HISTORY OF THE DEWITT CEMETERY

The DeWitt Cemetery, possibly the oldest in Clinton County, is believed to have originated as the private burial grounds of the family of DeWitt's founders, Capt. David and Eunice (Forbes) Scott. It may, however, in practice have been initially used by many of the pioneer families at the Scott settlement.

On July 19, 1841, Capt. Scott deeded a small parcel of land which included the Scott family plot as well as several other known burials, to the township of DeWitt for use as a graveyard. This original portion of the present cemetery is roughly the front (or west) two thirds of sections D and E.

Early township minutes dated May 21, 1842 record the DeWitt township board as having "discussed completing the burying ground." This use of the term "completing" refers to the practice of grading, clearing, seeding and surveying the lands acquired for use as a cemetery. This practice was common for both proposed as well as acquired existent burial grounds. The responsibility for "completing" the DeWitt cemetery was given to Ephriam H. Utley for the consideration of fifty dollars.

In 1845, additional land was purchased from the same Utley, who then owned adjacent lands, for the purpose of enlarging the village cemetery. By this purchase section C was acquired and the two original sections were extended east to nearly their present limits.

Unlike other area graveyards, the DeWitt cemetery was to remain nameless for several decades. The early township minutes repeatedly refer to it simply as the cemetery north of the village or, north of the Clinton House (early DeWitt's premier landmark hotel).

As time passed, the DeWitt cemetery became viewed as the major burial ground of the DeWitt area. It reached its present northern limit in 1891 when the township purchased additional land from Mark Pennell.

A well for the cemetery had been requested by area residents for many years and in 1894 the township board approved funds for a well and windmill to be constructed on lot #200 (presently lot # 66 of section D). At that same May meeting the board set a policy that the job of setting stones level and filling sunken ground was not the responsibility of the sexton but rather that of the lot owners or family.

In 1896, a plank sidewalk was constructed on the east side of Bridge Street, from the Baptist church to the cemetery. A replacement of cement was contemplated many times by the township board but it was not until 1911 that one was installed. Some sections of this old sidewalk are still intact, though much of it has been replaced or overgrown with dirt and sod.

In 1918, a cement block vault, still standing in section A, was constructed for the purpose of storing bodies during winter months until such time as the ground thawed and a grave could be dug. The basement of the vault, which is on ground level on its north side, was used for storing bodies and was secured by and iron-barred door. The main floor, which opened to the south, could be used as a chapel, of sorts, for services. The original use of the chapel and vault was discontinued many years ago and the building is currently being used for tile storage of equipment.

Early township minutes report numerous surveys taken of the DeWitt cemetery as well as the other cemeteries under their management. Unfortunately, none of these survey reports have come to light to help explain variances in plot sizes and discrepancies in plot numbers in the DeWitt cemetery. At an unknown date (but within a twenty year span from 1905 to 1925) at least two plots were added to the eastern edge of both sections C and E (possibly several to section D also). This necessitated a total renumbering of all the plots within these sections. Hence, references to specific plots in the early township minutes no longer correspond to the plot numbers which have been in use for at least the past sixty years.

Unlike the five unit plots which became a standard, many of the original plots ranged in size from two to a dozen or more burial spaces. Plots in the original cemetery were laid out in a seemingly haphazard manner with no conformity as to the number of burial sites which constituted a plot. Records do not exist which reveal the method used in determining the size of plots allotted to individual families.

In the oldest sections of the cemetery (D & E) the lots were numbered and survey markers set in place at a very early date. Two examples of these early markers have survived, though it is not known if they were used as a set or if one example predates the other. Both made of cast iron, one is akin to a large thumbtack with a plate about three inches square bearing an embossed arrow on the face of it. The square plate rests upon a wedge-shape projection which extends only a few inches. The other marker is similar to the familiar iron flag holders; having a long thick rod which was sunk into the ground. Its top, instead of resting flush with the ground, extended upwards about five inches, was approximately three inches wide and had the lot number, encircled by a cartouche, embossed on the face. This type of marker, though easily visible, became extremely impractical in more modern times when the cemetery began to be mowed.

The lot markers presently in use are all placed in the northwest corner of the lot. They are now cement cylinders embedded in the ground with an end side containing the lot number, exposed. These are standard throughout all sections except the very newest areas where square tabs of a non-corrodible metal are now being used.

All lots in this cemetery run north and south and contain five burial spaces in each lot. The exceptions to this rule are the original portions of sections D and E and several corner lots along the eastern drive where the turns at the intersections of some east-west drives have made the fifth burial space unusable. The headstones have generally been set along the western line of the lots with the dead buried to face the rising sun to the east. Small footstones, usually engraved only with the initials of the dead, were a very common practice in the 19th century. These were removed in the middle part of this century (less than three still survive intact:) and buried in the ravine east of section E. Cemetery regulations now prohibit footstones. Another common practice of the 19th century which has disappeared from the DeWitt cemetery was that of encircling a family plot with a decorative fence, usually of metal and low to the ground. The last example of these survived up to the early 1960's but has since been removed.

The layout of sections D & E indicate an apparent driveway or access running north and south in the center of the original area (before they were extended east). It is possible that the original intention was that the front or entrance to the cemetery would face south with a drive along the front (now the drive between section E & F) and access from both Bridge and Franklin streets. Lot number 49 of section E is evidence of this theory as it runs the full width of that section, has no markers and no apparent burials, and has a different depth dimension from all other lots in that section.

The current sexton's records used by the City of DeWitt date only from the mid-1930's. The records for the first century of the cemetery were said to have been destroyed in the village fire of 1930 (an explanation of questionable origin and validity). To compensate for the loss (or perhaps absence of adequate records) a tombstone reading was taken in the early 1930's and entered as the official record of burials for the cemetery, prior to 1930. Unfortunately, though an ambitious project, this reading is riddled with errors in spelling and dates. It also did not address the problem of the loss of records for a substantial number of unmarked graves or of the ownership of unused lots.

Though it cannot be verified by any official record, but to give credit where credit is due, several sources have indicated that a local historian of the period, Agnes (Pike) Stienhardt, found the "new^'' record so unacceptable that she took it upon herself to do something to improve it. Her information, much of which was later incorporated into the sexton's records, was gleaned from private sources of many pioneer families and led to identifying numerous unmarked graves as well as ownership of many unused lots.