Unrest at Elks Rest in Terre Haute Indiana

Tombstone Tourists are all about history, heritage, and preservation. We want to save the stones, the cemeteries, and the stories for future generations. That’s why when I received a link to an article by Terre Haute Indiana Tribune Star staff writer David Kronke a couple of weeks ago, I immediately put out a call for any volunteer restoration groups willing to help “Save the Elk.”  

The Bronze Elk

According to the article, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. 86 in Terre Haute, Indiana, had planned to auction the bronze statue after publicly stating they couldn’t afford to refurbish it.

 

It is worth noting the Elks Lodge owns the plot of land where Elk members are buried and the statue stands. A cemetery plot is sold like any other piece of real estate; the buyer signs a deed for the land, tiny though it may be. The original deed goes to the purchaser, and a copy is filed in the courthouse and with the cemetery. Therefore, Highland Lawn Cemetery owned by the City of Terre Haute, does not own the statue and has no control over its sale or removal.

 

Bronze Elk

No sooner had I sent out pleas for assistance than questions began to surface. “Who had said the statue needed restoration?” “What type of refurbishing was needed?” “Had Elks Lodge No. 86 asked for or sought any assistance in refurbishing the statue?” One Facebook reader cut to the chase and called it a “money grab, pure and simple.”

 

 

Refurbishment Plea is Suspect

Locals felt the same way. Many said this wasn’t about the statue needing repairs; it’s about a fraternal club needing money due to suffering financial problems …again.

The community rose in protest when Maple Avenue Auction released a notice of the sale. The Elks leadership set the minimum bid at $30,000, and the buyer must also pay all moving and repair fees.

 

According to Tommy Kleckner, director of the Western Regional Office of Indiana Landmarks, no matter how much the Elks would receive from selling the statue, it wouldn’t match “its intrinsic historical value.”

 

 

Save the Elk

When Terre Haute resident Dot Lewis heard about the pending auction, she decided to do something about it. Lewis has formed the Facebook group, Save the Elk (Elks Rest) @ Highland Lawn Cemetery, Terre Haute, Indiana.

She created the group on December 17, 2021, and it now has over 100 members.

 

Lewis hopes to draw attention to the possible plight of the elk and create a public forum to protest its sale and removal. When I queried her about the potential auction, she explained that the statement made by the Elks that they need to sell the statue due to refurbishment “is simply not true.” The decision to sell the elk was a “private decision…made by the leadership of local Elks Lodge No.86 without public or membership notification or discussion.”

 

Elk Lodge No. 86 in Terre Haute, Indiana

According to Lewis, “It is a justification for their unethical tactics and greed. They are selling it because they want money for their lodge.” Lewis went on to say that neither “the Elks nor us (Save the Elk) need resources for refurbishment.”

 

A cemetery sexton I spoke with said that a bronze statue might need the joints rewelded due to metal fatigue, but historians would not consider removing the century-old patina. 

 

History of Harvey’s Elk

Eli Harvey

The 14-point elk has overseen the graves of nearly two-dozen Terre Haute Elk members for almost a century. Sculptor Eli Harvey designed the elk statue in 1904. Harvey spent weeks inside a shed to gather the correct dimensions, and attitude, of an elk stag in rut. Some believe that Harvey could “touch the soul” of the animal. His bronze elk sculptures represent the emblem of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and it was his most popular work. The statues, cast in 1905, were available in statuette and monumental versions. The elk was originally known as the “Bull Elk.” The monumental Highland Lawn Cemetery statue is known locally as “Elks Rest.” An attached plaque reads: “Elks Rest, BPOB No. 86,” and a clock face depicts the time as 11:55.

 

Located at the entrance gates, the elk is the first destination on the cemetery
walking tour and listed on the Waymarking site in “Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures” pertaining only to outdoor public sculptures.

Lodge No. 86 purchased the statue in 1927 and dedicated it at the fraternal cemetery plot the following year.

 

Elks No. 86 Has Sold Other Historic Artifacts

Revolutionary-era Cannons

Lodge 86 is the same group that sold the historic Revolutionary-era cannons displayed at Fort Harrison. The site was once the location of the Elks Lodge Country Club and Golf Course.

