How Indian Field Cemetery Got Its Name
(May 2005)
The following piece is copied from Ancestors Yours and Mine
Volume 6, Number 2, May, 1980
This article is from The Daily Pantagraph, March 23, 1929 by Staff Correspondent.
Somewhere in the nearly forgotten old cemetery located between here and Selma an Indian is buried. He is the first one ever to be placed in this burying ground and for that reason the plot is referred to as the "Indian Cemetery."
The legend connected with the Indian’s burial goes back to the middle of the nineteenth century in the days when the Civil War was uppermost in the minds of citizens. At that time the district about what is now Lexington and Selma, known as Pleasant Hill, was heavily wooded and the settlers had just begun to clear away the land for farming purposes.
One day J. W. Myers, who resided in that vicinity, was traveling through the county with several companions who one of the group suddenly noticed what appeared to be a huge hive in the top branches of one of the trees. The party was puzzled at the strange sight but with the aid of axes they soon felled the tree and were able to examine the object. It was made of bark, about the length of an ordinary man and the bark was covered with vines. They pried into a section of wood and found that it was hollow and upon opening it further discovered a quantity of bones.
Doubtful as to what the bones might be they removed the bark and took it to the village where the doctor was called into conference. He pronounced the bones those of an Indian that had been placed there years before and explained to the group that it was often the custom of Indian tribes to conduct such burial services.
The group then returned to the spot near where they had felled the tree, cleared a small space and buried what remained of the Indian’s body. In the course of time someone squared off a plot using the Indian’s grave as a center and a cemetery for whites was established on the spot. Headstones dating from that time may still be found in the cemetery.
As far as it is known no one can describe today the exact place where the body of the Indian was buried. The cemetery grew and the headpiece marking the Indian grave rotted away and all signs of the grave itself disappeared.