Jan. - August 2010 "In the News"
Press Release
August 13, 2010
Hire Township - Neal Null, member of the Hire Township board, recently accepted a new sign for the Central Cemetery donated by the
McDonough County Historical Society.
Central Cemetery is in the southeast corner of section 19 in Hire
Township
three miles southwest of the village of Blandinsville in McDonough County.
The Central Christian (Disciples of Christ) church was dedicated across
the road in 1888. The church sold the building in 1950.
The first burials were Francis
(September) and her husband Jessie White (October) in 1890.
Rock Creek Methodist Episcopal church (1850-1971), located two miles east, also used the Central Cemetery.
Central Cemetery is occasionally active and beautifully maintained by Hire Township.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home in Macomb, the McDonough County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
Press Release
August 11, 2010
Hire Township - Norma Banks Runner, descendant of relatives in the Banks Cemetery, recently accepted a new sign
to mark the site donated by the McDonough
County Historical Society.
The cemetery sign project is supported by
Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home,
the McDonough County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, Richard and
Marilyn Jackson, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
The Banks Family Cemetery
by Norma Banks Runner
This inactive family cemetery is located in the southwest
quarter of section 30 in Hire Township four miles southwest of the Village of Blandinsville in McDonough County. There are 12 markers remaining
for the 13 people buried between 1844 and 1887.
My great, great grandfather Vandiver Banks (1804-1876) came
to McDonough County in 1835 among the early settlers of Hire Township. He and his wife, Loraner Sharpe Banks, moved to Illinois from Kentucky.
He purchased land and built a house in section 30 of Hire
Township. He was a successful carpenter and farmer, acquiring considerable property. Vandiver and Loraner had 11 children, five of whom died at
early ages and rest in the family cemetery. The first burial was their five year old son George Banks, who died in 1844.
The grave markers for Vandiver and Loraner Banks, while
worn, are still legible. He died in 1876. Loraner was the last person buried in the Banks cemetery in March 1887.
There are seven stones with the name Banks on them.
The land once farmed by Vandiver Banks, as well as the cemetery, is still in the family. This cemetery is maintained by the
family.
Lucy Horrell was the first burial in the Lower Cemetery, 1841.
Alvin S. Martin is one of four CIvil War veterans resting in the lower Cemetery.
Press Release
August 5, 2010
Macomb -- Earlier this spring, 34 students from four universities devoted the first morning of their weekend conference at WIU restoring the
neglected Lower (pronounced Lah-wer) Cemetery in southern Colchester Township.
This week, the McDonough
County Historical Society installed two signs, one
near a rough roadway access, and one at the cemetery entrance.
Margaret Foster, on whose farm the cemetery is located, accepted the
sign
near the highway. She suggested the second sign as a tribute to her late friend and neighbor Vera Cordell. Both were long time members of the
historical society.
Vera Cordell, a rural resident who lived close to the Lower Cemetery, cared for the cemetery until it deteriorated beyond her control.
Her great grandparents, Benjamin and Mary Boyd, rest in the Lower Cemetery. Vera’s son Pat accepted the sign at the cemetery entrance deep in the woods southwest of Colchester.
The Lower Cemetery was established in 1841 with the burial of Lucy Horrell, whose majestic tall monument was raised from the mud in April.
Government headstones mark the graves of four veterans of the Civil War, William Blanchard, William Hill, S.P. Martin, and Alvin
Martin.
Many of the 40 markers in this large plot were covered with decades of mud and grass. Many were knocked over by falling trees, tree limbs,
deer, and scratching cattle.
Dan Oliver, resident manager of the Foster Farm, used his chain saw to help the students
clear off many layers of accumulated debris. Roger Frowein, past president of the historical society, brought shears, shovels, loppers, and hoes for the students to use.
Many student volunteers were touched by the death dates of very young infants, sometimes more than one to a family. Others were struck by the
intricate and artistic designs engraved in the stone. Some were frustrated by the inability to read the weathered names or dates inscribed in often soft stone.