 

Elk Statue at Dedication in 1928

Families are appalled that Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks No. 86 would choose to sell off this symbolic statue that oversees their dead. This considered action doesn’t ring true to the Elks mission statement:

“… the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America will serve the people and communities through *benevolent programs, demonstrating that Elks Care and Elks Share.” 

(*Benevolent means “charitable, non-profitmaking.”)

 

Is it Legal?

That depends on whom you’re speaking with. Several attorneys have voiced the possibility that legal action could be considered.

According to an Indiana law, it is illegal in Indiana to sell anything placed on or in a grave.

IC 14-21-2-4 Purchase or sale of items removed from cemetery prohibited

Sec. 4. A person may not buy or sell any of the following that have been removed from a cemetery:

(1) Grave memorial.

(2) Grave artifact.

(3) Grave ornamentation.

(4) Cemetery enclosure.

(5) Other commemorative item.

As added by P.L.100-1999, SEC.1.

The statue would be considered a commutative item, which an attorney explained, “The Elks Lodge can get rid of it, but just not sell it.”

 

What Can Be Done?

• A lawsuit could be brought by concerned citizens against the Elks Lodge No. 86. 

• The City of Terre Haute, the State of Indiana, or a group of concerned citizens, or historians, could consider purchasing the statue and allowing it to remain permanently in Highland Lawn Cemetery.

• The city could also apply for an Indiana Historical Marker for the elk possibly in time to stop a sale.

• You could consider filing a complaint with the Indiana Attorney General.

• For other suggestions, visit Save the Elk on Facebook. 

 

And we must consider, what precedent does this potential action set for other historic markers and monuments around the country?

As Dot Lewis put it so succinctly, “What kind of fraternal society…would be so disrespectful to its deceased members (as) to sell off what is symbolically a grave marker?”

 

For now, the auction is on hold.

 

 Visit the Terre Haute Lodge No 86 Elks page to voice your opinion to the Terre Haute Elks.

Send an email to the Indiana Elks Association.

Contact the National Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

 

 

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy New Year!

~ Joy 

Cemeteries Worth the Visit – Highland Lawn Cemetery, Terre Haute, Indiana

Highland Lawn Cemetery

Map of Cemetery Grounds

Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana began in 1884.  The City of Terre Haute purchased 139 acres of “hills and hollows” from Ray and Grace Jenkins for $15,000.  In the true Rural Cemetery style it was designed into well-grouped trees and shrubs, with the artistic placement of lakes, valleys and meandering paths by Joseph Earnshaw.  His goal was to draw attention to the cemetery landscaping instead of the large monuments and mausoleums.  Highland Lawn is the second largest cemetery in Indiana, with Crown Hill in Indianapolis being the largest.

The Chapel

The Chapel in 1914

The cemetery’s chapel, built in 1893, is of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. It was designed by architect Jesse A. Vrydaugh and cost 10-thousand dollars to complete.  It is located on the highest hill in the cemetery.  The Chapel features gabled roofs, a domed brick basement and stained glass throughout.  It was renovated in 1988 at the cost of $65,000.

Highland Lawn Cemetery

The entrance in 1897

The entrance to the cemetery features a Romanesque Revival Bell Tower.  It was constructed of Bedford, Indiana limestone in 1894 by the Heidenreich Company.  The adjoining arch was designed by Paul Leizt of Chicago and constructed by Edward Hazledine. The attached Rest House was built in 1909 as a waiting station for the interurban.  Built by W.H. Floyd in the Colonial style, it is now the cemetery’s offices.

Section 2 where
Samantha McPherson was buried

The first person buried here was Samantha McPherson who died of typhoid and was buried on October 29, 1884.  She was 30 years old. Highland Lawn now has almost 27,000 graves.

Stein Mausoleum

Cummings Mausoleum

Crawford Mausoleum

Highland Lawn has numerous mausoleums located throughout the cemetery. Each is individually owned.  Some hold only two bodies, others hold up to sixteen.  The mausoleums were built mainly from granite and marble. Other markers and stones depict interesting funerary art and sculpture, another way to promote social standing.  In this cemetery, the larger the monument, the more prosperous and well–known the family. 

Blumberg Mausoleum

Davis Mausoleum

Among those mausoleums in the cemetery, two have well-known legends concerning them.

