinda Fuller Maynard was still living as of 1895.  Barnabas died September 27, 1889.  His stone is the tall dark gray one in the picture at left.

    Two years after the Maynards came, the Vermillions arrived in the area: the land on the border between Monroe and Richland townships.  In fact, the two families lived just across the road from each other, and both owned land in both townships.  Jesse Vermillion, Sr., was the head of this family, and interestingly, he was over six feet tall, an exceptional height for that time.  He was born in Virginia, June 5, 1804, and traveled to Ohio first.  He married Catharine Justice when he was about twenty-five and arrived in Madison County in June 14, 1835.  Shortly thereafter, Catharine died and had to have been one of the first interments in the Holson.  Jesse would eventually marry two more times, having children from each of the three marriages.  At his death on February 8, 1892, he was ranked as among the wealthy in the county, owning over 800 acres of land.

 

 

 

The Vermillion children have the smaller stones to the right.  In the foreground is Rosetta's; she lived only several months.  The tall marker to the left is for wife Mary.  Its ornate Victorian detailing is shown above.

Descendant and researcher David Vermillion provided some interesting data on the family.  The Mary Magdalene Morrow Vermillion, whose stone is recorded on the burial list below, was one of Uriah C. Vermillion's wives.  She and the child Rosetta were actually disinterred, moved, and reburied in the large Vermillion family plot at beautiful East Maplewood November 5, 1909. In most cases such as this, the original stones are left in place as memorials--as seen here.

 

 

Susanah Parker's and Thornburg Mabitt's stylistically simple stones, for the time period, are still very crisp and legible.  Resting next to Susanah is a relative, Elizabeth Parker, 1801-1866, whose stone must have been done by the same stone cutter since it is in the same style with the same legibility.

   

    The Holson is named for J.R. Holson/Holston, who was born in Preble County, Ohio, in 1812.  He came to Madison County in 1839 and purchased land in Richmond Township.  J.R. was a devote Methodist who aided in the development and growth of that church.  He donated land for Wesley Chapel located on CR 650N and its adjoining  cemetery.  He supported the Sabbath school movement in the county and on his property hosted an annual "camp-meeting" attended by Methodists from around the country.  J.R. believed in education, donating a plot of ground for a school situated across the road from his Wesley Chapel.  According to Madison County historian Samuel Harden, Mr. Holson was "a large, powerful man, full six feet high and of fair complexion...a very worthy citizen of unflinching integrity."  While J.R. Holson is buried at Wesley Chapel, the Holson is the earlier of the two cemeteries.

 

 

 

