Covenanter Cemetery Tour with Pastor Rich Holdeman of Bloomington Reformed Presbyterian Church

On October 19th, 2024, Rich Holdeman gave a guided tour of the historic Covenanter Cemetery affiliated with the Bloomington RP Church, emphasizing the church's role in the Underground Railroad, the historic distinctives of the denomination, and the significance of Covenanters for the history of Bloomington, Indiana.
0:00 Introduction
1:35 Location of the Cemetery
2:36 Arrival of Presbyterians in Bloomington
3:20 Origin of Presbyterians in South Carolina
4:14 Antislavery stance of Reformed Presbyterians
6:20 Bloomington as a hotbed of Presbyerianism
8:29 The original Bethesda building burns down and the congregation changes it name
10:22 Sale of land where the former church building had been to former slave Robert Anderson; Robert Anderson's descendents
13:42 Integrated Cemetery
14:45 The 175-year-old ash tree
16:00 Dry-stacked stone wall
18:00 Room for people in cemetery
20:21 Graves of African-Americans
24:55 Always being ready to die
26:40 Significance of Covenanter names for Bloomington
30:58 Artwork on gravestones
31:31 Distinctives of the Reformed Presbyterians: Objection to the Constitution
33:50 Non-pacifism
36:14 The older part of the cemetery
37:20 Thomas and Jane Smith and the Underground Railroad
40:00 James Faris
43:45 Robert Fee family
45:09 "Relict" Martha Fullerton
47:05 Denominational schism
49:00 John Dale Russell
51:40 Henry Lester Smith
52:45 End of Tour