Gravely Speaking

On top of one of the rolling hills in Unionville Township in Monroe County, Indiana, there was a tiny rural church, the Pleasant View Baptist Church, long since abandoned by the congregation and torn down. But, next to where the small church stood remains the Pleasant View Cemetery where the family members of the church were laid to rest.

Toward the back of the cemetery nearly in the center stands a proud statue of a World War I soldier, tall and straight, looking forward at parade rest. The doughboy is carved from Bedford limestone, paid for by the boy’s grandmother as a tribute to Thomas Forrest Riddle, the fallen hero. The statue carved by one of the expert Owen County stone carvers stands next to a solid block of granite that has two names carved into the face of the polished red stone:

THOMAS F.

RIDDLE

1895-1919

RAYMOND R.

RIDDLE

1897-1919

Next to that monument is a small red granite polished stone with the simple inscription:

AMANDA RIDDLE

1897-1919

These three gravestone are the outline of a family tragedy for the Riddles who farmed and lived in this rural area. Thomas Andrew Riddle and his wife, Elizabeth Angeline, had a big brood of children as farm families did in those days but within one month the Spanish Influenza struck the family killing 3 of their 13 children.

The Saturday February 22, 1919, Bloomington Evening World, ran an headline that tells the story: THREE INFLUENZA DEATHS IN ONE FAMILY ONE MONTH.

The story goes on, “Influenza-pneumonia has already resulted in the death during the present month of their members of the family of Mrs. James Riddle, eleven miles northeast of the city, and two more are still sick with the malady.”

“Forrest, the 21-year-old son, who returned from service overseas only last Sunday, fell victim last night. His brother Raymond, 21, was buried yesterday. A sister, Miss Amanda, died the first day of February.”

“The young soldier came back from the war in apparent good health only to find every member of the family in bed with the plague. He contracted the disease the same say and was so bad from the start that little hope was held out for him. He and his brother Raymond were delirious most of the week and the nurses did not know which one of the boys would be the first to go. The funeral of Forrest will be held at Pleasant View church tomorrow at 10:30 in charge of the Rev. Bayless. Forrest went to war with eight other boys of the same neighborhood, all of whom have returned. The others will set as pall bearers at his funeral. His comrades say he was in two or three big battles and was gassed, being in one of the hospitals in France two months.”

The Sunday September 7, 2003 Hoosier Times article by Bette Nunn reported that Thomas Forrest Riddle “enlisted in the Army June 4, 1918. He was assigned to Co. D., 12^th Machine Gun Battalion, 4^th Division. He saw battle at Chateau Thierry and Argonne forest and became a casualty of war from poison gas.”

The article also reported that on August 12, 2003, the heroic statue of Thomas Forrest Riddle was vandalized—and badly damaged, smashed into several pieces, his head separated from the body, and broken below his knees. Rightfully the community around the area was outraged and went to action. The statue was mended and the soldier once again stands guard over the graves of Amanda, Raymond, and Thomas Forrest Riddle.

Bethel Cemetery, Hymera, Indiana

NATHAN HINKLE

BORN JUNE 7, 1749

DIED DEC. 25, 1848

—

NATHAN HINKLE

REVOLUTINARY SOLDIER

ENLISTED IN LANCASTER CO.

PENN APR. 1776 AND SERVED

2YS 9MS UNDER CAPT. HENRY

CRISP — COL. MILES REG AS A PRI-

VATE PARTICIPATED IN THE

BATTLES OF LONG ISLAND

BRANDYWINE AND PAOLI

Facing the highway at the Bethel Cemetery in the little town of Hymera, Indiana, is the statue of Revolutionary solider Nathan Hinkle. The local legend that has grown up around this proud monument is that you can evoke his spirit by walking around his statue three times saying his name with each revolution—then, Nathan comes alive and speaks back.

The limestone statue depicts a Revolutionary War soldier at parade rest, holding his rifle butt down, but unfortunately, most of the rifle is missing, save for the piece he clutches with his hands. The statue to honor Nathan Hinkle was unveiled on a Fall day in October in 1904, with a cluster of local dignitaries, a Knights of Pythias band, and a crowd estimated at seven thousand. Hymera, at the last Census, had 801 residents—it is hard to imagine that many people assembling for the unveiling today.

As the Sullivan County History details. “The ceremonies of the day centered about the unveiling of a monument to Nathan Hinkle, the Revolutionary soldier who was buried in the Hymera cemetery. About a year before the movement had been started to raise funds for such a memorial, and the subscriptions had been gathered and the monument set in place for this occasion. Hon. James S. Barcus, a great-grandson of the patriot, delivered an address, and Miss Mamie Asbury, a great-granddaughter, assisted in the unveiling. The monument is fifteen feet high, representing a Revolutionary soldier at “parade rest.”

The Gray

During the Civil War Americans were fighting against Americans. Brothers against brothers—cousins against cousins, every casualty and every fatality was an American. The war tore the country apart and threatened the very existence of the Republic itself.  The war left an edible mark on all who lived through those times. Rightly, town squares, parks, battle sites, and cemeteries throughout the United States pay tribute with monuments to the soldiers that fought to preserve the Union and those who fought to preserve the South and the Confederacy.  Cemeteries often have special sections where the soldiers themselves are buried.  Most of the monuments across the country, whether they be in the North or the South, were funded either by the soldiers themselves or associations created to honor the service of those who wore a uniform—gray or blue.

To honor the 24 Confederate war dead buried in unmarked graves in the Oak Hill Cemetery at Evansville, Indiana, the Fitzhugh Lee Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy had erected a monument in 1904. The monument is comprised of two elements—a large polished and matte granite block and a sculpture of Confederate soldier on a large gray granite base.  The granite block has carved on the face:

IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF OUR

CONFEDERATE DEAD

1861-1865

On the base of the large granite block is a bronze plaque that reads:

THIS TABLET WAS PLACED ON THIS MONUMENT BY THE UNITED STATES TO MARK THE BURIAL PLACE OF 24 CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS, WHO, WHILE PRISONERS OF WAR, DIED AT EVANSVILLE AND WERE BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY, WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL GRAVES CANNOT BE IDENTIFIED NOW.

Below that are the names of the 24 soldiers buried in Oak Hill. The statue beside the block a life size replica of a Confederate soldier holding a rifle, butt down.  The soldier is in full uniform and gazes forward in a direct and respectful manner.

The Blue

Not to be outdone by the Confederate ladies, in 1909, the auxiliary organization to the G.A.R., the Woman’s Relief Corp embarked on a campaign to raise a monument to salute the Union soldiers buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery. There are nearly 600 Union war soldiers buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, many of whom died after the bloody and hard-fought Battle of Shiloh and in the Evansville area hospitals.  The monument honoring the Union soldiers is comprised of a large gray granite marker with a Union soldier standing atop.  The soldier holds his rifle, butt down, as he gazes forward over the graves of the fallen.

Inscribed on the plinth:

ERECTED

BY THE

WOMAN’S RELIEF CORPS

A. D. 1909

IN MEMORY OF

THE COMRADES OF

FARRAGUT POST NO. 27

DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

1861 — 1865

LOYALTY

The large section of Civil War soldiers resembles a military cemetery—576 soldiers from 13 states—whose headstones are lined up in rows—are also honored with restored cannons and stacks of cannonballs as part of the tribute paid to their service.