Touring Woodford and Logan counties

I took yesterday off - from both the blog and the ancestor hunt. I drove to Springfield and played tourist for a while, which was fun. Then I came back "home" and read my book for the afternoon. Wonderful!

So today I got back on the CB Keller hunt, and cemetery search. I drove to Middletown and went to the Presbyterian church to see if they had any information. Services were over when I arrived, but there were a bunch of women in the kitchen preparing a pulled pork lunch to go along with their concert in the park across the street. At the end of my visit, I was invited to join them for both, but with the prospect of finding cemeteries, I politely turned down the invitation. Although it smelled delicious!

The woman I spoke with was very interested in my story, and called out to the whole room that I was visiting from Arizona, on the hunt for my great grandfather who once lived here. Everyone came over and started asking questions. It was great! They took me upstairs to the "office" and gave me a couple of ledger books to look through to see what I could find, although they doubted that I would find any record of a funeral. The ledgers dated back to 1905. The actual ledgers, without any protection. I was holding and reading what the clerk or Pastor, depending on the day, actually wrote with pencil or pen. I was shocked by the good condition of the papers, especially as apparently people just pick them up and read them.  Unfortunately, there was nothing recorded about any funerals, although the Pastor's name at the time was Reverend Rainey, who was the one named in the obituary, so that was good. I learned that the church was built in 1905, so it was definitely the one where CB's funeral was held. I went back down to the kitchen and told the women that I found nothing of any value. One said she had gone across the street and spoken with the pastor while I was upstairs, and he wanted my contact information. He is going to check his computer files when he goes in to the office tomorrow and will call or email me with whatever info he can find. They also suggested I look at the Menard county cemetery listings online, which, of course, I already have.  So hopefully the pastor will have something to offer. The other suggestion was to go to the library and ask for the microfilm of the Middletown Ledger for the date of the funeral. I had been told at the Lincoln library that the Ledger had not been microfilmed, but apparently it has. So I will follow that lead tomorrow.

I then headed out to Woodford County on the hunt for St. Mary of Lourdes Cemetery.  It was a beautiful drive through the country on a warm, sunny day.

 Buried there are Johann and Anna Mueller, parents of Mary Mueller, wife of Henry Schwinn. In other words, my great-great-great grandparents. Also there is George Schwinn, one of Henry and Mary Schwinn's children, brother to my great-grandmother Elizabeth. I knew they were listed in the index, but had no idea where in the cemetery they would be located. I found the cemetery very easily, and drove in and around one bend of the road and parked, Thankfully it is not a huge place, but still daunting not knowing where to look. I quickly eliminated one part as it looked far too new to bother with. So then I walked up and down rows, recognizing many family names that I have come across in various places during research. It was kind of fun to say "Oh, I recognize you - and there is your wife!" After about 30 minutes of wandering, I turned down the next row and there was Johann! WooHoooo! Not too bad. There was an empty space next to him that looked like a stone used to stand there, then next to that was George Schwinn! Down two more stones was Catherine Schwinn, another sibling of George and Elizabeth. Woot! What a find. I looked around quite a bit, but could not find Johann's wife, so I am assuming that she is the empty space next to his stone. I have uploaded pictures on the cemetery page.

Then I headed back to find Sand Ridge Cemetery again - the one I found last Sunday, but couldn't find a way in - and search for Henry Schwinn who is supposed to be buried there. I have studied the roads on the area, and know there is nothing that comes close to the cemetery, so i will, as my daughter said, hike in. So I find Spring Bay Rd. - actually only about 4 miles away, and I did it from memory without navigation aid! - and started driving down. Thankfully there are no cars behind me so I can putter along and see if there is an old turn in or something. Then I saw what once must have been a driveway up the hill, and just went for it. At the top was a fence with a gate that was not locked, so I stopped the car, got out and went in.  Obviously there used to be a road along the front, where the Name of the cemetery is raised above the fence, but now it is just overgrown bush and a straight drop off to the road below. It is a very small cemetery, and it didn't take long to see that there was not a stone for Henry, but I have a feeling that he is buried there. It is a beautiful setting, on top of a hill, with a view out to the Illinois River in the distance. So I said some words to Henry, and left it at that. I will pick up the hunt again at some future point, but for now this is good.

That is it for the day. This has now taken me almost 6 hours, and I did not bring a lunch with me, so I'm starving! Back to the hotel, food and blog. Hopefully there will be a few more tidbits tomorrow before I wind up my trip. I leave for home Wednesday morning.