12 Dunn Cemetery
One of the most serene and peaceful spots in the heart of the Bloomington campus is Dunn Cemetery. Tucked away between the Indiana Memorial Union and Beck Chapel, the original deed to the cemetery specifies that it is reserved “…forever as a place of private burial where they shall repose together as one family in the long night of death and rise up together as from one bed at the last day…”. 1
Honoring three revolutionary women
The “they” referred to by the deed, signed by George G. Dunn on November 21, 1855, are the descendants of Ellenor Dunn, Agnes Alexander, and Jennet Irwin. These three remarkable sisters, whose graves are marked by the oldest gravestone in the cemetery, were Revolutionary War heroines. According to an IU Libraries blog post by Carrie Schwier, “Legend has it that they worked side-by-side with [General George Washington’s] men sewing on buttons, bandaging wounds and even melting their pewter plates and other metals into bullets”. 2
Always look on the bright side of life
Dunn cemetery remains an active burial ground, but few plots remain for the descendants of those amazing sisters. It is a beautiful place to take a break from the busyness of college life. On your hardest days, remind yourself to be a little more like Doris Seward, one of the cemetery’s inhabitants whose gravestone is pictured below:
