Dear Paul
The grave in the middle of the road in Franklin, Johnson County, Indiana, is a perfect example of the strange final resting places theme this month. The story behind the unusual grave location is equally as bizarre as the location itself. This wonderful story was sent to me by reader Carrie Smith.(underthenuttree.blogspot.com)
The grave in question belongs to Nancy Kerlin Barnett who was born on 14 May 1793 in Indiana and died there on 1 December 1831. The grave has a fascinating story behind it. Nancy was married to William S. Barnett (1785-1854) who was the 3x great-grandson of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.
In 1905, the cemetery that housed Nancy’s grave was relocated elsewhere, to make room for a new county road, however, when construction workers came to remove Nancy’s grave, her grandson Daniel G. Doty (1846-1934) stood by her graveside, shotgun in hand. Exactly how long he remained there isn’t known, but his defiance was enough to force the county to change their minds, leave Nancy’s grave exactly where it was and instead, split the lanes right down the middle. So, her grave stayed and the road was built around it. In 1912, a concrete slab was placed over the marker to protect it.
That’s not the end of the story, though, In May 2016, the site was excavated to widen the road, because an increase in traffic had resulted in accidents and damage to
