Madison
County Genealogical Society
Minutes of the Meeting - March 12, 2015
The March 2015 meeting of the Madison
County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on
Thursday, March 12, at 7:00 pm.
President, Robert Ridenour, called the
meeting to order.
GIFT
MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE
Do you have a family member that is
interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison
County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will
be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.
The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $20.00
Patron Annual Membership $30.00
Life Membership $250.00
Contact our Secretary, Petie Hunter, at petie8135@att.net,
about a gift membership.
March
Meeting
On March 12, 2015, Mary Westerhold
presented a program titled, Forgotten
Cemeteries in Madison County. Mary Westerhold is the Archival Research
Manager at the Madison County Historical Society Archival Library.
The USGS lists over 200 cemeteries in
Madison County. Many are small family cemeteries, and all have stories to tell.
Mary likes to research the people buried in these cemeteries and find these
stories.
Cemeteries
Hidden in Plain Sight: Gruver-Gifford, Ballard, Frickenstein, Sappington,
Moller, Cook, and Gerke
Gruver-Gifford,
Edwardsville Township - AKA Tetherington, Shaffer, and Grover-Gifford.
This cemetery is behind the Bella Milano restaurant on IL 157. It is surrounded
by a white fence. From various sources, it appears that the cemetery has at
least six burials but only a few headstones remain.
Inscriptions on headstones found:
In Memory of
Henry Gruver, Died, Jan 8, 1826, Interred in Butler Co. Ohio, Aged 36 years, 4
months, 25 days.
Catharine, Wife of the above, Died, July 15, 1841, Aged 41 years, 4 months, 8
days.
Sarah M, wife of D. N. Gifford, Died, Sept. 21, 1865, Aged 24 years, 2 months,
10 days.
Thus passes away the glory of this world.
Elizabeth F., wife of B. C. Clawson, Died June 16, 1868, Aged 38 years, 10
months.
No other stones are legible or complete.
Others possibly buried there are:
Walter B.,
son of R.L. and M.E. Sorrells - died November 1868, aged 7 months, 14 days;
Joseph, son of B.C. and E. F. Clawson - died October 1, 1868, aged 1 year, 10
days; Francis Jackson Gruver, died 1881
Ballard
Cemetery, Edwardsville Township
Three tombstones remain in the parking lot of an apartment complex. These
originally were lying flat, but are now enclosed by a fence. While there are
probably more burials here, the names and locations are lost to history.
In the files of the Madison County Archival Library is a letter from Bob Lange,
whose family had at one time owned the farm where the Ballard Cemetery is
located. He stated that there were three headstones visible, lying flat in the
ground in a patch of wild strawberries near a cornfield. He noted that four or
five additional graves were probably also there.
Frickenstein
Cemetery, Edwardsville Township
Originally deeded to Madison County by Mary and Ignatius Riggin in 1846 to be
used "as a cemetery and burial ground forever." In June 2005, Madison
County transferred the maintenance of the cemetery to the Gettysburg Homeowners
Association.
Based on past inventories, the three stones that are still visible are: F.W. Frickenstein
1800-1865; Eliza Varner, b. 19 Aug 185_, d. 19 Oct 1860; Julia Varner, d. 20
Jul 1857. Both are thought to be children of J. J. and N. Varner.
What is the
connection between F. W. Frickenstein and the Varner children?
Still not sure of the relationship, if any. Rudolph Frickenstein owns the
surrounding property. The parents of the two Varner children are Joel J. and
Nancy (Murphy) Varner who had married in April 1848. Nancy was the daughter of
Hugh Murphy, who is buried in Bartlett Cemetery. Nancy's sister, Eliza Murphy,
married Ishom Gillham. The Gillhams had one daughter, Mary, who married
Ignatius Riggin. And Mary and Ignatius Riggin deeded the ground in 1846 to
Madison County to be used as a cemetery.
Sappington
Cemetery, Edwardsville Township
This cemetery is located in the Sunset Hills Country Club Estates off Route 157.
