MIKESELL CEMETERY BURIALS
Bethlehem Township, Clark County, Indiana



Restoration begun in late 1998

Mikesell Cemetery on 4/7/2001

This cemetery is located on Albert Miles' farm in Section 32, off Miles Road.  The UTM coordinates are UTM 16 636603E 4270674N.  Click here for a topographical map of this site, courtesy of www.TopoZone.com.

In 1978, four or five graves marked with native stones were visible. Jacob Mikesell's stone was broken into three pieces. Mary Mikesell's stone was similarly broken. At that time, the spot was overgrown with honeysuckle and locust sprouts.

In 1998, restoration of the site is being undertaken by Bill and Linda Meredith, Mrs. Della Volz (both of the John Paul Chapter DAR at Madison) and Stephen D. Franklin of the SAR - Hoosier Pioneer Patriots Chapter-Jeffersonville, Indiana.

In the photo above at left, Mrs Volz is looking down upon the stone of Jeremiah Smock and Mrs. Linda Meredith stands in front of the base of Jeremiah's stone; to the right is the still broken stone of their daughter Mary Ann Smock and to the right is the stone of Rebekah Mikesell Smock that was unearthed and now stands erect awaiting for her husband and daughter's stones to stand alongside of her.

Stephen Franklin says, "It has been both an honor and privilege to help on this site."  For more pictures and MIKESELL genealogical information, see Stephen's site at:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/9862/mikesell.html

As of October 1998, Jacob's marker is now once again together and his wife Mary’s stone, which was in about 5 or 6 pieces, is now together. They have also got the graves of Jeremiah Smock and his wife Rebekah Mikesell. Rebekah’s stone was found intact under 10-12 inches of earth and has been reset, along with her footstone. Their daughter Mary’s stone is still to be repaired.

The stone of another of Jacob and Mary's children, Peter Mikesell, is like a mosiac to be pieced together, but is mostly readable.

This site had heavy foliage and had a lot of sassafrass roots throughout this 5-family member area.

The following is the corrected index provided by Stephen Franklin:

MIKESELL        Jacob (husband of       b. 11/02/1756   d. 12/26/1844

                Mary Bast Mikesell)



MIKESELL        Mary Bast (wife of      b. 11/16/1759   d. 06/23/1846

                Jacob Mikesell)
MIKESELL        Peter                   b. 12/06/1782   d.  04/11/1838



SMOCK           Jeremiah (husband of

                Rebekah Mikesell Smock) b. 11/19/1787   d. To be added
SMOCK           Mary (daughter of

                Rebekah & Jeremiah)     b. ????         d. ????
SMOCK           Rebekah (daughter       b. 05/18/1786   d. 05/02/1859

                of Jacob & Mary, wife

                of Jeremiah Smock);

                her epitaph reads:

                  Weep not for me when you stand by my grave

                  When I am gone I am gone.

                  Plant ye a tree thay may wave or’e me

                  When I am gone I am gone.
Stephen D. Franklin <franklinsteph@hotmail.com> reports that there maybe about 15-20 others buried here and they will be working on this site as the weather and the farmer allows them access to the cemetery.

Another daughter of Jacob Mikesell, Elizabeth, is buried nearby at Marble Hill Cemetery in Jefferson County, born Nov 18, 1785 and died Sept 16, 1868 beside her husband, Joseph Bowman Senior, born June 30, 1774 and died July 1st, 1850.

There is a piece of a stone that appears to be a Bowman buried at the Mikesell Cemetery along with 5 or 6 other slabs or creekstone as a markers, hopefully we will find more under as we extend our searching of this grave site.



        The writer of the original notes mentioned above offers the following

        information on Jacob MIKESELL:



        Born in Frederick County, Maryland.



        Service:  Enlisted in Frederick County, Maryland, 

        July 1776, as a private in Captain Daniel Dorsey's 

        Company and Colonel Josias C. Hall's Maryland 

        Regiment of the "Flying Camp".  Discharged December 

        1776.  Enlisted in August 1777 for two months as a 

        private in Captain Martin Derr's Company.  In 1781,

        served one week as a teamster in Colonel Baker 

        Johnson's Maryland Regiment.



        Proof:  Pension claim Number S 16202, Jefferson

        County, Indiana.



        Record Deed Book "B", pages 226-229.








I have no further information on this cemetery. This index was obtained from the Jeffersonville Township Public Library, 211 East Court Avenue, Jeffersonville, Indiana 47130, telephone: (812) 285-5635.

E-mail: Dee Pavey

Click here to return to the Clark County Cemeteries Index
Click here to return to the Clark County INGenWeb site

© Nov 2004