A Shelbyville, Indiana, newspaper
probably after April 25, 1912
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REMAINS  OF  WOMAN
WHO  DIED  FROM  SMALLPOX
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BELIEVED  TO  REST  IN  METALLIC  CASKET
FOUND  IN  BLUE  RIVER  LAST  SUNDAY.
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REINTERMENT   THIS   EVENING
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Casket Will Be Placed Again in Lemar Cemetery,
from Whence It Is Supposed to Have Been Washed
by Recent High Waters.
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          The metallic casket found last Sunday by some Marietta men who were strolling along Blue river in Jackson township southwest of that place will be reinterred either this evening or tomorrow morning in the Lemar cemetery, from which it is supposed to have been washed by the river during the recent high waters.  The burial of the casket will be superintended and it will be placed in the cemetery as far back from the water as possible.
          All attempts to identify the remains in the casket have met with failure, but it is known the body was that of a woman.  This was determined by removing a steel plate from the top of the casket near the head.  Beneath this was a heavy glass plate thru which the skeleton was plainly visible.  The hair was very long and the skull and bones had the appearance of a woman.  John Pile, of Marietta, has expressed the belief that the body is that of a woman who died while a resident of the Pile farm when he was a small boy.  Her death was due to small pox and he distinctly recalls that a white metallic casket was secured for her burial on account of the disease from which she had suffered.  Mr. Pile can not recall the name of the woman, nor has he been able to find any one else who can.
          The casket was found by David Snapp,  Grover Snapp,  Ora Bennett,  Hallard Bennett and some other residents of marietta.  At the time they made the discovery it was resting on a drift in Blue river about a mile below the Lemar cemetery and there is little doubt that it came from that place as the cemetery is being gradually washed away by the river.  The casket was carried by the men to a gravel bar back some distance from the stream and had been left there all this week in the hope that some one might be able to give information that would lead to positive identification of the casket.
          In the reinterment the casket will rest some distance back from the river bank, but unless the course of the stream is changed it will be only a matter of years till it will be only a matter of years till it will be disinterred by the action of the water again, as the cemetery seems doomed.  Originally it contained three acres, but more than half of this has been washed away, th result being that the river bed, and banks are strewn with human bones for several miles below the cemetery.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming

The  Shelbyville  Democrat
Thursday, April 25, 1912
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METALLIC  CASKET
LEFT  ON  GRAVEL  BAR
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NO  EFFORT  MADE  SO  FAR
TO  DISPOSE  OF  THE
GREWSOME  FIND.
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          Reports today indicate that no effort has yet been made to dispose of the metallic casket that was found in Blue river, southwest of Marietta last Sunday, by some Marietta men who were strolling along the river.
          The casket was found resting on a drift of logs where it had doubtless been left by the receding waters after being floated from its resting place in the Lemar cemetery, which is rapidly disappearing because of the erosive action of the river.  The men who found the casket carried it to a gravel bar and there it remains, as no one knows whose remains are in it and no one seems to care.  Tho the casket has doubltess been in the ground for many years, it is plain that it was covered with a white enamel at the time it was interred and it is believed this should lead relatives to claim it, as few such caskets were ever put in graves at the Lemar cemetery.  The story of the grewsome find has appeared in many of the county newspapers and the state press, but so far no one has shown any interest in the situation.  No attempt has been made to open the casket.
          That part of the river south from the cemetery is shunned by sensitive persons, as the river bed and the gravel bars are literally strewn with human bones that have been washed from the cemetery and there are many persons in the vicinity who could not be coaxed to make a trip along the river after the shades of night have begun to fall.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming

The  Shelbyville  Daily  Democrat
Wednesday, January 27, 1886
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L O C A L    N E W S.
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          Miss Maggie Lamar, of Marietta, is visiting friends here.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming

The  Shelby  Democrat
Thursday, December 4, 1879
Page 3, column 1
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          Mr. William Lemar, who lives in Jackson township, a short distance below Marietta, reached the 68th anniversary of his birth on Saturday last.  His friends and relatives determined to give him a surprise dinner in honor of the event, and succeeded to the satisfaction of all.  It was with some difficulty that the old gentleman was gotten away from the house, as he is a great homebody, but finally Mr. John J. Lemar persuaded him off on pretense of surveying a line, and while he was absent things were fixed up nicely.  There were about sixty-five persons present to partake of the dinner which was spread in great abundance and consisted of all the good things of the land.  The old gentleman was highly delighted with the kindness and consideration of his friends, which was nothing more than a deserved tribute to a very worthy man.  Mr. Lemar was born in Adams county, Ohio, in 1811.  At the age of fifteen he settled on his present farm and has lived there ever since, a period of fifty-three years.  He is a very quiet man and seldom leaves home.  When Mr. Lemar first came to the neighborhood it was a perfect wilderness filled with howling wolves and other wild beasts.  He assisted in raising the first house that was put up in the town of Marietta.  By industry and thrift he has accumulated a good property, has raised a large family and enjoys the respect of all his acquaintances.  We wish this worthy old pioneer a long life yet and hope that his days may be prosperous and happy.
Submitted by Barb Huff

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