It began on the property of Richard Sappington and his wife, Elizabeth, who
moved with their family from West St. Louis County to Madison County, Illinois,
in 1843. Those buried here include the families who married into the Sappington
family such as Randle, Nix, and Dean families.
The Dean family Tombstone has names on three sides: Henry C. Dean, Born May 12, 1822, Died Nov
1, 1883, He was the husband of Margaret Sappington. Four of the children of
Henry C. and Margaret Sappington Dean: Harrison Dean, d 1847, Aged 11 months; Edward Dean,
d. 1850, Aged 1 year; Mary E. Dean, d. 1853, Aged 1 year, 4 months; Laura Dean,
d 1876, Aged 20 years.
The Nix Family is represented by William H. and Virginia Sappington Nix along
with two sons: William
T. Nix, d. 21 Aug 1856, Aged 2 years, 6 months, 11 days; Infant son, b. and d.
April 8, 1859. William Nix, d. 1876; Virginia Nix, d. 10 Apr 1859.
Andrew D. Payne, husband of Mary M. Sappington, d. 15 Apr 1892. Randle stone,
possibly Cheryl
and Jemima based on a previous inventory. Jemima Sappington married Henry
Randle, possibly their children.
Moller Cemetery,
Pin Oak Township
This is a small, well kept family cemetery on Ridge View Road. There are nine
headstones and several footstones, all for members of the Moller family. I
found it interesting that the Umlaut over the "O" is inscribed in the
headstones. This is not often seen as it is usually shown as either Moller or
Moeller. In the 1880 Census, this family is enumerated as Miller and descendants
later also used the Miller surname.
Rudolph
Möller, Geb 15 Dec 1815, Gest 12 Mar 1890
Cook Cemetery, Collinsville Township
This cemetery is located near Anderson Hospital, across Route 162, surrounded
by a low wall. In 1980, Bob Johnston and a team of Collinsville High School
Students cleaned up the neglected cemetery. The burials are members of the John
A. and Lucinda Lemen Cook family and the Richard and Mary A. E. Cook Marshall
family. The families are related - John A. Cook and Mary A. E. Marshall are
siblings.
Lucinda Lemen was the daughter of Rev. James Lemen, Jr., who was a prominent
Baptist Minister. Her first husband, Samuel Bowman, died in 1832 in the Black
Hawk War. She and John A. Cook were married April 16, 1836. The Cook family had
lived in the area since 1810. John and Lucinda were the parents of 12 children,
8 of whom are buried here, with 6 of them dying in infancy. Their oldest
surviving son, Cyrus L. Cook, served in the Civil War and later became a judge
in Madison County. Lucinda died in 1867 and John was killed in an accident by a
runaway team in 1869.
Gerke Cemetery,
St. Jacob Township
Only two are buried here: Dr. Henry Christian Gerke d. 1842; and his son J.
Philip Gerke, d. 1847.
Family legend states that Henry's wife, Maria, did not want to move from
Germany to the U.S. Henry came to the U.S. with their older son William in 1831
and moved "West" to Illinois. Maria followed in 1834 with their
youngest son Philip but lived in New York for about 18 months before coming
west.
Cemeteries
That Are a Bit Harder to See: Whiteside, Hamilton, Crosby, Ridgley,
Crandall-Ellison, Virgin, and Dugger
Whiteside
Cemetery, Edwardsville Township
In July 1979, the Youth Conservation Corps inventoried the cemetery and erected
a fence. One large monument and one small headstone were found. The large
monument contains the names of William Whiteside (died in 1835), Elizabeth
Claypoole (d, 1867), Sarah Whiteside (d. 1833), and Sarah Swiggert (d. 1835).
Both Elizabeth and Sarah are daughters of William Whiteside.
The small tombstone is for an infant son of Wm. and C.C. Reddish, d. 1866.
Hamilton
Cemetery, Pin Oak Township
Janett Hamilton, mother of Ebenezer; Ebenezer and Rebecca Hamilton; Rebecca (d.
