When Ripley County was formed in 1818, its name was inspired by the popular War of 1812 hero Eleazer Wheelock Ripley.
He was born April 15, 1782, in Hanover, New Hampshire. Ripley graduated from Dartmouth College (founded by his namesake . . . — — Map (db m100055) HM
In 1846 three medical students - John B. Glass, Jonathan W. Gordon, and Bernard Mullen attempted to exhume and autopsy a recently deceased man that was buried here. Townsmen were alerted, Glass plummeted nearly 100 feet into a deep ravine just north . . . — — Map (db m100059) HM
The Morgan Raiders arrived in Versailles at 1 p.m., Sunday, July 12, 1863, and proceeded to rob the county treasury and to obtain fresh horses. The Raiders also captured and paroled 300 local men, who had assembled in hopes of defending Versailles. . . . — — Map (db m100052) HM
A native of Kentucky, was a charter member of the Versailles Masonic Lodge and served as Grand Master of Masons in Indiana in 1846, the only Ripley County Mason to do so. Served in both houses of the Indiana General Assembly and Constitutional . . . — — Map (db m100054) HM
General John Hunt Morgan, Confederate cavalry commander, occupied Versailles on Sunday afternoon, July 12. Having seized county treasury he moved North at 4:00 P.M. as Union forces began to close in upon him. — — Map (db m45874) HM
( Memorial - Front )
( Across Base )
God - - - Duty - - - Honor - - - Country
( Two Up-rights )
- -“Seals”- - Army • Marine Corps. • Air Force
- -“Seals”- - Navy • Coast Guard • . . . — — Map (db m46029) WM
Versailles Lodge No. 7 contracted with county, added to a brick building, occupied the second floor. Confederate raiders July 12, 1863 took officers’ jewels made from silver franc pieces. General Morgan, a Freemason, ordered property returned. — — Map (db m45928) HM
Side One
Born 1808 Ontario County, New York. Moved with family to Ripley County, 1820. Prominent abolitionist and orator, delivering powerful anti-slavery speeches throughout the area, often against public sentiment. Was active in . . . — — Map (db m45873) HM
On September 14, 1897, a vigilante committee stormed the Ripley County Jail, shot and hung five men on the branches of an elm tree just north of here at the edge of the cemetery. These desperadoes were members of a gang that had robbed and . . . — — Map (db m100057) HM
