WPA - Cherry Cemetery, North Otter Township, Macoupin County IL
A Transcription of the WPA Record in Macoupin County Archives, Carlinville, Illinois
by Linda R.F. Arnold, October 2007

CHERRY CEMETERY


North Otter Township  31-12-7           Macoupin County
3 ½ miles East of Palmyra                           Illinois



The Cherry Cemetery is over a hundred years old. This cemetery was laid out by Mr. Cherry for the benefit of the Cherry family and their heirs in 1834 for burial purposes. At first this cemetery was a private burial grounds but later friends and relatives of the vicinity were given the privilege to bury their dead there. Originally there had been a driveway in the cemetery but now ¾ of that driveway is taken up with graves.

Land records of Macoupin County have been searched for a deed to the cemetery but none has been found. The land on which this cemetery is located is still in the Cherry Estate and no exception is made of the cemetery in the transfers of land.

The only description that we can give of the Cherry Cemetery is that made by the fieldmen of the cemetery as fenced in and could read as follows:

1 acre of land in the SE. corner of the NW. ¼ of the SW. ¼ of Section 31, T.12 N. R.7, West of the Third Principal Meridian and measures: Commenc- ing at the SW. corner of the Cherry Cemetery and running thence North 235 feet; thence East 190 feet; thence South 235 feet; thence 190 feet West to the place of beginning, containing 1 acre more or less, situated in the County of Macoupin and State of Illinois.

The Cherry Cemetery is not incorporated at the present time.

There are no trustees to the Cherry Cemetery at the present time.

[handwritten] Lots in this cemetery were acquired by a Custom deed whereby an individual selected the lot of his choice and it became his free for burial purposes. There had never been a caretaker for the cemetery. Friends and relatives of the deceased used to take care of the burial grounds but no one seems interested in it now.

The Cherry Cemetery is in a forgotten state. The grounds are covered with brush, brier, sprouts and tall grass and one can hardly walk through. The cemetery is infested with ground-hogs which have molested every grave. There are 250 graves in the cemetery and 159 of them need filling or leveling. Most of them are sunken. 60 tombstones are down and need resetting. 30 tombstones are weather-worn and old and the inscriptions need recutting. The woven-wire fence which encloses this cemetery is in fair condition. The land is level.

To reach the Cherry Cemetery one travels the Emmerson Airline Road for 3 ½ miles East of Palmyra, then turn north ¼ mile to the Cherry farm where one gains permission to cross the pasture about 1/8 mile east to the cemetery.
There are 16 veterans buried in the Cherry Cemetery.

Name
 War
 Rank
 Company
 Regiment or Vessel
U.S. or State
 Date of Death
 Grave#
 Lot#
 Block#
 *Notes
Bettis, Carl Elmo
 P.T.C
 Seaman
 		 U.S. Navy
 11-19-1928;
 5
 48
 1
Burleson, James E.
 C
 Sgt.
 E
 122 Ills. Inf.
 10-31-1883
 2
 30
 1
(Bridges, Wm.*)
 		 
 		 
 		BH
 		 
 		 
 		 
 
 
*He died 1845 “near
Palmyra” according
to his widow’s pension
application for
his service,
War of 1812.
Butcher, J. W.
 C
 Pvt.
 B
 32 Ills. Inf.
 1-7-1892
 7
 29
 1
  
Cherry, Jesse M.
 C
 Pvt
 E
 122 Ills. Inf
 7-14-1922
 1
 5
 1
  
Clevenger, Michael B.
 C
 Pvt.
 E
 122 Ills. Inf.
 4-6-1864
 4
 18
 1
Eads, N. G.
 C
 Pvt.
 F
 1 Ills. V. Inf.
 3-12-1888
 2
 46
 1
Gowin, Thomas J.
 C
 Pvt.
 E
 45 Mo. Inf.
 10-15-32*
 4
 61
 1
 *date of death must
be in error
Grimmett, H. B.
 S
E
 8 Mo. Inf. 2-8-1898
 10
 37
 1
  
Lair, Austin S.
 C
 Pvt.
 E
 122 Ills. Inf.
 4-4-1914*
 2
 76
 1
 **Austin Sims Lair
d. March 28, 1914 Death
Certificate give burial date
of April 4, 1914 2 p.m.
Lair, Samuel
 C
 Pvt.
 E
 122 Ills. Inf.
 3-19-1914 2
 64
 no
marker 		 
(Lair, James)
 C
 Pvt.
 A
 32 Ills. Inf.
 9-25-1911*
  
  
  
 *James Miller Lair
d. March 28, 1904
Illinois Soldier &
Sailors Home,
Quincy, Illinois
Mahan, Preston L.
 C
 Pvt.
 A
 32 Ills. Inf.
 11-2-1861
 7
 13
 1
  
Richards, J. W.
 C
 Pvt.
 E
 122 Ills. Inf.
  
 5
 21
 1
  
Shores, Andrew J.
 C
 Pvt.
 H
 122 Ills Inf.
 1926
 4
 45
 1
  
Slagle, Ransom
 C
  
  
  
 1915
 5
 85
 1
  
Smith, Joseph C.
 C
 Pvt.
 C
 32 Ills. Inf.
 5-28-1895
 2
 35
 1
  
Wyzard, Wm
 Mex
 Pvt
 K
 59 Ind. Inf.
 11-27-1928
 6
 51
 1
  

* My notes.

Note: I believe William N. Cherry and William Tosh, both served in the War of 1812 in Col. John K. Wynn's 1st Regiment West Tennessee Militia, Capt. James Holleman's Company. William Bridges served War of 1812, not Black Hawk War.

Page 2:

* Have Government Markers.
( ) Listed on Gen. Garrity’s List but cannot locate in cemetery.
The grave of Samuel Lair does not have any marker. The oldest grave in the Cherry Cemetery that we can locate by the dates on the markers is that of “William Cherry” who died on October 7, 1836 at the age of 44 years. [Those listed with * or having Government Markers are the following]
Bettis, Carl Elmo
Burleson, James E.
Cherry, Jesse M.
Clevenger, Michael B.
Eads, N.G.
Grimmett, H.B.
Lair, Austin S.
Mahan, Preston L.
Richards, J.W.
Wyzard, Wm
[Those listed with ( ) or Listed on Gen. Garrity’s List but cannot locate in cemetery are the following]
(Bridges, Wm)
(Lair, James)


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