Research by the Jacksonville Area Genealogical and Historical Society
First reading September 6, 1976 by Robert W. Dalton and daughter Brenda Lee Dalton
Additional reading by Marilynn and Jack Tubaugh

The original land transfer for this isolated rural cemetery located between Meredosia and Arenzville is found on page 521 in Deed Book KK housed in the office of the Morgan County Clerk. Dated March 1, 1856, the document shows that Benjamin Newman, Jaral Wilday and his wife Catharine Wilday, sold to Simon P. Newman, Lorenzo D. Graham, James A. Post, Charles Wilday, David Giger, John F. Skinner and William Burrus, for $1, 21/2 acres of land in the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 3 in Township 16 N Range 12 W. Those receiving the land had been appointed a body of trustees for the purchase of "George Newman Burying Ground". As found on page 136 of Deed Book 40 in the Morgan County Clerk's office, more land was added to the cemetery on April 4, 1891. On that date, Alexander Wilday and Tabitha, his wife, sold to Thomas Nailor, Starrett Coy and John D. McLain, as trustees of the Newman Cemetery, for $1, a part of the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 3 in Township 16 N Range 12 W. The said land was conveyed in trust for the sole purpose of a burial ground, and not other. When visiting the cemetery on September 6, 1976, Robert W. Dalton and his youngest daughter, Brenda Lee Dalton, found the cemetery to be a difficult place to find. Entrance was made by driving about 100 yards along a trail covered with weeds a tall as the car, and then driving along a very winding and dusty dirt road for perhaps 1/4 mile, then driving across a pasture to the cemetery fence. A previous attempt to find the cemetery had failed. The cemetery was practically free of brush but apparently had not been mowed this growing season. The compilers feel that they probably missed some tombstones because of the tall and dense vegetation. Several tombstones were so badly weathered that they could not be read.

**Additional Newman Cemetery inscriptions, read August 2005 and February and April 2006, by Jack and Marilynn Tubaugh, Clayton, IL
This cemetery has a sign affixed to the gate that reads: “This area is a registered Illinois Natural Heritage Landmark. The owner is preserving this remnant of the original Illinois landscape as a sanctuary for nature’s plants and animals.”
Because this cemetery is difficult to find, it is helpful to note that the lane is adjacent to the house at 851 Arenzville Road. This cemetery had been read previously; however, the stones on the north side of the hill had apparently not been read, and many of the stones in the remainder of the cemetery had been missed because of the tall weeds and brush. (We are told that the cemetery is burned off once a year and brush is cut. We saw evidence of this when we visited in April 2006.) Nearly all of these newly added stones are lying flat on the ground. I am sure some stones have still been missed, and some obelisks which appear to have only one name on one side may have had names on other sides as well, but they are undetectable. Also, please note that I have included a few stones that were included in the first on-line list, but I have made corrections.
I would like to acknowledge the help of my husband Jack and his willingness to do the hard work for me. Many of these stones were half buried with earth and roots, and this project could not have been completed without his help.
Marilynn Tubaugh


Words in brackets [ ] or parenthesis ( )are not on stone.

The following paragraph is copied from an undated and unsigned history of Grace Chapel Methodist Church:
"We have on record an account of a Rev. William Drinkwater, a Methodist minister who served the churches in this vicinity devoting his life to preaching the gospel and doing good. His examples and good life were long remembered by older settlers. He had for his residence a hole in the ground on the bank of the Indian Creek about a mile and a half above the old Babb and Horns mill which I am told by the older settlers that the mill was located on the farm now owned by Mr. Fritz Hammer, formerly known as the Ogle farm. Remnants of the old mill were still in existence. This farm is close to Grace Chapel and not far from the old camp meeting ground which served the entire community in an early day."

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