Helts Prairie Cemetery

Mary Frances and I just returned from a family history research trip to Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. The emphasis was on Tapscotts, but on 17 Oct 2017 we did have a chance to search for Wright-related individuals in Helts Prairie Cemetery, Vermillion County, Indiana. Thanks to Mary Frances’s acuity we found the “holy grail.” On a low hill in the northwest part of the cemetery is a row of five graves for [from left to right (north to south)] Seward W. Swayze, Malinda A. Wright, Thomas Wright, Theadore S. Swayze, and Isaiah Swyaze (lat. 39.73136901855469, long. -87.4104232788086). We did not search for graves of Obediah Swayze and his wife Lydia, who are said to be buried in that cemetery, but these five graves provide ample material for analysis and supposition.

A circle marks the five graves.

Alhough the names are quite legible, the remainders of the inscriptions are exceedingly worn and difficult to read. Mary Frances and I were able to make out what we believe are correct readings of portions of inscriptions. These are shown below with photos of the individual stones. Most photos were taken at an angle to improve readability. I hope that others will visit the cemetery to examine the markers. Sunset and sunrise are by far the best times for doing so.

SEWARD W.SWAYZE

Died

June 19, 18[46?]

Aged

17 yrs a 21 d’s

MALINDA A. WRIGHT

Died

Nov. 1, 1843

Aged

21[?] yrs 11 M’s.

[Rest illegible]

THOMAS WRIGHT

Died

….. 1843

Aged

… M’s  .8 d’s

[Rest illegible]

THEADORE S SWAYZE

Died

Oct. 7, 1830

Aged

19 yrs … Ms

23 ds

ISAIAH SWAYZE

Died

… 12, 1821[?]

Aged

[Rest illegible]

Those named on these stones will be discussed in a future posting. And anyone is eligible to join in. Want copies of the twenty-six photos taken at the cemetery? Send me your email address and I'll attach them to a response (probably in several batches).