10,000 Dead People

Coming very soon - a database of south Logan County cemeteries. Rather than reinvent the wheel, go here for more information:

Logan County Genealogy

Thomas Franklin Lucas

Thomas Franklin Lucas was born in what is now Logan County on April 14, 1831. He married Mary Jane Buckles, a daughter of Robert and Mary "Polly" Birks Buckles [and my 4g grandparents], about 1852/53 [records lost in courthouse fire]. Thomas was the son of John T. and Sarah Bowman Lucas [both siblings of my 4g grandparents James and Hannah Bowman Lucas].

Thomas Franklin Lucas died on February 19, 1855, and was buried at Steenbergen. His widow married as his second wife Abner Copeland, a son of William and Sarah Lucas Copeland, and moved to Iowa and then Missouri.

When I asked for probate papers on Thomas Lucas, son of James and Hannah Bowman Lucas, I guess it is not a stretch that I was sent the probate file - or rather a portion of it - for this Thomas Lucas.

Old and New Stone

William Nelson Downing married Delilah Downing [no evidence of them being related has ever been found] and soon departed for service with the 106th Illinois. She was pregnant. He never returned, never saw his son.

He's buried at Downing Cemetery with his father and other relatives. She's buried at Bowers Templeman with her parents, grandparents and other Downing relatives. She and her second husband have an imposing stone. More than 20 years ago some of his descendants decided to give him a better one. His father got a new one also.

Robert and Polly Birks Buckles

These are the stones Robert and Mary "Polly" Birks Buckles at Steenbergen Cemetery, my great great great great grandparents. They are the parents of John Andrew Buckles of the Buckles angel. Robert Buckles served in the Winnebago Indian War shortly after arriving in Logan County, Illinois

Thomas Lucas and Wives

The Thomas Lucas Family at Lake Bank Cemetery

The stone on the far right, the tall stone, is that of Thomas Lucas. Thomas had three wives and 17 children. The first wife was Mary Turner. She had 11 children before she died in 1855. Her stone is on the far left. The next stone belongs to her son George. Mary was the maternal grandmother of Lillie Margaret Wood Ryan and sister of Spencer Turner.

Seven of the children were under 15 at the time of her death. This might explain why seven months later Thomas remarried to the widow Harriet Gambrel Lanham. Harriet was 38 and apparently without children. Thomas and Harriet had two daughters before she died in 1867. Her stone is third from the left. Five months later he married the widow Charlotte Bowman East who had three children. Charlotte and Thomas were first cousins through his mother Hannah Bowman. I don't know what happened to her first three children but the happy couple had three children before Thomas died in 1874 leaving a pregnant widow. That child died about six weeks after birth.

Charlotte soon moved to Kansas where she died in 1908 and was buried in Sumner County.

Although his father died when he was 13 Thomas was not a poor man. This may account for his ability to find a new wife so speedily each time.

War of 1812 Veteran Grave Marked

Darrell Eugene Payne, Gayle French Lessen, Thelma Gardner Eisberg, Mary Payne Barringer, Lindsay Erlenbush Maus, Pamela Erlenbush, Phillip Franks French, Brynne Barringer Monier. All are descendants of John Winans Clark whose stone [with wife Ann "Nancy"] is on the left. [Photo by Jane DeWitt]

On June 13, 2009, the Sangamon River Chapter of the United States Daughters of 1812 joined descendants of John Winans Clark and guests at Laenna Cemetery outside of Chestnut in Logan County for a Dedication Ceremony to mark the grave of Clark as a Veteran of the War of 1812.

John Winans Clark served in Captain Jeremiah Martin's Co. in the Kentucky Mounted Volunteers during the Clark migration from New Jersey to Illinois.

Clark is one of at least 28 veterans of the War of 1812 buried in Logan County. He is thought to be the only one buried at Laenna.

Vanishing DAR Markers

Humphrey Scroggin was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Note the DAR markers on his grave in Steenbergen Cemetery, Mt. Pulaski Township, Logan County, Illinois. He also has a flat military plaque. The stone was saved and repaired through the intervention of Dalen and the late Sandra Shellhammer, genealogists who oversaw the cemetery operations for years.



Literally just a few feet away is the stone for Revolutionary War veteran Abraham Lucas. The above picture was taken in 2001. Note the edge of the DAR marker. This Memorial Day that marker was no longer there. There is no military marker. You would not know Lucas was the forefather of many DAR members.

