ALBANY, Ind. — A former auto worker and history buff is keeping a Civil War soldier's memory alive by restoring the fallen soldier's marble gravestone.
Doug Cross of Albany came across Thomas Kent's grave last September while looking for a site where Civil War soldiers had used limestone slabs to cross the Mississinewa River.
He spotted Kent's gravestone in a clearing in the old Steubenville Cemetery and quickly suspected it belonged to a soldier.
"It was pitch black," he said. "It looked like a soldier monument by the way it was shaped, and I could read the word 'Fell' on there."
The gravestone was filthy and nearly indecipherable, but Cross took pictures and used a computer to enhance them. He and his 10-year-old daughter, Kelli, then used water and a soft scrub brush and non-damaging chemicals to make the stone readable again.
"It was full of sediment, kind of like a sandy substance, and we picked that out as good as we could," Cross said.
Now its words are clear: "Fell, Dec. 31, 1862 at the Battle of Stone River contending for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Aged 22 Ys, 1 Mo and 22 Ds."
Kent served in Company E, 36th Regiment, of the Indiana Volunteers. The Battle of Stone River occurred in Murfreesboro, Tenn., between Dec. 31, 1862, and Jan. 2, 1863.
Cross said his research shows Kent suffered a musket shot to the left shoulder and a bayonet wound and was one of 23,515 casualties.
Now that Kent's gravestone is legible, Cross hopes the young soldier's memory will live on.
State News
Indiana history buff restores Civil War gravestone
- State News
-
-
Hundreds pay respects to slain Indiana soldier
Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of a northeastern Indiana soldier who was killed by enemy rocket fire in Afghanistan.
-
Allisonville Road bridge project in Indianapolis begins Wednesday
The already rough commute on the Northeastside of Indianapolis will only get longer this summer.
To complete a $19 million road improvement as quickly as possible, state highway officials Wednesday will close the Allisonville Road bridge over I-465 for up to 110 days.
-
Delaware County grandstand likely done by July
Delaware County says the show will go on this summer with new fair grandstand after it demolished the old one because of safety concerns found during an inspection prompted by the deadly Indiana State Fair stage collapse.
-
Fort Wayne officials give tax breaks another look
Officials in a northeastern Indiana city are taking another look at their policy on property tax abatement, which critics consider too generous but supporters contend is needed to attract businesses.
-
Police probe similarities in missing IU student
Police in Bloomington say they have contacted authorities in Louisiana about their search for a college student whose disappearance has similarities to that of an Indiana University student who has been missing for nearly a year.
-
Census: Hispanics boosting Indiana's small towns
Hispanics are fueling population growths in many small Indiana towns that are seeing their white populations shrink, census figures show.
-
Indy 500 in the books, but heat isn't a record
Fans sought shade under the grandstands and beneath umbrellas. Misting stations got a healthy workout. But Sunday's Indianapolis 500 won't go down in the record books as the hottest in the 101-year history of the race.
-
Rose-Hulman renames center for late president
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is renaming its Student Innovation Center after late President Matt Branam.
-
Ohio casinos will cut into nearby states' winnings
The opening of casinos in Ohio this spring means the luck is running out for neighboring states that have pulled in an estimated $1 billion each year from gamblers who've been crossing the border to wager at riverboats in Indiana, gaming tables in Michigan and casinos in western Pennsylvania.
-
Dry spring causing concern for holiday weekend
An abnormally dry spring has farmers worried about crops and the Indiana fire marshal concerned about fireworks, cookout and bonfires sparking fires during the Memorial Day weekend.
- More State News Headlines
-
Hundreds pay respects to slain Indiana soldier
