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.
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.
 |
| A circle marks the five graves. |
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).
