Memorial Park History

     Memorial Park is one the smallest county parks in Indiana, County.

 

         Dating back to 1773, the spot was once owned by Conrad Rice, who came from Lancaster County, Pa.  He purchased about 260 acres of land from Reverend John Smith on April 1, 1794. Prior to his ownership, Rev. John Smith had acquired the land from proprietors on Dec. 10, 1773. Burials at the park did not start until 1803, two years after the Indian village grounds were destroyed.  In all, there are about twenty-one graves in the park today. Records show that in 1818, Conrad Rice made a proposal of one-dollar for two acres. Part of the land was to be used for the Presbyterian congregation burial. Later, in the 1880’s, the Borough of Indiana issued an ordinance that prohibited burials within the town’s limits.  Some of the burials were removed and placed at Greenwood and Oakland cemeteries. Then in 1923, the Mothers of Democracy were granted permission to erect a soldiers’ memorial in the center of memorial park. The monument was created to commemorate the Soldiers, Marines, nurses, and others of ‘the World War’, now know today as ‘World War I’; the Mexican and Civil War.  The monument's image is of a ‘doughboy', an informal term for a Marine Corp personnel.Interestingly enough, the monument construction committee who approved the now erected statue included Jimmy Stewart’s father, A.M Stewart.

Dough Boy (October, 2013)