The  Shelbyville  Democrat
Wednesday September 12, 1916
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GRAVE  STONE  MYSTERY
IS  FULLY  EXPLAINED
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Letters From Half-Sister of Children
Whose Last Resting Place They Marked
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           From far-off  Bozeman, Montana, comes the explanation for the unearthing of two grave-stones by contractor  John F. Meloy  in connection with the excavation for the new fire station to be erected on a city lot on west Broadway, less than a block from the business center of the city.  The sensation started about three weeks ago and since then it has been scattered broadcast by the press of the land, which is ever ready for stories unusual in nature.  The explanation is that the stones actually marked the last resting place, four score years ago, of two children of  William Moody, one of the pioneer residents of Shelbyville, who buried two of his children in his dooryard. It is sent in the form of a letter from Bozeman by  Miss Martha Moody,  daughter of William Moody and half-sister of the children buried so many years ago.
           In her letter, which is directed to the editor of the Democrat,  Miss Moody tells that friends of hers sent her clippings from the Democrat referring to the finding of the gravestones and some bones, apparently those of a child, while the excavations were being made for the basement of the fire station, and she then writes further as follows:
           “I have the names of those little ones in the old family Bible—Rachel T. Moody  and  Nancy Moody—and remember of hearing my father, William Moody, tell about burying those little ones in his dooryard. Rachel T. Moody was born October 13 A.D. 1833; died September 4, 1835. Little Nancy Moody was born May 13, 1831; died August 15, 1843. If is not asking too much, please le me know what became of the gravestones and the little bones. I am very sorry such a thing happened and sorrier still to think the dust of those little bones have been scattered in the four winds.”
           The grave-stones are still on the city lot, and no attempt was made to take care of the bones that were unearthed.
           William Moody was quite well known in the earlier days of Shelbyville.  His second wife was  Mrs. Rule, widow of  James F. Rule, who was one of the county commissioners at the time the court house was built of which the present building is a remodeled form, and a tablet on the building bears the name of Mr. Rule.  Mrs. Robert Clark, whose home is near this city, but who is now in a hospital at Indianapolis was daughter of  Mr. and Mrs. Rule and Miss Martha Moody, from whom the letter was received, is a half-sister of  Mrs. Clark and also a half-sister of the children whose graves were unearthed, being born of Mr. Moody’s marriage to Mrs. Rule. Miss Moody has a sister,  Mrs. Lyman Walton, also living in Bozeman, Montana.  R.W. Harrison, city attorney here, visited Miss Moody and her sister while in Bozeman on a business trip three years ago.
           When the grave-stones were unearthed many theories were advanced to account for their presence at the point where they were found, few people being willing to admit the reasonableness of the correct one, the arguments of those opposing the explanation being that people did nor bury their children in dooryards, even in the early days of the history of the city.  Most persons urged that the stones had been dumped there or had been abandoned by a monument dealer, who had a shop near the place many years ago.
Contributed by Barb Huff

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