1863) and William (d. 1860) Morris, children of David and Mary Hamilton Morris.
Mary is the daughter of Ebenezer and Rebecca Hamilton. James Lockhart
(relationship to Hamilton family is unknown)
Crosby Cemetery,
Edwardsville Township
This cemetery is located in a wooded area above the Nix-Judy (Pioneer) Cemetery.
There are four tombstones: John Crosby (d. 1871, aged 69 years); Nancy Crosby (d. 1868, aged 17
years, 11 months) daughter of J. and M. Crosby; Julia Ann Crosby (d. 1867, aged
31 years) daughter of J. and M. Crosby. A double stone with Thomas B Welker,
b. Jan 1861, d, Dec 1861) and John E. Welker, born Sep 1865 and died May 1867.
These are children of Laban and Elizabeth Crosby Welker.
John Crosby married Mary Stallings in Aug 1835. They had at least six other
children besides Julia and Nancy, including Elizabeth who is age 18 on the 1860
census.
Ridgley Cemetery,
Moro Township
The remains of this cemetery are located near the intersection of Highway 159
and Renken Road. It was the site of a Catholic Church, a Christian Church, and
a post office. The post office was active from 1847 - 1867. The congregation of
the Catholic Church declined and eventually moved to Bunker Hill to form a new
congregation. Little is known of those buried here.
Crandall-Ellison
Cemetery, Marine Township
In 1853, Daniel and Susannah Crandall deeded the ground in Section 3 of Marine
Township as a public burying ground. Surnames of those buried here whose
headstones were found in 2006 include Aldrich, Bise, Briggs, Buckles, Durller,
Ellison, McCain, McKean, and Washburn. In 2006, 17 markers were found. Several
others are believed to be buried there. A newspaper article from January 1901
stated that C. M. Ellison removed the remains of Ellison family members to a
lot in the Marine Cemetery.
Virgin Cemetery,
St. Jacob Township
Located in Section 29, St. Jacob Township on property owned by Jefferson Virgin
in 1860. Of the six graves, five are children all aged four or younger listed
as children of J. and A. Virgin. The five children of Jefferson and Anna
Lindley Van Hooser Virgin buried here are John Whitfield, Sarah M., Perry,
Nancy, and Madison. John Whitfield Virgin, who died in 1851, aged 11 months, is
listed with his parents on the 1850 census of Madison county. Sarah M. Virgin,
who died in 1853, age 1 year, 5 days could not be found on any record. Perry,
Nancy, and Madison all died in 1859 between Feb 10 and Feb 16. They are listed
on the 1860 Mortality census with the cause of death as "Putrid Sore
Throat" which in today's terms is scarlet fever. Perry was 4 years old,
Nancy was 3 years, 28 days and Madison was 1 year, 6 months. Jefferson and Anna
had four other children who lived to adulthood.
The sixth grave is for a Civil War soldier, Henry F. Van Hooser. The 1850
Census also provided another answer. Listed with the family of Jefferson and
Anna Virgin are William and Henry Van Hooser, Anna's sons by her first marriage
to John Van Hooser. William and Henry both served in Company G, 117th Illinois
Infantry Volunteers. William survived the war, but Henry died at Ft. Pickering,
Tennessee, in 1863.
Dugger Cemetery,
St. Jacob Township
Located on private property in Section 3 of St. Jacob Township. Originally
associated with a local church, it is now under the control of the Dugger
Cemetery Association who maintain and repair the stones. New stones are still
being found: Nancy
J., daughter of F.T. and M. Hynes, Died Apr. 1, 1860, Aged 8 months, 3 days.
Note: Stone unearthed at Dugger Cemetery on 1 April 2014 - 154 years after her
death
Mary asks that if
you know of any cemeteries that you believe are forgotten and or abandoned, you
contact her at mtwesterhold@co.madison.il.us.
This program was interesting and well received. It generated quite a few
questions and responses.