Cemeteries Moved to Crown Hill

Wright-Whitesell-Gentry Cemetery

Wright-Whitesell-Gentry Cemetery, originally located on the northwest side of Indianapolis, was moved into Crown Hill’s Pioneer Section in 2008. The family cemetery was established on the Wright Family Farm in Lawrence Township in 1841, with the last burial in 1905.  Eventually, as the city grew and developed, this little pioneer cemetery came to be nestled in the curve of the exit ramp from I-69 to westbound I-465 in Castleton. The move was predicated by the expansion of I-69.

In 2008, the move, completed using archaeology, found 12 adults, 14 children, and seven infants.  When moved to Crown Hill, they were buried in the same orientation (facing the same direction) as in the original cemetery. Meaning, they are facing the same cardinal direction and buried next to the same individuals as before. A dedication ceremony of their new home in the Pioneer Cemetery included Wright-Whitesell-Gentry descendants and those who had so carefully and meticulously seen to their reburials.

Greenlawn Cemetery Complex

Today, we call the four cemeteries just southwest of downtown Indianapolis “Greenlawn Cemetery.” The four cemeteries were the City Cemetery, New Burying Ground, North Burying Ground (AKA Peck’s Burying Ground), and Green Lawn Cemetery; eventually, the combined cemeteries were called Greenlawn Cemetery. The first was established in 1821.

As soon as Crown Hill Cemetery was established, families began moving individuals from the complex to their newly established family lots in Crown Hill Cemetery, but as the Greenlawn Cemetery Complex was no longer being used, large removals of human remains were conducted for industrial development and recreation uses on the site. Many of the remains from these large, coordinated moves came to Crown Hill. Some of the larger moves include 1912 when over 1,100 individuals were moved to Crown Hill’s Pioneer Section for the Diamond Chain development; in 1931, the Confederate Soldiers were relocated to Section 32, Lot 285; and in 1986, remains were moved to section 101 because of the construction of buildings on the Greenlawn Cemetery Complex site.

Mapleton Grave Yard 

The Mapleton village, originally called Sugar Grove, was located just outside the gates of Crown Hill Cemetery, running north of 32nd Street along Meridian and Illinois. Eventually, the area was incorporated into the city of Indianapolis. Many of the original pioneers from the village are buried in the cemetery, but the earliest burials were placed in the Mapleton Graveyard.

Ten graves were moved in 1914 to Section 43, Lot 7925 from the Mapleton Graveyard, with the original death dates ranging from 1859-1878. At this time, archaeology was not a discipline used to move graves. In this instance, funeral home directors were used; Walter Blasengym was given this job.