There are five members of the Lower family in this cemetery. The last burial was Ella Pittman Lower in 1936.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough
County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, Richard and Marilyn Jackson, and the McDonough County Historical
Society.
In addition, Pat Cordell (son of Vera), Margaret Foster, and the Foster Farm sponsored the second sign to commemorate the dedication of Vera
Cordell who honored this final resting place of early pioneers in our county.
The Simpson Cemetery after cleanup.
Press Release
August 5, 2010
Macomb - When Tucker Hays first saw the Simpson cemetery early this spring, a switch in his mind set off a chain of events that has culminated
in his major project to reach Eagle Scout.
The Simpson family cemetery has been inactive since 1918, with the attendant
neglect taking its toll in fallen trees, broken limbs, and aggressive weeds.
Tucker learned that members of the McDonough County Historical Society
would be enthusiastic supporters of his proposal to reclaim and restore this old family cemetery.
After several Saturdays of chain saws, weed whackers, loppers, stoop labor, and the
cooperation of a dozen fellow Scouts and friends, the Simpson Cemetery has emerged as a beautiful and restored cemetery. The headstones are standing erect surrounded by an ancient wire
fence supported by original concrete posts.
The McDonough County Historical Society recognized the work of Tucker Hays by erecting its most recent sign at the edge of the newly cleared
plot in the middle of a forest a half mile north of the Animal Shelter.
The earliest burial was an infant in 1842. The last was William M. Simpson, a veteran who died in World War I in 1918. An older William T. Simpson was a veteran of the Civil War who died in 1878. Seven of the 16 headstones mark the graves of young children or
infants. Ten members of the Simpson family rest in this deeply wooded and secluded
plot.
Tucker is a member of Scout Venture Crew #1. Mitch Standard serves as Scoutmaster and Mike Burdick supervised this Eagle project.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
Press Release
August 2, 2010
Walnut Grove - Arberghast-Pearce Cemetery is located in Section 26 of Walnut Grove Township. Martha Walker, age 20, was the first to be buried there in 1838. The Pearce name derives from Jesse Pearce who
donated the land "for use as a burying ground." There are four Pearce family members recorded buried in this cemetery.
Jesse Arbogast farmed four miles north of the cemetery in the 1870s. But there are no Arbogasts (or Arberghasts) recorded as being in the
cemetery, offering a mystery for the origin of that half of the name.
There are five veterans of the Civil War in the cemetery, the most famous, Charles Allen Gilchrist, the only Civil War general buried in McDonough County.
Gilchrist was born in 1834 in Vermont, his grandmother a niece of Ethan Allen. He studied surveying and engineering at Knox College and taught in a one room rural
schoolhouse in McDonough County.
In 1853, he surveyed the route for the Northern Cross Railroad from Galesburg to Quincy. He was elected McDonough County Surveyor in 1855. He created
the plat maps for many towns in the county.
Gilchrist volunteered to join the 10th Missouri Infantry as a Captain in 1861. He scored so high on the officer’s exam, he was promoted
Colonel of the 12th Louisiana Colored Infantry headquartered near Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Frustrated by the lack of medical support for his troops, Gilchrist rode a mule to the headquarters of General U.S. Grant to make a direct
appeal for more surgeons.
After the siege of Blakley, Gilchrist praised his men and wrote that their success “was a convincing proof that the former slaves of the South
cannot be excelled as soldiers.” Before the war ended, he was promoted to Brigadier General.
The Gilchrist family moved back to Carthage in 1867 where Gilchrist opened a lumber business, the Carthage Shoe Factory, and an engineering
business with towns and railroads as clients.
In the 1880s, he moved to South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin,
helping build railroads and pipelines.
His wife, Lucy Ellen, died in 1898. Gilchrist brought her body back and buried her in Arberghast-Pearce Cemetery. He moved to New York City
where he continued to invent and manufacture parts for the railroad industry. After he died in 1906, his body was brought back to Arberghast-Pearce Cemetery.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough
County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
Press Release
July 27, 2010
Macomb - On a sunny, but extremely hot and humid afternoon in mid July, twenty young men, five of their leaders, and three local organizers donated
several hours to the cemetery cleanup project of the McDonough County Historical Society.
