The heavy equipment is gone, the divots and tire tracks have been patched and the occupants are back where they belong.
The Madison County Cemetery Commission, which has spent the past seven years reclaiming the Cottrell Cemetery, will finally reveal the finished product to the public in a rededication ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday.
“The cemetery has never looked this good,” said Green Township Trustee Greg Valentine. “We’ve got some pictures, but that really doesn’t do it justice, then or now. People need to come out and see for themselves.”
Sunday’s ceremony will feature a War of 1812 reenactment, the Highland High School bagpipes performing “Amazing Grace,” a bugler playing “Taps” and a pastor. Never has a place been so in need of a prayer.
Known to some as the Chapman Cemetery, the Cottrell Cemetery is one of the most historic in Madison County, and many of the first people buried there were Cottells. It was owned by the family until July 1876 when it became the property of the Doty family.
Several private owners kept the cemetery in good condition until it fell into the hands of Gregory Holt, according to the Madison County cemeteries Web site. From all accounts, he desecrated the property beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.
“The people buried there deserve a little better than what Holt gave them when he took over the cemetery,” Valentine said. “He stole heavy equipment, bulldozers and backhoes, and the parts he couldn’t fence or sell he buried in the cemetery.
“He just has no regard for the people who have gone before us.”
At one point, Holt used a backhoe to create a driveway through the cemetery, dumping earth, markers and remains over a nearby hill. Rain and erosion caused unearthed bones to wash into neighbors’ yards and the matter was brought to the attention of the township trustee, cemetery commission and county coroner.
Damage was so extensive that restoration costs were estimated at over $75,000, the Web site stated.
“I was the first one that cleaned up the junk out of there,” said Bob Cottrell, a descendant of many of the cemetery’s permanent residents. “It took me three days. In the beginning there were so many stones missing. It’s been a long process since then.”
The MCCC has been working to get the cemetery surveyed, equipment removed and a fence installed along the perimeter. Existing stones have been re-set and human remains unearthed during the desecration were re-buried. The work was completed in the fall of last year.
Valentine said some of the damage simply cannot be undone. He said 15 of the original headstones have simply disappeared, either discarded or buried. A new marker has been put in place of those 15 stones, listing the names from the stones that were lost.
Valentine said the deed for the cemetery has since been transferred to Green Township, which will maintain it along with eight others in the township.
“This is one of the historic cemeteries in Madison County,” Valentine said. “We plan to keep it that way.”
If you go...
Cottrell Cemetery Rededication Ceremony
Sunday at 2 p.m.
Located on the south side of Reformatory Road, east of Indiana 13
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