Madness Monday - Where in the World is Minnear Cemetery?

Locating Minnear Cemetery in Wabash County, Indiana is truly driving me mad!

Minnear Cemetery is the final resting place of my great-great-great grandparents and I would love to visit their graves but have had no luck in determing the exact location of the cemetery.

Here is what I know:

1.  I have a copy of the deed from 1874 that gives the location on the farms of W.L. Bird and W. H. Minnear (both of which don't exist today) and is listed as rods and feet.  Here is a transcription of that deed.

This indenture witnesseth that William H. Minnear and Huldah J. Minnear his wife of Wabash County in the state of Indiana.



Convey and warrant to the Heir of John Minnear deed for burying ground for said family of Wabash County in the state of Indiana for the sum of as a donation to said family the receipt thereof is hereby acknowledged. The following real estate in Wabash County in the state of Indiana. Towit.


Commencing 41 rods & 5 feet east from the south west corner of south west quarter of the north east quarter of section 26 township (26) north of range 7 east and running due east on said line between W.L. Bird and W. H. Minnear 3 rods and 2 feet thence south 8 rods and 2 feet thence west 3 rods and 2 feet thence north 3 rods and 2 feet to the place of beginning.


In witness thereof the said William H. Minnear and Huldah J. Minnear his wife have hereunto set their hand and seal this eighth day of October 1874.


William J. Minnear


Huldah J. Minnear


State of Indiana


Wabash County ss:


Before me B.F. Lines a Justice of the Peace in and for said county. This 8th day of October 1874 came William H. Minnear and Huldah J. Minnear his wife and acknowledged the execution of the __________ deed.


Witness my hand and Justice seal


B. F. Lines


Justice of the Peace


Duly recorded this 5th day of Jan 1875 at 3 o’clock pm


James M. H_______

I also have a copy from Ancestry.com of the County Plat map of 1875.

I can clearly see section 26 and even see where W.L. Bird's farm is located. 

My madness is this - how do I use this information to determine where the cemetery is located today?

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated!

Madness Monday - One Man. Many Wives.

My madness Monday post qualifies on two fronts.

My husbands maternal grandfather, Ed Baker, was hospitalized in 1961 in The Connecticut Fairfield State Hospital. His official diagnosis was Institutional Psychosis. From the doctors notes found in Nanny's estate, I would guess he suffered from schizophrenia. That is part one of the "madness."

Part two was also found in the estate papers. Letters Nanny received from Ed Baker's ex-wife indicated that he was married multiple times. And not always divorced!

I began using the letters as a guide to build a timeline of Ed's life prior to Nanny.

11 Sept. 1902 Ed is born in Taunton, Mass.

14 Sept. 1902 Ed (legal name is Cyprian Edward Boulanger) was baptised in Holy Family Church in East Taunton, Mass.

1 Dec. 1919 Ed entered the Navy (after giving his birth date as 1 Dec. 1901) and served until 2 Feb. 1921.

1930 Census he is living in Detroit, MI and working as a Polisher in an auto plant.

17 June 1940 Ed marries Anna Maria Spaulding in St. Patrick's Church, Chanute, Kansas. The license indicates that he was living in Chicago, IL at the time of the marriage.

2 Dec. 1940 - Ed and Anna Maria are divorced.

7 May 1941 - Ed married Evelyn Marie Simpson in Kansas City, MO.

7 Oct. 1941 - Rose M. Belanger files for divorce from Christopher Edward Belanger in Providence, Rhode Island. (Since this divorce degree is found in Ed's papers I believe this was another marriage for Ed using a different name.)

3 Nov. 1941 - Ed marries Nanny in Bronx, New York.

1941 - letters indicate another divorce from a Laura Grace Martin of New York.

24 May 1942 - Nanny gives birth to my MIL and her twin sister in Kansas City, MO.

8 Jun 1942 - Ed and Nanny marry again in St. Joseph Hospital, Kansas City, MO.

I have been able to find the marriage certificate of Ed to Anna Maria Spaulding, also the marriage certificate to Evelyn Marie Simpson, the divorce degree from Rose M. Belanger and both marriage certificates of Ed and Nanny. The rest is a mystery....and a madness.