Remains of old Mennonite Cemetery brought back home

Berne Tri-Weekly News:

Remains and artifacts that had been removed from the old Mennonite Cemetery two years ago have been brought back home for internment in the MRE Cemetery. The mass grave containing the remains is located south of the flagpole in the southern part of the graveyard.

Susan Doell, representing the Indiana Department of Transportation, said that final permission to bury the remains and artifacts was given late Tuesday, allowing for the Wednesday burial.

Ryan Peterson, archeologist in charge of the excavating project, said that in the end his archeological team had excavated slightly over 130 grave shafts. In the process of their work, Peterson said that archeologists had found all forms of remains, including portions of skeletons, burial relics and portions of caskets. While most grave shafts were located just to the east of the highway, Peterson had reported that there were three confirmed grave shafts on the very eastern portion of the grade school property.