Flynn: Logansport's Mount Hope Cemetery filled with untold stories

Jun. 21—I can't help but think of the line from the musical "Hamilton" as I walk through Mount Hope Cemetery on a chilly Friday morning: "Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?"

I've just interviewed Robert Bernhardt, the cemetery's sexton, who also gave me a tour of the grounds in his silver pickup truck.

Now I'm walking among the headstones, taking pictures.

I find a row of grave markers, their surface sheared smooth from a century of weather, the names of those who lie beneath evaporated into history.

Bernhardt said he and his employees aren't responsible for the monuments, but they try the best they can to care for them. There are headstones that have cracked or are slanting.

"We don't have any money in the budget to spend on them," he said. "They become the individual (family's) property."

That's not to say Mount Hope Cemetery is a decrepit place. It's beautiful. But I can't help but feel for those people who have been lost to history, their names wiped away, their families gone, their descendants perhaps in another town, state or country and unaware of their ancestor.

Who lives, who dies, who tells their story?

A caretaker

Robert Bernhardt is not a storyteller, but as sexton, he and his crew of four do everything they can for those left in their care.

He worked at the cemetery for 26 years before retiring in 2014. He was away for just over a year when, after being elected to office, then Mayor Dave Kitchell appointed him as the cemetery's sexton. When Mayor Chris Martin took office, he retained Bernhardt's services. Bernhardt estimates that his career at Mount Hope is now approaching 34 years.

He has his hands in just about every activity at the cemetery, but his primary duties are overseeing his small crew, working with the funeral homes and helping people with genealogy.

"I've taken a lot of pride (in my work) and I hope it shows," he said. "But I have a good work crew. It's just a good feeling to get the work done good."

It takes six days to mow Mount Hope in its entirety. It takes two weeks to trim the grass around the headstones and monuments.

On Thursday, he spent time helping someone find their relative's graves.

He showed me how to search for gravesites online, quickly loading up www.cityoflogansport.org/departments/cemetery/ and searching for his grandfather, Arthur.

At the bottom of the page, to the left, was a link for burial searches. He clicked it and then typed in his grandfather's name and pulled up a profile with information about his life.

The software didn't exist when his grandfather died, Bernhardt said. People who have passed away in the last 20 years have more info.

He clicked the button that read "locate on map." An overheard view of the cemetery covered the screen. From there, Bernhardt was able to zoom in until he could see his grandfather's exact location.

He said he also sold a plot to someone on Thursday who called the spot perfect. The buyer's father was nearby, an uncle, a grandfather.

"They were centered in their family," Bernhardt said.

Stories old and new

I first visited Mount Hope Cemetery for Cpl. Humberto Sanchez's monument unveiling.

I remember standing next to a gold-plated statue of Christ on the cross and looking out in awe at so many graves.

Mount Hope was built in 1854 and is the third largest cemetery in Indiana. Bernhardt said the cemetery is approximately 200 acres with around five miles of road intertwining within it.

In comparison, Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, the state's largest, is 555 acres with over 25 miles of road.

Mount Hope is actually made up of multiple cemeteries, including Pleasant Hill, Mount Calvary and the Ninth Street Cemetery (located behind the post office), which was built in 1828 and is separate from Mount Hope.

General John Tipton was the first person buried in Mount Hope after being relocated from the Ninth Street Cemetery.

I learned his story on multiple websites, including "Wikipedia." In his lifetime, Tipton served in The Battle of Tippecanoe and The War of 1812. He later became a United States senator and founded the city of Columbus, which he originally named Tiptona.

He also led the militia that removed the Potawatomi tribe from Indiana to Kansas. Known as the Trail of Death, 40 Native Americans died during the trek.

The town of Tipton and Tipton County are named after him.

There's a towering Civil War monument, four soldiers standing guard at each corner. It's surrounded by the graves of men who served, fighting to keep the United States intact, fighting to end slavery. Each Memorial Day, the Logansport parade pauses for a ceremony at the site.

"Probably 30 years ago, we had someone come through and do a lot of damage," Bernhardt told me as he drove me around the cemetery. "That statue was pushed off and the statue there was pushed off and when we came around the corner the statues were laying against the monument and (the vandal had) stuck the (statue's) head between the prongs on the fence. So, you came around that corner and your headlights showed that head stuck on the fence."

Bernhardt said, in total, 43 monuments were knocked over that night.

Guarding the monument are two black cannons.

"There are stories about those," he said. "Some say they actually came off of an old ship."

We passed a woman walking. Bernhardt said there are a lot of walkers in the cemetery. The speed limit is 10 miles an hour and it's important to be cautious when driving through because of the walkers. This person lived nearby and Bernhardt shared a wave with her.

"All the neighbors have my number," he said. "If they see a problem, they can call me and I can come right in. I just live two miles from here. I jog right in. See what's going on."

There are two public mausoleums in the cemetery, which Bernhardt dates from 1912 and 1913.

We slowly rounded a corner and he pointed at a small concrete shelter.

"Frank McHale," he said. "The McHale Auditorium. Right here in this corner mausoleum. That's the McHale Mausoleum."

I know the name McHale very well thanks to the McHale Performing Arts Center at Logansport High School. My most joyous moments as a journalist are when I get to sit inside and watch the students, the Civic Players, perform.

The last play I saw in McHale the Logansport students told the story of the "Radium Girls," young women who lost their lives because they were working in factories painting watches with poisonous radium.

The next play I will see at McHale, will be "The Sound of Music." At the end of July, many of those same students will return to the stage with the Junior Civic Theater to tell the story of the Von Trapp family.

Another 50 years

"The whole cemetery is fascinating," Bernhardt said. "You can walk out there and recognize names."

And I do. Steinberger. McCord. Fisher. I see many names that would have meant nothing to me a year ago but are now connected to people I know. People I consider friends. I will never ask about them. How do you just walk up to someone and ask if they are related to the people in the cemetery.

It's not quite like asking Bill Cuppy, president of the Logansport-Cass County Chamber of Commerce and president of the Cass Logansport Economic Development Organization, about the jersey that shares his last name and hangs in the Berry Bowl.

But if you don't ask, who tells their story?

Like Baby Reed. What of their hours on earth? Or Argil Marchand, who was given months. Or Agnes Fisher, who lived many, many years. The genealogy site listed her as 98, but based on the uncertain info on her profile, she could have lived nearly another decade.

When Bernhardt first came to Mt. Hope in 1990, he said there were approximately 220 burials a year. Today, the average is 160 a year. He thinks part of the drop in numbers is because many people who have recently passed might have bought plots in Ever Rest Memorial Park when it opened in the mid-1960s. There is also an increase in cremations.

He said there is enough space in the cemetery, though, for another 50 years of burials.

"We own all the way to Northern Avenue except for a few little squares where houses are," he said. "We don't need a lot of growing space. In one grave, you can put two cremations. That saves space for someone else."

Matter of time

I finish up at the McHale mausoleum.

I peek inside, reading the dates inscribed in the shiny stone, "Frank Martin McHale. March 4, 1891-January 26, 1975. Mabel Corriden McHale. April 4, 1894-April 8, 1968."

I think about about finding John Tipton. Bernhardt showed me the location but I've since forgotten. It was more important to me to find McHale. I've already walked across the cemetery and back. It's 57 degrees and I feel the chill in my lungs and I have a story to write before the end of the day.

I'll be back, sometime.

There are still stories here to learn. And to tell.

It's only a matter of time.