Joe Howard and Tom Green of
Macomb provided the advanced reconnaissance, appropriate tools, and organizational
scheme that resulted in getting a lot accomplished in a short time.
The Simmons Cemetery is located in deep, dense woods on Spring Lake city property north of the lake. It is a typical abandoned and neglected family
cemetery (1855-1922). When the Simmons family began to use this land as a cemetery, there was a direct access road to it. That road is now under the lake.
The young men from the youth conference used saws, loppers, and gloved hands to clear the old roadbed moving toward the shore of the lake for a projected boat dock and pedestrian path to the
cemetery.
The young men worked in teams, some cutting brush and small trees with a hand saw, and others moving the debris to the sides. The teams each had segments of ten yards to clear before moving
forward.
When the young folks learned about the Simmons family resting in the cemetery, and saw the headstone of Rowan Simmons, a Civil War veteran,
they attacked their project with high energy and enthusiasm.
The historical society thanks these volunteers
Press Release
July 25, 2010
Tennessee Township - - Accepting the McDonough County Historical Society sign for Hills Grove Cemetery are two of the longest-serving trustees of the Hills Grove Cemetery Association board. John Cuba, left, served as a trustee on the board for 57 years. Cuba served as secretary-treasurer of the board from 1951 until 1992, retiring as trustee in 2006. Gerald Waddill continues to serve as a trustee on the board, serving since about 1985. The current president is Marlin Duncan with Mary Jane White as secretary/treasurer.
Mary Jane White recounts some of the history of this rural cemetery southwest of the Village of Tennessee. Hills Grove Cemetery is still active and beautifully maintained by the cemetery association.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, Richard and Marilyn Jackson, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
Hills Grove Cemetery
by Mary Jane White
Secretary/Treasurer
Isaac Holton graduated from the University of Vermont in 1814. He read law with his brother John in Massachusetts and taught school in Vermont and Maine. He traded a church pew in Bangor, Maine for 160 acres in McDonough County. He came to McDonough County in 1835. Holton started the Hills Grove Seminary, the first school in the area. He platted the village of Hills Grove. Hills Grove was awarded a post office in 1839. Hills Grove Cemetery was on land which was owned by Isaac Holton but was separate from the village of Hills Grove. The first recorded burial at Hills Grove Cemetery was that of Isabel H. Conant in 1841.
Isaac Holton was buried at Hills Grove Cemetery in 1850 as the fifth burial. In 1863 Isaac Holton’s widow, Phoebe A. Holton, deeded the land for the cemetery to Samuel A. Knott and Ambros/Ambers Owen, Trustees of
Hills Grove Cemetery and their successors of McDonough County. The deed was recorded in 1864. There were 20 burials between 1841 and 1864 which indicates it was an established cemetery well before the land was deeded to cemetery trustees.
Roswell Tyrrell, who is known as the first settler of Tennessee Township, is buried in Hills Grove Cemetery. Tyrrell was born in 1798 in Connecticut and came to live in what is now Tennessee Township in 1831, having purchased the land in 1826 while living in Fulton County. Tyrrell was a veteran of the War of 1812. Charles Fulkerson served in the Navy during the War of 1812. Several veterans of the Mexican War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War rest in Hills Grove Cemetery. Flags of the United States are placed on each grave for Memorial Day by members of the Hills Grove Cemetery Association board of trustees. Hills Grove United Methodist Church holds a service each year at the cemetery on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend to honor the veterans buried at Hills Grove.
Hills Grove Cemetery is a private cemetery managed by the volunteer board of trustees of the Hills Grove Cemetery Association. Maintenance and improvements are provided by private funds held by Hills Grove Cemetery Association. There are about 300 burials at Hills Grove Cemetery.
Press Release
July 22, 2010
Macomb - Marion and Ken Keudell, members of the McDonough County Historical Society, draw attention to the newest sign in the cemetery marking project of the MCHS. Old Macomb Cemetery lies on the west side of Wigwam Hollow Road.