Names
ID Names Birth Date Death Date Cemetery
699 ALLEN, ANNA E. 29Y. 4M. 9D. MAR. 17, 1895 HOLSON
698 ALLEN, ANNA E. 10M. FEB. 23, 1873 HOLSON
1374 ARBOGAST, ALICE A. 8Y./6Y. 5M. 2D./24D. FEB. 19, 1862 HOLSON
1375 ARBOGAST, DAVID 35Y. 2M. 22D. MAY 1, 1870 HOLSON
1380 ARBOGAST, NANCY J. E. 5Y. 5M. 5D. FEB. 12, 1862 HOLSON
14495 DARLING, LUCAS   SEP. 1878 HOLSON
15115 DAVIS, REBECCA 1Y. 7M. 27D. AUG. 28, 1869 HOLSON
19751 FILLMAN, ELIZABETH 80Y. 8M. 28D. JUL. 28, 1876 HOLSON
19753 FILLMAN, JOHN A. 20Y. 11M. 9D. SEP. 28, 1865 HOLSON
19752 FILLMAN, JOHN A. 20D. FEB. 26, 1871 HOLSON
19754 FILLMAN, WILLIAM B. 8D. FEB. 13, 1871 HOLSON
20265 FLIERS, AVBATRIS 33Y. JUN. 9, 1865 HOLSON
21698 FULLER, JOHN H. 1849 JAN. 14, 1869 HOLSON
29415 HOLSCLAW, JMAES 66Y. DEC. 3, 1859 HOLSON
29416 HOLSCLAW, RHODY 75Y. DEC. 19, 1855 HOLSON
29417 HOLSGRAW, JAMES 66Y. OCT. 8, 1859 HOLSON
37847 LEWIS, GOLDIE MAY 7M. 27D. APR. 27, 1901 HOLSON
38590 LOOMIS, EDWIN B. 1M. 9D. OCT. 12, 1888 HOLSON
38591 LOOMIS, EDWIN B. 7M. 3D. 1883 HOLSON
39157 MABBITT, MARIAE A. 8M. 5D. AUG. 29, 1862 HOLSON
39163 MABBITT, SUSANNAH 57Y. 11M. 10D. DEC. 2, 1858 HOLSON
39162 MABBITT, SUSANNAH 26Y. 4M. 28D. MAR. 12, 1868 or 63 HOLSON
39165 MABBITT, THORNBURG 70Y. 4M. 9D. MAR. 9, 1870 HOLSON
40256 MATHERS, JOHN C.     HOLSON
40483 MAYNARD, (INFANT SON)     HOLSON
40488 MAYNARD, BARNABAS, SR. APR. 7, 1813 SEP. 27, 1889 HOLSON
40493 MAYNARD, CHRISTOPHER 46 or 45Y. 11M. 29D. MAY 23, 1862 HOLSON
40492 MAYNARD, CHRISTOPHER 2Y. 8M. 8D. OCT. 4, 1845 HOLSON
40500 MAYNARD, ELIZABETH 56Y. 4D. FEB. 18, 1869 HOLSON
40501 MAYNARD, ELIZABETH 76Y. 4D. JUL. 18, 1879 HOLSON
40502 MAYNARD, EMERY 1M. 6D. JUL. 10, 1879 HOLSON
40503 MAYNARD, EMILEY 19Y. 11M. 29D. JUN. 12, 1879 HOLSON
40507 MAYNARD, JACOB 24Y. 1M. 16D. JUL. 1, 1858 HOLSON
40511 MAYNARD, JOHNSON 3Y. 5M. APR. 23, 1815 or 45 HOLSON
40512 MAYNARD, JOHNSON H.   SEP. 23, 1845 HOLSON
40516 MAYNARD, LEWIS C. 2Y. 3M. 2D.or 7D. SEP. 15, 1819 or 49 HOLSON
40519 MAYNARD, MARY CATHERINE 1Y. 6M. 7D. SEP. 9, 1874 HOLSON
40521 MAYNARD, MOSES 1767 JUN. 18, 1874 HOLSON
40523 MAYNARD, SAMANTHA 3Y. 5D. SEP. 30, 1853 HOLSON
40525 MAYNARD, SARAH 29Y. DEC. 23, 1897 HOLSON
40526 MAYNARD, SARAH GREENSTREKE 72Y. OCT. 28, 1846 HOLSON
40527 MAYNARD, SARAH MARTHA 29D. DEC. 23, 1867 HOLSON
40531 MAYNARD, WILLIAM A. 9M. 23D. JUN. 14, 1858 HOLSON
41616 MCFARLAND, GEORGE W. 15Y. 10M. 2D. SEP. 11, 1859 HOLSON
45609 NARRIS, (INFANT)   JUN. 24, 1852 HOLSON
45610 NARRIS, AQUILLA 41Y. 1M. 24D. DEC. 20, 1866 HOLSON
45611 NARRIS, JULIA 46Y. 7M. 4D. DEC. 14, 1860 HOLSON
46428 NORRIS, AQUILA 41Y. 7M. 24D. DEC. 20, 1866 HOLSON
46430 NORRIS, BERTHA 7M. 27D. NOV. 1, 1883 HOLSON
46459 NORRIS, JULIA A. 46Y. 7M. 4D. DEC. 14, 1868 HOLSON
46460 NORRIS, LAURA A. 27Y. 11M. 1D. JUN. 12, 1885 HOLSON
47648 PARKER, ELIZABETH 65Y. 8M. 17D. APR. 1, 1866 HOLSON
47720 PARKER, REBECCA 1Y. 7M. 27D. JUL. 25, 1869 HOLSON
47731 PARKER, SUSANAH 76Y. FEB. 20, 1870 HOLSON
48343 PENDERGRASS, MARY 20Y. 11M. 23D. AUG. 19, 1875 HOLSON
48348 PENGERGRASS, MARY 20Y. 11M. 22D. AUG. 19, 1875 HOLSON
57071 SIMPSON, (INFANT DAU.) 2D. MAR. 15, 1895 HOLSON
57077 SIMPSON, CYNTHIA 29Y. 4M. 9D. MAR. 17, 1895 HOLSON
61340 SWINDALL,/SWINDELL WILLIAM A. 16D. FEB. 16, 1871 HOLSON
61348 SWINDELL, JOHN A. DEC. 16, 1834 MAY 12, 1895 HOLSON
61362 SWINDELL, WILLIAM A. 16D. SEP. 16, 1871 HOLSON
62808 TILLMAN, ELIZABETH 80Y. 8M. 28D. JUL. 28, 1878 HOLSON
62810 TILLMAN, JOHN A. 20Y. 11M. 9D. SEP. 28, 1868 HOLSON
62809 TILLMAN, JOHN A. 20D. FEB. 6, 1876 HOLSON
62814 TILLMAN, WILLIAM G. 8D. FEB. 14, 1871 HOLSON
62830 TILMAN, R. N.   NOV. 10, 1855 HOLSON
62882 TINLIER, JESSE W. 5D. JUL. 10, 1882 HOLSON
64553 VAUGHN, ALVIN L. 2M. 2D. FEB. 29, 1864 HOLSON
64590 VERMILLION, ALONZO MAR. 14, 1869 SEP. 13, 1871 HOLSON
64595 VERMILLION, CATHARINE   JUL. 4 or 11, 1847 HOLSON
64606 VERMILLION, JESSE, SR. JUN. 5, 1804 FEB. 8, 1892 HOLSON
64609 VERMILLION, MARGILLA 71Y. 7M. 10D. NOV. 2, 1894 HOLSON
64610 VERMILLION, MARY MAGDALINE MOR APR. 30, 1845 MAY 26, 1877 HOLSON
64613 VERMILLION, ROZETTA JUL. 26, 1869 OCT. 6, 1869 HOLSON
68345 WILLIAMSON, GEORGE 47 IND INC CO G   HOLSON
68376 WILLIAMSON, OWEN 8 REG IND INF CO K   HOLSON
68392 WILLIAMSON, SUSANNAH 47Y.or 42Y. 11M. 8D. DEC. 8, 1863 HOLSON