ATKINSON CEMETERY

Inscription

ATKINSON CEMETERY

THE ATKINSON CEMETERY WAS ESTABLISHED MARCH 11, 1876, BY JAMES ATKINSON, WHO GRANTED THE LAND AS A COMMUITY BURIAL GROUND. THE FIRST RECORDED BURIAL (1843) WAS OF SARAH A. SHORT, DAUGHTER OF THOMAS JEFFERSON AND MARTHA “PATSY” (MADDUX) SHORT. THE FIRST CEMETERY COMMITTEE MEMBERS WERE WILLIAM BROOKMAN, CHARLES GOWLER, C.B. ATKINSON, ALFRED SHORT, AND HUSTON ATKINSON. INTERNMENTS INCLUDE EARLY PIONEER IMMIGRANTS FROM KANSAS, KENTUCKY, NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, AND VIRGINIA, AS WELL AS ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, AND IRELAND. THESE SETTLERS WERE MEMBERS OF THE ANGLE, ATKINSON, BATES, BROOKMAN, GORDON, GOWLER, GREEN, LIBENBEY, SHELTON, SHORT, SLEDGE, SMITH, WILLIAMS, AND YOUNG FAMILIES. VETERANS OF THE WAR OF 1812, CIVIL WAR, BLACK BILLS WAR, SPANISH AMERICAN AND WORLD WARS I AND II ARE BURIED HERE.

ERECTED IN MEMORY OF JAMES ATKINSON BY THE FAMILY OF DAVID AND VERA PHIPPS SHELTON, AND SPONSORID BY THE WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION AND THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

APRIL 2023