John Heinl

The best know story involves Terre Haute businessman John Hienl and his dog, Stiffy Green from the early part of the 20^th century.  Heinl, pipe in hand, and Stiffy Green, so named because of his stiff walking gate and startling greenish colored eyes, would stroll through town, visiting with the folks they met.  Stiffy Green was friendly but ferociously protective of Mr. Heinl and did not allow anyone to get too close to his beloved master.

Heinl Mausloum

When John Heinl passed away on December 31^st, 1920, Stiffy was inconsolable.  He sat be the coffin at the funeral and followed the family to the graveyard where he took up post at the mausoleum doors.  There he remained, guarding his master in death as he had guarded him in life.  Family and friends made many trips to the cemetery that winter to retrieve Stiffy and take him home, only for him to return to his master’s crypt doors. 

Stiffy Green

Stiffy mourned himself to death. Heinl’s wife paid tribute to his unwavering love and devotion and had him stuffed in the sitting position he had assumed for so long on those cold mausoleum steps.   Stiffy was then placed inside the tomb, reunited at last with his master. 

An evening walk

But it wasn’t long before visitors began noticing that Stiffy had mysteriously moved from one side of the tomb to the other, and back.  Rumors spread that early in the morning or at twilight you could see an elderly man and his small dog walking near the Heinl crypt, the smell the rich pipe smoke in the air and a low voice talking to his devoted companion who would answer with a happy bark. 

Vigo County HIstorical Society

But all good things must come to an end – even in death.  Vandals would not leave the site alone, damaging doors and windows. In 1985, thugs shot out Stiffy’s right glass eye.  The family decided it was time for Stiffy be moved and the Vigo County Historical Society Museum agreed to take him.  There, the Terre Haute Lions Club built a replica of the Heinl mausoleum. Today, Stiffy Green is still on guard – unless he and John are taking an evening stroll in Highland Lawn Cemetery.

Sheets Family Mausoleum

1920's Style Phone

The second well-known story involves the Sheets family mausoleum, where Martin Sheets, his wife Susan, and baby Ethel are interred.  Born in 1853, Martin lived into his early 70’s, passing in 1926.  He saw many technological changes come about during that time.  One new-fangled invention he found an odd use for was the telephone.  Martin had one installed in the family mausoleum, just in case he was buried unconscious, but alive, and needed to summon help. It was stipulated in his will that a phone line be run from his crypt to the cemetery office.  He set up an account with Indiana Bell Telephone that kept the line paid for and active, just in case. 

Indiana Bell

The story could end here as a very odd but interesting bit of cemetery lore, but it doesn’t.  When Sheets’ wife, Susan died years later, she was found in the kitchen with the phone in her hand.  Many assumed she had been attempting to summon help.  But according to legend, when the mausoleum was unlocked to place Susan’s casket next to her husband, cemetery workers discovered the phone in the crypt was off the hook!

Off the hook

Eighty years after Martin Sheets was placed in the family mausoleum, the phone line was disconnected from the cemetery office, never known to have been physically used.

Debs Political Poster

Eugene Debs

Highland Lawn is also known as the burial place for many famous people, including politicians Eugene Debs, Socialist Presidential candidate who ran for the office five times in the early part of the 20^th Century.  

Theodore Hudnut's Grave

Funeral Cortege for Voorhees

Also buried here are Daniel Voorhees, a U.S. Congressman and Senator from the mid-1800’s, and inventor Theodore Hudnut, who developed a way to remove oil from grain, producing Mazoil cooking oil.

Elk's Rest

Highland Lawn Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its significance in landscaping, one of only two Indiana cemeteries so designated.

Angel at cross

A waiting friend

The cemetery is located at 4420 Wabash Avenue, just east of the city.  It no longer has its own web page.  The Cemetery Superintendent is Lennie Snyder. For assistance with any genealogy questions, contact Roxe Ann Kesner, Cemetery Clerk or her assistant, Helen Kester at (812) 877-2531.  A true Facebook page does not exist.

View of cemetery from southern hill

Bench marker in the snow

Highland Lawn is a cemetery where you can spend a day admiring mausoleums, exquisite artwork and sculptures.  Even in winter, it’s beauty and tranquility shine through!

~ Joy