Like many cities with deep roots in early nineteenth century United States history, Macomb has an outdoor archive full of fascinating information. Our Old Macomb Cemetery has the potential of drawing descendants, students, and visitors interested in family and community genealogy, local history, prominent citizens, immigration trends, impact of disease, and artistic sculpting.
Sadly, much of this potential is being lost to neglect and weather. Headstones once erect and connecting the past with the present, lay flat, damaged and gradually disappearing under soil, grass, and weeds.
Genealogist Marge Harris once documented at least 315 burials on the basis of incomplete records. There were probably more.
The first burial in the Old Macomb Cemetery, in 1830, was the young daughter of Peter Hale, who owned the land and a log cabin on it. She fell into a fire and burned to death.
Hale sold the two acres to a merchant William Bailey and Dr. Charles Hays. They in turn sold the property to Robert Garrett in 1835. One year later, Garrett sold the land to the county to be used as a public cemetery.
Scattered among the visible headstones are several with distinctive artistic sculpting and inscriptions as well as bearing the initials “JL” near the base. Theses stones with elaborate borders and short poems were created by pioneer stone carver John Long.
In one of his essays about the Old Macomb Cemetery, John Hallwas reminds us that Long’s “hand-carved headstones are the oldest historical artifacts in McDonough County that can be connected with the person who produced them, and they lend a quaint character to the long unused pioneer burial ground.”
The MCHS, by drawing attention to the 110 cemeteries in McDonough County, hopes to raise the collective consciousness of our community to its obligation to these resting places of our ancestors. It seems a bit peculiar that we go to such lengths and expense to honor our deceased parents, children, and siblings, but with such cavalier abandon neglect the resting places of our earlier forebears who were once the objects of similar love, compassion, respect, and honor.
Before more stones are damaged or buried, some volunteers need to restore this historical landmark cemetery to a more acceptable condition. Markers need to be reset, many need to be repaired, and countless need to be unearthed.
The Old Macomb Cemetery has two veterans of the War of 1812, two from the Mormon War, 11 Civil War, and one who served in the Black Hawk war.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, and the McDonough County Historical Society. Ken Keudell, secretary of the MCHS, and his wife Marion encouraged this new sign at the Old Macomb Cemetery.
Press Release
July 17, 2010
Walnut Grove Township - Marlin Pendell and Brent Payne, Trustees of the Hickory Grove Cemetery, recently accepted a new sign donated by the McDonough County Historical Society.
Hickory Grove Cemetery is northeast of Good Hope in northern Walnut Grove Township in McDonough County. There are six veterans of the Civil War
buried among approximately 200 graves.
One of the oldest headstones marks a grave from 1847, although the accepted date when the cemetery was officially founded is 1874. There are
many markers between those two dates.
This beautiful and well maintained cemetery has been inactive since 1978.
In 1839, at the junction of N2200 and E1400, pioneer farmers established the Shiloh Presbyterian Church. The church eventually dissolved in 1863, merging with the
Walnut Grove Presbyterian Church. The
Hickory Grove Cemetery is one-half mile north of this location.
This corner has also been called Sorghum City, drawing attention to the Sorghum Mill erected in 1860 by C.C. Whittlesey in Section 16.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough
County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
July 15, 2010
Larkins Cemetery gets new sign!
WALNUT GROVE TOWNSHIP- Ralph Wolf, owner of property that
includes the Larkins Cemetery, recently accepted a new sign to mark the site donated by the McDonough County Historical Society.
This inactive cemetery is located in the NW quarter of Section
Three, Walnut Grove Township in McDonough County, 3.25 miles east of Highway 67 on road
N2400. The Wolf home is directly across the road.
The quarter acre memorial area still retains some wire fencing
most likely set in 1991 when Jay Payne, township road commissioner, and the Good Hope 4-H, under the supervision of Steve and Eileen
Worthington and Penny Young, cleaned up the cemetery.
