| Show WAS ws 6 BAth ACH ACHi i fOR 93 YEARS Veteran Built Own Coffin and Grave Left Word to Unmarried LAFAYETTE Iud lud Feb 20 When When the thc body of Hugh Dewitt a nonagenarian nonagon arian veteran of the tIme Mexican war wart who die died at the tho In Indiana state stab sol soldiers soldiers' homo home here is buried it will bo be in a ae e and grave gravo o of his own onn makin making with a stone monument which lie erected erected erected erect erect- ed to mark tho spot Dewitt was wag a bachelor 93 03 years rears old and was tho the most remarkable veteran al altho at tho the home Ten years ago ao he conceived ed the thc idea of making preparations for fOl his liis death He first bought Dought ht a lot in the thc Battle Ground cemetery a few rods from the site of the thc battle of Tippecanoe Tippe Tippe- canoe Then ho hewed ned and antI sawed out outa a substantial coffin of walnut havin having no assistance in the thc task Ravo o that of tho tools ho used Tho co coffin u neatly joined and well weB varnished was hidden aW away awa r in inn ina n a barn harn It was made the proper sizo and shape shapo for his body according to measurements taken h. h by himself When ho had thc the c coffin finished Pe- Pe itt witt began bean work on his grave g Ho lie du duit dug it deep long Jong and broad bron in order r that I as ho expressed it H a a body would woul havo havu room to turn aroun around in When he lie had bad made mailo the tIme excavation he ho lined the time walls with nth brick an and cemented them and at the top ho he placed two stono slabs fitting to together ether as a cover for tho grave Placing tho the slabs in position tion ho be covered tho the grave gme with a moun mound of earth Then began beran tho the most difficult part of his task tio tho tho erection of tho monument lIe Ho procured blocks of Bedford stone hauled them to the cemetery and again without aid airl ho built the monument which is six feet hi high h an and two feet square Tho The monument faces south standing at tho head hend of tho the care carefully maffe mae grave With his own hands S he hc carved canoed tho inscription The Thc epitaph reveals re re- re- re veas the secret of his bis life It reads A bachelor lies beneath this so sod who disobeyed the thc laws of God iOl AI Advice Ad Ad- vice to others thus I give give Dont Dont live lic lica a bach back as I did dill live the inscription is his name the thc date late of his birth hirth and a space for tho date of his death The monument and rind grave gme were built in 1900 an and have lon long been becu objects of curiosity attracting hundreds of spec The fhe coffin was washed away away by b. hi high h water last fall but was was' was Jeco re l. l Dewitt was a deep student of tho the Bible and he believes that he lie found many conflicting statements in holy writ In his room in the thc old peoples people IS building he be spent days das writing nitin out his views on religious ious subjects Ho was a good talker and anel entertained hundreds of callers Invariably he would toll tell them I of his preparations for death and burial Hn hugh h Dewitt was born horn at Saratoga a Springs N. N Y on May lay 2 1 1814 1314 He lIe lived there twenty one years and then went to Now New York ana and shipped us as a sailor on an Atlantic vessel essel He Hc was on the ocean when the time Mexican war broke out Fired with an ambition to be a Do soldier and fi fight ht for his country ho he went to New Orleans and entered the army Ho serve served In lii company compan I Fourth United Slates States artillery which thich distinguished itself under tinder General Scott Scottin in thc the Mexican war After the war he went to St. St Joseph Jo Joseph seph Mo fo and from there he drove a team of oxen to California For Par twenty ty ty o fi years after that he was not Dot heard from There Thero is iB a story that he be figur figured d iu a love affair in California an and aud that it resulted in his lifelong bachelor bachelor- hood In 1882 he came to this county bought a small tract of JUD lund land at Battle BattleGround Ground an and farmed it He lie was admit admitted te ted to the soldiers' soldiers home from this count county August 16 1897 He leaves only a few relatives |
