Calvary Cemetery
Directions: Keyser Township, DeKalb County, Indiana, S°34 T°34 T°13E 41 20'41"N 85 08'40"W
This church cemetery is located in the town of Garrett on the corner of Hamsher St. and McHenry St. From SR327, go west on McHenry St., turn on Hamsher St. Cemetery is located on the west side of Hamsher St.
History:
From "History of DeKalb County Cemeteries" by Dorothy A. Ditmars, April 18, 1924.
The Calvary Cemetery was purchased and laid out in 1897, through the influence and patient work of Father August Young. This cemetery is located just outside the city of Garrett, on the west.
Father Young bought eight acres of a land company, and paid for it himself.
It contains 950 lots. The present manager of this cemetery is Mr. L. Gengler, an attornery of Garrett, Indiana.
The below information is from a printed page (source unknown) that John Martin Smith had in his private files;
Calvary Cemetery on Hamsher Street at the southwest edge of Garrett was established by Father August Young, a civic minded priest of St. Joseph Parish. Seeing the need for a cemetery, he purchased seven and a half acres of ground in January 1897. He employed a competent surveyor, who laid out 750 lot at a cost of $3000.
On April 1, 1899, Keyser Township trustee Edward Kelham paid $20 for Lot 346 to be used for Union soldiers only. He also bought 347 and 422 for $30 to be used "just for the poor." Most of the lots are large enough for five graves. Father Young and Father Leon Pisula are buried in Calvary Cemetery. Some lots are still available in the cemetery as well as a few crypts in the mausoleum. Lots are mowed by Oliver Maurer, who has been employed as caretaker since 1954.
The Auburn Courier,
Thursday, May 6, 1897 (submitted by Roselyn Wells)
A
NEW CEMETERY
J.
J. VanAuken has just completed the plat of the new Catholic cemetery at
Garrett. It is of a lovely and unique design and as fine a
specimen of landscape outline as we ever saw. The ground is at
the edge of the town to the southwest of the Catholic Church and
contains seven acres. There are over 700 lots laid off in the
several divisions of the ground. One enters the grounds from the
corner next
to the town, the main drive or avenue running towards the center, which
is a rise of ground and serves as the central point of one of the main
groups of the lots in approaching this, however, we pass on the left, a
similar rise of ground which forms the center of another group and is
perhaps more prominent than the one above named, as it is nearer the
main entrance. The other groupings are no less artistic, and the
whole plan shows Mr. Van Auken's skill and genius as an engineer and
draughtsman. There is no prettier cemetery plat in this part of
the state. And besides the beauty of this work much credit should
be given to Father Young and his people for their liberality and
enterprise. It will save them many a weary drive to the Auburn
cemetery.