John W. Larkins and his wife Lydia, bought the NW quarter of
Section 3 in 1854, and hence the cemetery name (although recent locals have dropped the “s”).
There are nine Larkins resting in this cemetery, where only seven of the 20 markers record adults and 13 mark the graves of infants and
children. The last burial was in 1886.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough
County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
July 12, 2010
Walnut Grove Township - Janice Hamilton King, descendant of relatives in the
Hamilton Cemetery, recently accepted a new sign to mark the site donated by the McDonough County Historical Society.
This abandoned family cemetery is located 1.75 miles east of
Highway 67 on N1800 southeast of
the Village of Good Hope in McDonough County. There are approximately 56 remaining markers for the 75 people buried between 1844 and 1870.
Levi Hamilton (1802-1882) came to McDonough County in 1835 and helped found the Walnut Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1838 in his home. That church, before it burned down in 1854, had this adjacent
cemetery.
The grave marker for Harrison Hamilton (1826-1867), Levi’s son, while damaged is still
legible. He died in 1867.
There are five stones with the name Hamilton on them.
Janice Hamilton King lives on land once farmed by the Hamilton family. She is a direct descendant of Levi and Harrison, and Harrison’s son
Joseph.
One of the monuments memorializes Civil War veteran Albert Bennet, Company I, 78 Illinois Infantry. His body may have been moved to the
Good Hope Cemetery.
All of the cemeteries in Walnut Grove Township are maintained by the township.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
Press Release
July 8, 2010
Industry Township - Mike Woodside, owner of property that includes the Mordecai Springer Gravesite, recently accepted a new sign to
mark the site donated by the McDonough
County Historical Society. This single monument cemetery is
located two miles south of the Village of Industry in McDonough County, near the former site of the Cross Roads or Pleasant Grove
school, church, and lost cemetery. Springer was buried in November 1887 at age 76. The 12’ x 12’ memorial area still retains some of the original wire fencing attached to old but solid
concrete square fence posts. Mordecai Springer’s family came to McDonough County in
the 1840s, appearing on the tax lists as large landowning farmers in Section 26 of Industry Township. This area was once called Carter’s
Settlement.
Pioneer families came to this area in the 1820s and built a log fort for protection against the Native Americans. No trace of the fort exist, but concrete steps remain for the Cross Roads Methodist Episcopal Church
which was due south of the Springer grave.
Mordecai married Parmelia Vail in 1863. Their son Charles Springer lived in the Industry area until his death in 1932.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, the McDonough
County Genealogical Society, the McDonough
County Highway Department, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
Press Release
July 1, 2010
Chalmers Township - Craig L’Hommedieu, volunteer with the McDonough County Historical
Society, recently installed a new sign for the Bowlin-Wayland Cemetery donated by the society.
The Bowlin-Wayland Cemetery is located along N700 in south
central
Chalmers Township 2.5 miles east of Fandon in McDonough County. It is an inactive and neglected cemetery with approximately four family
graves.
The original cemetery, established by the Bowlin and Wayland families in 1870, covered
about a quarter acre of land. Only a few markers remain on this much smaller plot.
The families were related through marriages. Wesley Wayland was the last person buried there in 1874.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home in Macomb,
the McDonough County Genealogical Society, the McDonough County Highway Department, and
the McDonough County Historical Society.
Bethel Township - - Carol and her brother Richard Hendrickson,
family descendants, accepted a new sign for the Waymack Cemetery provided by the McDonough County Historical Society. Carol from
Rock Island, Dick from Columbus, Indiana, and brother Robert from Colorado have great, great grandparents in the cemetery. Carol and Dick recall some interesting facts
and stories while reminiscing about this rural cemetery south of Fandon in Bethel Township.
Waymack Cemetery is inactive but maintained by the family
through a local nursery.
The cemetery sign project is supported by the
McDonough County Genealogical Society,
Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home,
the McDonough County Highway Department
and the McDonough County Historical Society.
