aka Moss Island

Anderson Township

Location: north side of 8th Street, between Park Road and Longfellow Drive

    The most traveled road in Madison County in the pioneer days was South Bank Road, what has become 8th Street/8th Street Road/West 8th Street.  Skirting the south bank of White River, this route was one of the few marked paths or "traces" into the western sections of Madison County and from there into the western areas of the New Purchase.  Because of the accessibility, the land along this route was some of the first settled in east-central Indiana.  Consequently, the land contains quite a few pioneer cemeteries.  From the west side of what was called Andersontown in those days to the Madison-Hamilton county line, along what was once a dirt path and is now designated as West 8th Street, there are seven known places of burial.  The Moss Cemetery is one of these.  It was named for the John Moss family, many of whom are buried here.  John originally owned and donated the land for use as a graveyard.  The Moss Cemetery, located in the southeast quarter of section 9 in Anderson Township, was once on a secluded wooded knoll.  It is now, like other pioneer cemeteries, surrounded by mid 20th century housing developments.

    While most of the burials are from the latter third of the 19th century, there are a number of pioneers resting here whose birth dates are in the 18th century.  The Mosses, John and wife Ann, were born around 1789 and 1787 and died in 1865 and 1864 respectively.  Ann's gravestone is pictured at right.  A mid-Victorian marker of more than average design, it has a recessed Bible and first name with filigree framing.  The major carving has also been set inside an arched outline with corner decorations.  Ann lived for "77Y 7M & 23D."  Another pair, the Gordons, were born even earlier.  Nancy was born in 1780 and died in 1864.  Philip has the distinction of being born in 1775 before the Revolutionary War and dying during the Civil War in 1863.  One of the earliest burials, however, was that of Isaac Johnson, who died in 1840 at fifty-one years; he may have been the first interred here.  Born in the early 1800s, the next generation includes Hannah Bradgley, 1801-1884; Jacob Arbogast, 1810-1882, whose stone is at left; Marion Davis, 1817-1883; Nancy Davis, 1814-1879; Catherine Brown, 1828-1879; and Elias Brown, 1820-1875. 

    The number of children buried at the Moss Cemetery is not surprising considering that the death rate for children in 1800s was one of four, often rising to one out of three.  Seven children from the Martin family are buried here as well as W.H. Martin of the "8th Ind. Inf. Co. G" who was killed in the Civil War.

    The secondary name, "Moss Island Cemetery," refers to the Moss Island Mills once located nearby; the mills were directly on White River.  Many times a cemetery would take on the name of an important structure in the vicinity, and so the Moss Cemetery was in later years referred to as the Moss Island Cemetery in deference to the famous mills.  Mills were one of the most important additions to pioneer life.  A mill transferred the power of a river's current to grinding stones or cutting blades through the use of a large wooden, paddled wheel placed in the water. The grinding stones converted hard grains into usable meals and the blades turned timber into lumber.  Thus, pioneers and early settlers had the two most important necessities for survival, food and shelter.  Before the Moss Island Mills were built in 1836 by Joseph Mullinix, the closest mills were in Perkinsville down river and Pendleton overland fourteen miles away.  The Moss Island Mills were only three miles from Andersontown and so, at the hub of industry and farming, benefited everyone in the surrounding townships.  The millhouse and waterwheel were large, well-built structures that became so important to the county that they remained landmarks long after their use was over.