By John Estridge
Back in the day, when there was a need, a community rallied together and did what was necessary to fix the problem.
That was the explanation Steve Cox gave to Metamora residents Saturday, June 27, when talking about why the Metamora Masonic Lodge 156 took over operation of the Metamora Cemetery in December 1952 and continue in that vein in 2020 but does not want to do it any longer.
Cox, Franklin Circuit Court Judge, is also the Grand Master of the lodge. He found the situation with the cemetery when he became the lodge’s Grand Master this year. He said three trustees for the cemetery, who are also lodge members, vote on items such as mowing contracts. Cox said, according to lodge rules, the entire lodge should be voting on items like that. Also, the lodge treasurer acts as the cemetery’s treasurer, and that should also not occur.
It was alternately called cemetery commission and cemetery association during the meeting.
After Cox ended his summation of the situation, the residents then held a second meeting and started the process of reestablishing a cemetery association. They elected a seven-member board along with officers and set up the next meeting.
History
Cox started the meeting, held at noon in the Masonic Lodge’s first floor of the building the lodge owns in Metamora, by stating the history behind the cemetery. It is located north of town off Duck Creek Road.
He said the community originally buried its residents in the Methodist Episcopal Cemetery. It filled up. So, in 1881, Metamora residents decided to form a cemetery association and sold shares to it. The deed for the old cemetery and land adjacent to the cemetery was deeded all to the newly formed cemetery association.
However, and here’s the rub, the charter was good for only 50 years. Why those originals decided to put a time limit on it is apparently not known at this time.
In 1931, the cemetery association ended. However, its demise went unnoticed at that time. And people just continued to operate as a cemetery association until 1952. At that time, the final shareholder died. His entire estate was left to Margaret Mary Community Hospital in Batesville. This consisted of farms, machinery and livestock among other assets. And, it also included the Metamora Cemetery.
Margaret Mary Hospital did not have a use for a cemetery. The hospital deeded the cemetery property back to what the hospital officials thought was the cemetery association. But, it no longer existed and had not existed for 21 years at that time.
Ironically, as 1952 turned to 1953, the people — who thought of themselves as cemetery association members — were all Masonic lodge members. They learned, at that time, while the cemetery had a deed and there was money to operate it, there was not a commission in place to do that. Having that “if there’s a problem, we want to fix the problem” attitude, the members, at that time, decided to have the lodge run the cemetery while the cemetery association tried to become an entity again.
Thus, the lodge, by general agreement, said it would take over the assets and administration of the cemetery until the association could get everything in order. There is a deed to the cemetery that uses much of that verbiage.
“The purpose of doing that was for the lodge to hold the land until such time that the cemetery commission could get properly organized,” Cox said.
Until Saturday, the reorganization never occurred in the 67 years since that deed was recorded.
Reorganization
During the meeting, one of the questions asked of Cox was if the Metamora Cemetery still had room for more burials. Cox said there is a section alternately called the new section and upper section. It was purchased from the Church of Christ. The lane to get to the new section is just west of the Kyle Baudendistel diesel garage, Cox said.
Following the first meeting with Cox, the Metamora residents and/or those with family members buried at the cemetery, stayed at the Masonic Lodge and held a reorganizational meeting.
Seven people were elected as trustees. They are: Dustin Back, Joe Halcomb, Ray Halpin, Sherrie Halpin, Herb Halcomb, Deanna Wilson and April Minnemann.
Back was elected as the president, and Sherrie Halpin was elected as the clerk/treasurer. Back’s wife is a vice president at a Connersville-area bank and said she will assist the commission with getting its finances in order. The trustees will meet again in two weeks. At that time, Cox said he will assist the association’s trustees with writing and adopting the organizing documents.
Prior to the meeting, lodge members have mowed the cemetery this year. Cemetery Association members now plan to mow the cemetery.
Thanks John. Good job