===============================
Waymack Cemetery
by Carol and Dick Hendrickson
A group of families emigrated from Tennessee to McDonough County in the 1840s. Two
families, the Wormacks and the Masons, started farms in the area. Jacob Wormack, son of Buckner, and Nancy Mason, daughter of Adin and Mary
Mason, married in McDonough County on March 5, 1840. They were both buried in the Waymack Cemetery in 1863 and 1893, respectively.
Two of their eight children, Adan and Francis, rest beside them, both dying at an early young age. There are more descendants from the Wormack
Family (also spelled Womack and Waymack), buried in cemeteries in and surrounding McDonough County.
The cemetery is inactive and maintained. It was not always well maintained as it is now. We remember in 1997 a day was set aside to attempt to
locate the cemetery. We asked a local farmer, Albert Mullett, who took us to the site. It is in the NW 1/4 of Section 9. We found only two stones on that trip but resolved to return and
cleanup the area.
In November 2001, we returned with many descendants of the family bringing scythes, axes, and other tools to clean up the cemetery. More corn
crop now totally surrounded the plot we discovered in 1997. After locating the two stones found earlier, we cleared weeds and brush and probed the area with a steel rebar. We found more stones
just beneath the ground surface.
These newly reclaimed stones reflected the three spellings of the name: Wormack, Warmack, and Waymack.
We got another surprise finding a grave
marker for Jeremiah Barbon, hand chiseled on the flat side of an oval shaped rock (1843-1864). We cannot connect him to our family.
With the help of original underground slabs, we organized the headstones in a way that we suspect accurately positions their original
location.
We installed a sturdy wooden fence to protect the grave site for future descendants of Jacob Waymack.
Our family is proud to have the McDonough County Historical Society mark our family cemetery with a new sign.
The McDonough County Historical Society received a matching grant donation for its cemetery sign
project from Marilyn and Dick Jackson of Berwick, members of the McDonough County Genealogical Society.
Their gift of $100, when matched by the society, will support four signs installed on cemeteries in McDonough County.
According to Louis Battin, president of the MCHS, in the last four years "many cemeteries have been selected with the help of Dick as a
volunteer in the research center of the Genealogical Society."
There are over 110 cemeteries in McDonough County. Sixty have received new signs over four years, with 30 installed in 2009 and 2010.
The Jacksons support the cemetery sign project "because it has brought attention to
the poor condition of many of these cemeteries, generating interest among volunteers to clean up and restore dignity to these resting places of our forebears.”
May 26, 2010
Donation to Cemetery Sign Project
Louis Battin, president of the McDonough County Historical Society,
received a matching grant donation for the MCHS cemetery sign project from
Jim Burke and Larry and Eric Jameson of the Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home in Macomb.
The gift of $400, when matched by the society, will support 15 signs
installed
on cemeteries in McDonough County.
In the last four years over 60 signs have been installed with the help of the McDonough County
Highway Department, funeral homes, banks, family members, anonymous donors,
the McDonough County Genealogical
Society,
and the McDonough County Historical Society.
There are over 110 cemeteries in McDonough County. Project director Gil Belles, with help from Roger Frowein and Craig L’Hommedieu, put up 30
new signs in 2009 and 2010.
The cemetery sign project has brought attention to the poor condition of many of these cemeteries, generating interest among volunteers to
clean up and restore dignity to these resting places of our forebears.
May 14, 2010
The McDonough County Historical Society received a matching grant donation for its cemetery sign
project from the McDonough County Genealogical Society. Marla Vizdal, president of the MVGS presented the gift to Louis Battin,
president of the MCHS.
The gift of $400, when matched by the society, will support 16 signs installed on cemeteries in McDonough County.
In the last four years over 60 signs have been erected with the help of the McDonough County Highway Department, funeral homes, banks, family members, anonymous donors, and the McDonough County Historical Society.
There are over 110 cemeteries in McDonough County. Project director Gil Belles, with help from Roger Frowein and Craig L’Hommedieu, put up 30
new signs in 2009 and 2010.
The cemetery sign project has brought attention to the poor condition of many of these cemeteries, generating interest among volunteers to
clean up and restore dignity to these resting places of our forebears.
