Cemeteries can
disappear for a variety of reasons. We’ve lost many after family farms have been
sold or abandoned. In the 20th century, numerous states didn’t have
laws instructing the landholder to continue to care for the cemetery.
 |
| Gravestone Path |
I know of one
southern Illinois farm that was home to a family cemetery. Once sold, the ground was tilled up,
and the tombstones were turned over to make a walking path to the hog shed.
When I contacted authorities (at that time in the 1980s), the
state had no laws in place to prevent a landowner from decimating a family
cemetery: it was their land to do with as they liked.
Thankfully, we
now have some public officials that understand the necessity of keeping those
sacred and vital plots intact. But parcels of land can slip through the
cracks. Today, we’ll
explore several cemeteries that have “disappeared,” although they remain
somewhat intact, just not where you’d expect to find them.
INTO THE WOODS, Edgar
County, IL
 |
| Edgar County, Illinois |
On a cemetery
hopping expedition in the spring of 2012, I was having trouble finding a
cemetery; located on the map in Brouillett Township. GPS identified it as down a gravel road, but actual driving took me to a rural farmhouse set far
from the road. The family who lived there said that I was searching for Adams Cemetery, which was
located on their property. But it would take a four wheeler to get there.
SPRINGS SHOPPING
CENTER, Louisville, KY
994 Breckenridge Lane
The Burk Family
Cemetery is hiding in plain sight in Louisville. Surrounded by tall hedges, the
cemetery is located in the parking lot of the Springs Shopping Center.
Five graves are
located here, those of James, Matilda, Charles, Samuel Burk, and an infant son,
all buried in the 1800s. Four graves are marked with obelisks and ledger
stones. The fifth marks the grave of an eight-month-old with an infant carved
as if asleep on top of the stone.
At one time, the
Burks were prosperous and owned a horse farm. When family members decided to
sell the land in the early 20th century, they refused to have the
cemetery moved. And so today, you can still duck behind the hedges and visit
the graves of a 19th century Hoosier farm family.
AT THE MOVIES,
Middleburg Heights, OH
18348 Bagley Road
Hickcox Cemetery,
also known as Hepburn, was the burial ground
for seven of the original settlers of Cuyahoga County in the early 1800s. A farming
community, in the 1840s it became known as the Onion Capitol, growing tons of yellow
globe, red wetherfields, and yellow flats onions, celery, and other crops that
were shipped to the Eastern United States.
It was stipulated
in a Hickcox family member’s will that the cemetery should not be disturbed for
any reason. A Middleburg preservation group, “Sons, Wives, Ancestors for
Middleburgh’s Preservation Coalition” (SWAMP), posted twelve “Pioneer Trail” plaques
in the cemetery to provide information about the graves and the cemetery site.
In the late 1990s,
a developer bought the land to build a multiplex movie theatre. The will request was honored, and today, it
lies at the corner of a parking lot for the Regal Movie Theatre in the Regal
Middleburg Town Square Plaza.
KINGS ISLAND,
Cincinnati, OH
 |
| Dog Street Cemetery at Kings Island |
Located on what
once was the Dill Farm and R. Eugene King Farm in Deerfield Township, is a
small cemetery now called Dog Street. Burials began there in 1803 and continued
until 1869, including a Revolutionary War veteran, Peter Monfort in 1823.
In 1970, when 80-acres
of property was purchased for the
Kings Island Amusement Park, developers began a search for the graveyard and
the tombs it contained. Untended since the 1890s, it had disappeared in the
undergrowth of myrtle, weeds, and trees. Only two stones remained
standing, although officials reported that there may have been close to 80 markers at one time. In 2005, the Warren County Genealogical Society found 69 graves
in the cemetery, although only 52 headstones remain.
There are reports
of a five-year-old girl who haunts the graveyard, and the north parking lot.
The story goes that the child, called “Missouri Jane” Galeener, died in 1846 of
cholera and was buried here. Her family then moved on to Illinois. But reports
say that Jane has been seen, wearing a blue prairie dress, wandering the cemetery and adjacent parking lot.
Perhaps she is still searching for the family that moved on.
A Note of Encouragement
When you’re
searching for a cemetery you can’t find, always take a moment to ask the
residents near the GPS location. While some of the early cemeteries are no
longer cared for, or are considered defunct, it’s worth checking with locals
who might have the answer.
~ Joy
a:a:
