Restoration of Lane Cemetery

Monroe Township

Putnam County, Indiana

October 2004

During October of 2004, Sheila Morrison and Larry Tippin restored the Lane cemetery south of Bainbridge. This cemetery is well off the road in a secluded wooded area. But many people are in the vicinity of this cemetery since it is a prime mushroom hunting area.

This cemetery is the final resting place for Higgins Lane and his family. Higgins Lane was a prominent citizen in the 1800’s, serving as a State Legislator during the 1850’s and 1860’s. More information on Higgins Lane may be found in any of the various Histories of Putnam County.

The Lane cemetery is enclosed by a concrete wall and is surrounded by many mature trees and overgrown vegetation. The cemetery itself has been mowed under the direction of the Township Trustee. But several of the stones in the cemetery had fallen over or otherwise been damaged by natural deterioration. During the summer of 2004 a thunderstorm toppled several of the large trees just outside the cemetery. These trees fell into the cemetery, knocking over and damaging several stones. More damage would have been done except the trees were so tall they fell all the way across the cemetery and came to rest on the concrete wall itself.

We consulted with the Township Trustee and agreed to restore this cemetery. We began by cutting and removing the fallen trees. We then surveyed the cemetery to see what work needed to be done. We could see that four or five stones were broken or had fallen off their base, in addition to the stones that were in need of repair due to natural deterioration.

The large monolith stone of Angeline Lane, wife of Higgins Lane, had fallen off its base and had been lying on the ground a long time. We reset the based for this stone and then reset the stone on its base.

The large monolith stones for Henry and Mary Lane were knocked off their bases and broken by the falling trees. We reset these stones on their bases and repaired the breaks in the stones.

The stones for Margaret Cornelius and Carrie Bauserman are tablet type stones that were lying at ground level. We reset these stones so they are now upright.

View photos of restoration of the Lane Cemetery:

Before cutting trees

Before cutting trees closeup

Looking south after cutting trees

Looking west after cutting trees

Looking east after cutting trees

Higgins and Angeline Lane before restoration

Margaret Cornelius before finding base

Margaret Cornelius before reset

Partial restoration looking southeast

Partial restoration looking east

After Restoration looking east

After Restoration looking east2

After Restoration looking west

View listing of individuals buried in this cemetery

View listing of all Putnam County cemeteries