May 8, 2010
Three AmeriCorps volunteers who have been working this year for Mississippi Valley Big
Brother, Big Sister, added another service project to their resumes.
On an unseasonably cold and windy Saturday morning they attacked the Barber Cemetery with
loppers, hedge shears, shovels, and rakes.
Sarah Medina of Macomb, a military wife about to relocate to Ft. Hood, Texas to join her
husband returning from Afghanistan, Jennifer Cook, a newly minted Masters graduate from
the Recreation, Park, and Tourism Administration department at Western Illinois University, and Stephanie Bieschke, a May graduate from
Monmouth College, offered to help the McDonough County Historical Society with its
cemetery cleanup projects.
Barber Cemetery is located on a bulge in road 700 East on the border of Colchester and
Chalmers Townships south of the new highway in McDonough County. It is an inactive and neglected cemetery with approximately 20 family graves.
The original cemetery, established by the Barber family in 1835, covered about an acre of land. Only a few markers were visible when this crew
arrived. But by the time their hands were numb from the cold, 14 headstones and about 10 footstones could be seen and counted.
Some of the larger monuments were too heavy to lift up and restore to their original position. But these volunteers did uncover the marker for
William Lucas, a Civil War veteran.
The three then moved to the more protected Lower Cemetery to trim back some of the fast growing brush around markers in this much larger
family plot.
Medina, Cook, and Bieschke gained much satisfaction and knowledge from a productive and rewarding project.
April 24, 2010
Abandoned Cemetery Rescued
Macomb -- Thirty-four students from four universities devoted the first morning of their weekend conference restoring the neglected Lower
Cemetery in southern Colchester Township.
The local Western Illinois University chapter of the national organization
Students Today, Leaders Forever (STLF) invited students from John Carroll College (Ohio), the University of Iowa, and Illinois State to convene at WIU for a regional Spring
conference.
One of WIU’s core leaders, Dan Boyles, responded to a request from the
McDonough County Historical Society for assistance in cleaning up some of the county’s
abandoned cemeteries.
“We traditionally open our conferences with a local service project,” Boyles said. “After visiting three cemeteries recommended by the
historical society, I selected the largest for our efforts.”
Another factor in this decision was the recent death of Vera Cordell, a rural resident close to the Lower Cemetery, who tried to care for the
cemetery until it deteriorated beyond her control. Margaret Foster, on whose farm the cemetery is located, considered the cleanup an apt tribute to Cordell. Both were long time members of the
historical society.
The Lower Cemetery was established in 1841 with the burial of Lucy Horrell, whose majestic tall monument was raised from the mud Saturday morning. Government headstones mark the graves of three veterans of the Civil War, William Blanchard, William Hill, and Alvin Martin. The volunteer students found all three.
Many of the 40-60 markers theoretically in this large plot were covered with decades of mud and grass. Many were knocked over by falling trees,
tree limbs, deer, and scratching cattle.
Dan Oliver, resident manager of the Foster Farm, used his chain saw to help the students clear off many layers of accumulated debris. Roger
Frowein, past president of the historical society, brought shears, shovels, loppers, and hoes for the students to use.
A Foster Farm cat strolled through the busy activity as students used gloves and old
fashioned stoop labor to lift and heave limbs and logs from the grounds.
Through out the morning, as an area was newly opened, shouts of “I found another marker,” were heard, attracting a swarm of shovels, hoes, and
strong arms. Some of the students were fascinated by the history that unfolded before them. A few identified a wide variety of plants and trees.
Many volunteers were touched by the death dates of very young infants, sometimes more than one to a family. Others were
struck by the intricate and artistic designs engraved in the stone. Some were frustrated by the inability to read the weathered names or dates inscribed in often soft stone.
But the fulfilling pay off at the end of the project was to stand back and look at the cemetery which two hours before had been virtually
invisible, hiding under tall grass, brush, and weeds, overlaid with branches and limbs.
Before disappearing in the still wooded trail out, the kids could look back and see most of the monuments extending from fence line to
fence.