Conrad and Eva Maus

This is the stone for Conrad and Eva Maus. They came to America from Germany in 1854 and to Mt. Pulaski, Illinois, soon after with their six children. The significance of the stone and urn is not known.

Photo by Jane DeWitt

John Winans Clark

John Winans Clark was born in Somerset County, New Jersey, in 1779, traveled to Kentucky and eventually Illinois, and died at Yankeetown, Logan County, Illinois, on March 5, 1859. He is buried at Laenna Cemetery, Chestnut. Yankeetown is long gone but once was about where he is buried.

Along the way John Winans Clark served in the War of 1812 in Captain Jeremiah Martin's Company, Kentucky Mounted Volunteer Militia, mustering in on August 31, 1813, at Newport, Campbell County, Kentucky.

Mary Payne Barringer, one of his descendants, will oversee the June 13 ceremony dedicating the official US Daughters of 1812 plaque is placed on his grave.

More on John Winans Clark at Ancestor Hunting.

Warrick Cemetery Issues

Warrick Cemetery is back in a field in West Lincoln Township less than a mile south of the Lincoln Correctional Center and the Logan Correctional Center, two "adult facilities" -- in plain English they are prisons, medium security.

Warrick is a small, old family cemetery administered by the Logan County Cemetery District. Bill Stephenson, a Warrick descendant whose Black Hawk War ancestors are among those buried there, complained that the cemetery has been poorly treated.

The district is pretty good at taking care of cemeteries, even those that are rarely visited. Naturally those that get more visitors get more attention but all get mowed at least a couple times a year.

Bill told me the stones in Warrick have been pulled up and placed in a pile. This stunned me. He says he is not aware of any plot map of the cemetery so, even if the intention is to replace the stones, there is no way they can be returned to their proper location. The Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society may have some pictures but no map.

But Illinois law would seem to prohibit such removal of markers. From the "Illinois Historic Cemetery Preservation Handbook" issued by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency [June 2008]:

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) administers the Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act (20 ILCS 3440; 17 IAC 4170). This Act, passed in 1989, protects all unregistered graves, graves artifacts, and grave markers (including prehistoric burial mounds) that are over 100 years old and are not located in a cemetery that is registered with the State Comptroller’s Office under the Cemetery Care Act. The Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act offers protection from all disturbances including, but not limited to, excavation (including cultivation), vandalism, removal, defacement, or desecration in any way
(20 ILCS 3440/1). It is the agency’s preference that graves or cemeteries be undisturbed and preserved in place.

and further:

It is unlawful for any person or agent representing an individual to knowingly disturb or to allow the disturbance of human skeletal remains, grave artifacts, or grave markers without first obtaining a permit from the IHPA. Any violation of this Act is a Class A misdemeanor. Violators can face imprisonment of up to six months and a fine not to exceed $10,000. Any subsequent violation is a Class 4 felony (20 ILCS 3440/3-11).

I mentioned the two prisons in case the county or state is considering expansion and plans to relocate the cemetery. That has been done before. But the prisons would seem to be too far away for that to be practical and the local farmers are not aware of such a plan.

Stay tuned.

Logan County Cemetery Information

Cemeteries in Logan County that are not privately endowed or owned are maintained by the Logan County Cemetery District. The good citizens of Logan County pay taxes to take care of cemeteries that might otherwise be in dispair or lost. For the active cemeteries the cemetery district also keeps track of burials and they have any records that exist for the old cemeteries which are no longer in use. This does not mean the old cemeteries are maintained in pristine shape but it does mean they are at least mowed several times a year.


A list of the cemeteries in Logan County can be found here. Someone has walked the cemeteries in red in the last 10 years and those listings are here. In addition, in the 1960s and early 70s the Decatur Genealogical Society in neighboring Macon County walked many of the cemeteries and has listings available for sale in their publications found on their website which is here.



The Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society sells a CD which contains all the burials in Logan County through a few years ago. You can find more information on their website. That web site is in some transition but the main page should remain the same.

Graveyard Rabbits

Graveyard Rabbits are a group of bloggers who promoting the historical importance of cemeteries and grave markers and the family history to be learned from a study of burial customs, burying grounds and tombstones. Each has a location. Mine are the cemeteries of south Logan County, Illinois, in the very heart of Illinois, where almost every one of my ancestors who has died in the last 175 years is buried.

This blog will be devoted exclusively to cemetery information. For other posts see Ancestor Hunting.