Photo from July 2011, courtesy of Bev

Great close-up of the dedication plaque on the gate post.  Courtesy of Bev from July 2011

Historic Cemetery in Disrepair

Oh, the Irony!

How ironic. The photo above captures the motto inscribed on a small plaque embedded in the cement post of the Pioneer Cemetery in McDonough County, Illinois. Ironic because in May 2010, the cemetery was forested by a variety of large old trees and younger saplings, and a faulty fence has allowed this ground to be the abiding place of choice for a herd of colorful cows and a young, ornery bull.

"Erected in honor of the pioneers who cleared away the forests and destroyed the abiding places of the wild beasts so that civilization might occupy the ground." 

This cemetery is surrounded by privately-owned land with no direct access from the public road. An easement is granted to cross the owner’s field to gain access to the site which is "enclosed" by an unlocked, gated fence. There are more than 50 documented burials on this one acre tract.

Brief History of the Cemetery

I imagine my Great-great-great grandfather, Greenup McClure, must certainly have chosen the location for his family burial ground with care and thoughtful consideration for the future.  After all, the people he loved best are laid to rest in that spot. I imagine that the historically-minded folks who chose the motto for the old gate post would be speechless at the droll paradox that now exists.

The acre Greenup McClure and his wife, Mary “Polly” (McComsey) McClure, set aside for the cemetery in 1835, not long after their family moved to Illinois from Kentucky, was centrally located on their homestead in Section 22, Bethel Township, McDonough County, Illinois. But that central location upon the farm has proven to be troublesome in maintaining and preserving this historic cemetery. 

The first known burial in 1838 was that of Greenup McClure's baby grandson, George Brundage, son of his daughter Mary.  More than 50 additional burials occurred over the subsequent 100 years, the latest, that of Sarah Norris, having occurred in 1943. 

It is Very Hard to Find

The McClure homestead long ago passed out of the hands of Greenup McClure's descendents. Many of them moved away when the westward expansion popularized homesteading in Kansas and Missouri.  Others who remained in Western Illinois have all but forgotten this old cemetery which is camouflaged by nature and located "way out in the boonies" well off the beaten track.  Recently the historical society placed a very nice new sign at the gate of the cemetery.  (Unfortunately, the sign is barely visible from the nearby country road--no ones fault, it's just that the cemetery is obscured by large trees). 

A deep ravine provides a natural border to the western edge of the cemetery, while pastures and fields flank the three other sides.  One must trek across the surrounding farm owner's land to enter the cemetery.  On some occasions I've opened the gates and driven through the pasture to the cemetery (with permission and care not to disturb the grazing cows). 

In the early 1990's a distant cousin and dedicated family researcher, Dan Venard, first guided my family to the cemetery.  It was mid-summer and at that time a serious overgrowth of weeds, including poison ivy, and the thought of possibly encountering snakes in the brush while lacking boots, made it impossible to explore deeply within the enclosure.  We were able to observe our mutual Venard ancestor's heavy monolith in an upright state and in good repair.  Dan also provided me with an old photo of that stone he took when the cemetery was better maintained in the 1960's. 

After many years away from Illinois, I still recalled the general location of the cemetery and tried to show it to my visiting cousin from Arizona a few years ago.  We were frustrated when we couldn't find it, but we visited another old cemetery where others of our direct line were laid to rest instead.  Still, I had it in my mind to find the Pioneer Cemetery, but even with map in hand and location plotted--it was still very difficult.  It turned out my cousin and I had been within a few hundred yards as we traveled up and down that county road trying to find the place.  A neighboring farmer proved essential in pointing out the hidden acre to me on my subsequent visit. 

On that visit of three years ago, I found the cemetery in fair but deteriorating condition.  As I photographed my family stones, it became obvious that it was important to photograph any and every stone I could find since the place was so inaccessible to the general public. 

Family Connectons Could Help Save the Cemetery

When I later set about researching the photos I had taken that day, the family connections emerged.  Most of 50-plus individuals were somehow related to Greenup McClure.  His daughter's married surnames (Venard, Wilson and Thompson) dominate the cemetery.  Some of those interred here, however, were neighbors in this township (for example, the Fugate and Osborn families) and others belonged to the family of subsequent owners of the property (Montee).  (In a separate blog entry you'll find a relationship chart).

I'm making this blog to display the biographies of the individuals interred in this cemetery and share the photos that I have of the graves.  I'm also including excerpts of the poor quality video that shows the conditions of the cemetery as of May 2010.  The McDonough County historical society is aware of the current situation and we await their actions.  I have also placed a call to the current owner of the surrounding farmland.  However, so much damage has been done to the existing graves, I'm hoping we can encourage a broad range of interest in preserving and rehabilitating this historic cemetery.




Notes:  This cemetery is officially named the Pioneer Cemetery, but it has also been referred to as the McClure Cemetery, Montee Cemetery, and Cost Cemetery. 

I'd also like to point out that Gordana Rezab’s 2008 publication, “Place Names of McDonough County, Illinois: Past and Present,” seriously errs in reporting that the Pioneer Cemetery was vacated by the Freeman Coal Mine for strip mining purposes. Rezab incorrectly asserts that the remains in this cemetery were disinterred and buried in the Old Macomb Cemetery unless otherwise claimed by relatives. In fact, the author’s claims apply instead to the Gin Ridge (also called Irish or Gunning) Cemetery in Bethel Township which was, in fact, located on land purchased by the Freeman Company in Bethel County's Section 26. This event was well documented by Goldstein and Buikstra in their 2004 publication, “A Nineteenth Century Rural Irish Cemetery in McDonough County, Illinois” that appeared as Chapter 4 in the book, “An Upper Great Lakes Archaeological Odyssey.”



References:

• Lester, D. (undated). Rural Cemeteries of McDonough County, Illinois, Volume II, Bethel-Industry. 
• Clarke, S.J. (1878). History of McDonough County, Illinois, Its Cities, Towns and Villages. Springfield, Ill., 1878
• Cemeteries of McDonough County, Illinois. Retreived 3/21/2008 from www.macomb.com/mcgs/cemeteries/   
• History of McDonough County, Illinois. (1885). Continental Historical Co., Springfield, Illinois Transcribed by Karl A. Petersen for McDonough County ILGenWeb. Retrieved 3/21/2008 from http://www.macomb.com/~ilmcdono/townships/Betheltpindex.html  

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Updates on Preservation Efforts

July 13, 2010

Finally, I made it to the McDonough County Court House where the very helpful staff in the assessor's office and County Clerk's office were able to determine that since 2005, the cemetery has been a seperate and distinct entity belonging to Bethel Township.  At that time the current owners of the (former) Greenup McClure land deeded the cemetery over.  (In the assessor's office it is listed as 0.4 acre, but the County Clerk's records documents 1.9 acres.)  I hadn't even thought about a township layer of government.  So, they provided me with contact information and getting in contact with those folks is the next logical step. 

That's it for now!

Earlier updates below:

Hi, All,

I received an email from the McDonough County Historical Society today (June 30, 2010).  They politely let me know that this is not a project that they are going to pursue.  I respect them being direct about it.  I wish we would have known this sooner so we could have proceeded accordingly.  Very disappointingly, the folks there in Macomb also haven't checked on the cemetery to make sure that the cows are out of there. 

I'll decided to use this bit of blog space to update the status of  "what's going on" in trying to pursue some concrete preservation attempts. 

The land that the cemetery is located on does not belong to the farmer who owns the land surrounding it.  In the off chance that the MCHS might "know" who owns it--I did email them to ask, but I also decided to make a call to the McDonough County Clerk's office where a very helpful lady instructed me on our next steps.  I'll have to go up there next week and do some research with the County Assessor and the County Clerk's office to sift through the propery records for this land from the time that our ancestor purchased it in in 1830's.  From there, we can pursue the steps that the state of Illinois has legislated for rehabilitating abandoned cemeteries. 

Over the weekend I submitted a letter to the editor of the McDonough County Voice, and I'll include it here--who knows if it will be printed: 

Dear Editor:

It’s not often that I get a chance to stop in McDonough County. When I do, it’s usually related to some matter of historical interest. The Pioneer Cemetery west of Industry where over 50 early settlers are interred is of particular interest to me. Over Memorial Day weekend, I was alarmed to find that the fence surrounding this landlocked cemetery had been compromised by a heard of beautiful, yet destructive cows.

Already in poor condition in recent years with many gravestones lying flat, the cows have created more damage in the cemetery by knocking additional stones from their bases and crushing damaged stones underfoot. Several individuals with ancestors buried there have contacted the McDonough County Historical Society to urge repair of the faulty fence, but we have not been advised of any immediate plans to mitigate the damage. Perhaps there is another, more appropriate, agency which can intervene to preserve this early cemetery?

Many early homesteaders, at least one Civil War veteran, and an early McDonough County commissioner are among those laid to rest in the Pioneer Cemetery. To learn about these individuals, see photos of the graves before the most recent damage, and view video clips of the cows damaging the cemetery, please visit this blog: http://pioneercemeterymcdonoughil.blogspot.com/.  

It would be a shame to lose any one of the many, small historical cemeteries of McDonough County, and I sincerely hope some plan can be formulated to preserve this one from further damage. It’s ironic that a small plaque embedded in a gate post at the Pioneer Cemetery reads: "Erected in honor of the pioneers who cleared away the forests and destroyed the abiding places of the wild beasts so that civilization might occupy the ground."

Sincerely,


Carolyn (Venard) Cooper
Chatham, Illinois

The other thing I did today was to call the farmer who owns the cows.  Once again, I got his answering machine.  When I'm up there next week, I'll stop to see him and the cemetery.


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About this blog and the Pioneer Cemetery

The photos above were taken in November 2007. At that time the cemetery was in poor condition, but still much better than it is today.

Purpose

There are more than 50 individuals interred in the Pioneer Cemetery in McDonough County, Illinois.  Click on a name in the list at right to read biographical data for a person known to be buried here.  Also see the list of "Labels" at lower right to search for surnames of interest that appear in the biographies. 

Only interested in browsing the biographies that include grave photos?  No problem, click here to view the stones of 31 individuals buried here.

In the future, grave and individual photos will be added and biographies updated.  Please feel free to submit comments or queries and be sure to click here to read about how this historic cemetery has fallen into serious neglect and disrepair.

Are You Connected to these Pioneers?

Please feel free to leave your comments on any of the posts here.  Additional photographs and information about your ancestors are also very welcome.

We need interested individuals to help advocate for the rehabilitation of this historic cemetery. 

This is a very weathered stone. This stone has some barely perceptibl inscription that was so worn, it could not be lifted with an aluminum foil method overlay in March 2008.

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