The Lower Cemetery still needs some work and fine tuning. But it is now eligible for a new sign donated by the McDonough County Historical
Society, cosponsored by the McDonough County Genealogical Society, and the McDonough County Highway Department.
In addition, Pat Cordell (son of Vera), Margaret Foster, and the Foster Farm will sponsor a second sign to commemorate the dedication of Vera Cordell who
honored this final resting place of early pioneers in our county.
April 21, 2010
Macomb---
On a beautiful, sun drenched balmy afternoon when many
students were tossing Frisbees, basking in the sun, jogging, or taking a stroll, four WIU students were pulling weeds, shoveling earth,
lifting heavy stone, and restoring a sense of order and respect to a local abandoned and neglected cemetery.
Corey Brown, Andrew Brown, Lindsay Snetcher and Vlad
Ivanyshyn, members of Western's All Volunteer Effort (WAVE) offered to cleanup the Craig Cemetery as their contribution to WAVE
Week.
In addition to clearing off decades of brush, weeds, and other waste, these volunteers discovered many head and foot stones than had fallen
and been covered up with mud and grass.
Craig Cemetery was a private, family plot with the first burial in 1847. It is the final resting place of Richard
Craig, a veteran of the War of 1812.
Another government headstone commemorates the grave of Daniel Miller, a veteran of the Civil War.
A list of suspected graves found in the WIU Archives and Special Collections and the McDonough County Genealogical Society contains 25 names.
The WAVE students counted about ten when they arrived and could see about 20 when they left.
Some of the toppled monuments were too heavy to set up and were left for another day.
But these WAVE volunteers can take pride in returning some dignity to this rural cemetery.
Press Release
January
20, 2010
Chalmers Township - - George Burton, a cousin in
Good Hope of the Burton brothers, accepted a new sign for the Strader-Nankivel Cemetery provided by the McDonough County Historical Society. Tom
Burton tells an interesting story while researching his family tree and finding this rural cemetery east of Fandon.
Strader-Nankivel Cemetery is inactive and recently maintained by the Burton relatives, Tom and Steve from Washington
state and brother Bob from Idaho, and cousin George from Good Hope. The earliest head stone is from 1838. There are about 60 markers
from then until 1902, the date of the last burial.
The cemetery sign project is supported by Table Grove State Bank, the McDonough County Highway Department,
and the McDonough County Historical Society.
Strader-Nankivel Cemetery
by Tom Burton
Colbert, Washington
In May 2006, my two brothers, Steve and Bob, and I began an Internet search for the resting place of our grandfather’s birth mother, Laura Alice Nankivel, we
thought from Macomb, Illinois. We knew nothing of her life or
circumstances.
As it turned out, Laura died five days after giving birth to her fifth child who died at birth. Laura was 25 years old. The year was 1878 and our grandfather was
three years old.
Using the Internet, I was able to locate great grandmother Laura and our Nankivel relatives in the Strader-Nankivel Cemetery. I contacted George Burton, our newly
found cousin in Good Hope. He gladly did the scouting, contacting, locating, and verification of the abandoned and neglected cemetery. We are indebted to George for his persistence and then
gracious invitation to his semi-annual Burton Reunion in June 2006.
Five members of our family attended this reunion hosted by George and his wife Liz. They took us to the cemetery deep in the woods behind the home of Becky
Cramer, who graciously allowed us access.
We did some modest clearing and discovery of head stone identification of many of our relatives. Steve, Bob, and I decided that another trip was necessary.
The June 2009 Burton Reunion brought us back to enjoy our extended family and work on the cemetery, which had been a victim of the local winter ice and wind
storms. George, our local host in Good Hope, organized some friends, Jack and Susan Pace, Mary Vogler, and Becky Cramer who gathered tools and enthusiasm to make the project work.
We spent three days sawing fallen trees, clearing brush, raking debris, and discovering the perimeters of this isolated graveyard. We left our ancestors with a
much better looking resting place and have a stronger connection to their lives in rural Macomb.
And thanks to the McDonough County Historical Society, the cemetery has a new sign!