The Washington times., 1903-10-20
AN INDIANA SEXTON
DIGS 4,I75 GRAVES
This Is His Record in Thir-
ty-five Years.
Is A WALKING. BIOGRAPHY
Aged Mark McTigue Recalls Traits
of Those He Knew
So Wcu.
is A WALKING, BIOGRAPHY

KOKOAIO. Ind. Oesz 2O.-Mark Nc
Tiguc. the venerable sexton OF Crown
Point Cemetery, Of tt1s city, has dug
4.175 graves and atteLS1ed to the de-
tails of every burial With has occurred
in these grounds in the last thirty-five
years.
He carried the line w1Ren the grounds
were laid of. January L. 1858. and made
the first burial. November 20. Of that
year Coming to Kotomo. March 2.
1861. he is surprised TO learn, when look
ing over his records, thsEt the far great
er number Of the people he then knew
have gone 20 their final, rest, and their
narrow cells are the Object of his daily
care.
The aged sexton. who has passed mis-
allotted three-score a nd ten. being
seventy-two years old. feels, he says.
somewhat like n relic Of past genera
ton. He derives a com tort in wander
ing among the shafts of those he knew
IN life. and recalling The traits by
which he knew them so well His per
sonal knowledge comprChends more or
less Of the biography OF every person
buried in the grounds. IN fact, read
able and instructive history Of kokomo
might be written by recording his com
ments as he passed rom tomb to tomb
Only One Grave Robbed.
Did Rufus CantreIl orr his gang ever
rob any OF the graves in Crown Point
the sexton was asked.
NO. IN the thirty-fivet years OK my
experience / never knew df grave be
ing rifed or molested in Grown Point.
never detected a trace oftany attempts
ar robbery. When diggingt-up bodies for
removal even in the pCr-Jer's field,
never failed to find the corpse. 1 re-
member once when l wass after body
which was to be remoEcd 20 Crown
Point found only the clothes in the
outer box The body ana even the
coffin had been stolen
whose body had b7s1 buried the
longest Of any you ever removed?
.sThat OF Nelson Cooper He was
buried I'm May. 1863. and the metallic
coffin was found in excellent condi-
ton"
Mr.. McTigue IS probably Tthe only per-
son IN Kokomo who cat locate the
place OF burial Of John ThlIall. who shot
Mr.. Cooper dead. killed t'1e Rev. John
Lowe at the same time. and wounded
II. II. Stewart and John Wtynn. while re-
sistlng arrest as a horse tE'ef.
Certain of Buri&-
"How do / know that iThralI was
buried? why bless you. ift he was he
sleeps as sound as any OF ttsem. / didn't
think 10 examine. know Itsot the cof-
fin and the box and I buried them. You
10 70 a certain monumen3 in the old
cemetery. turn 20 your left.agoing along
the alley until you come TO where the
old fence used 10 be ana Just outside
or IL is where ThralTs gray . Is. Wasn't
he nervy? why when he stDOd upon the
box. under the rude scaffDld. he COM
planned that the rope was 90 long; and
after he had tied it shorter and placed
the moose around his neck. nm told them
10 do their supposed duty. When they
were hustling him 10 the, courthouse
yard 10 hang him he told them 10 be
civil about IL. and mountGh the bo2
alone
Il got a letter from somes New York
folk once asking me If I ever found a
petrifed body. I never have. There may
be such thing. but / never saw one
Did ! ever See a ghost? b osh!'