Dating to the 1850s, this is the “only early cemetery found by worthy archeological investigation in and about Twelve Mile Grove,” according to Dr. In contrast to the other three cemeteries located on Forest Preserve property, little is known of the cemetery within Laughton Preserve, in Manhattan/Wilton Township. The extant cemetery of 20 markers includes eight of children who died before reaching the age of 4. Soloman farmed his land while Robena managed the household and the nine children they had together.Īs is the case with the Runyon cemetery, the fragility of life on the 19 th-century prairie is revealed in the Seaver cemetery. The 40-year-old Soloman remarried in 1872 to 19-year-old Robena M. Jeanette is buried in the Seaver cemetery, having died at age 33. Seaver was born around 1832 in Vermont and married his wife Jeanette, who was also Vermont born, prior to 1860. (Eventually Seaver would acquire additional land to expand his ownership to 565 acres.) Seaver, a native of Vermont, came to Will County in 1854, and by 1862 had taken possession of the original Huycks’ holdings. The cemetery was included in a small settlement established on 80 acres of land originally purchased by Abraham Huyck on November 17, 1838, and a 40-acre parcel bought by Asenath Huyck on August 18, 1845. Only five of the grave markers include dates: 1866, two in 1869, 18. In Wilton Township, a cemetery consisting of 20 markers resides in Huyck’s Grove Preserve. This protection assures that the remains of those buried there will lie in peace forever. The cemetery was dedicated as a state nature preserve in 1999, providing the highest degree of protection that exists. Included are the federally and state-threatened Mead’s milkweed and the state-threatened Hill’s thistle. An inventory identified 70 native species of plants, 10 percent of all of Illinois’ Grade A dry-mesic species. The Forest Preserve District of Will County accepted the Vermont Cemetery as a donation from the Natural Land Institute in 1998. The Wheatland Congregation was made up largely of immigrants from Germany, and a few of the legible grave markers contain Biblical passages in German. Hafenrichter discovered that the bodies interred in the cemetery were of the Wheatland Congregation, one of four primary groups who settled in Wheatland Township according to their national origin. Some were likely itinerant workers, who moved from farm to farm as work became available, and their markers were made from the inexpensive sandstone. John Hafenrichter, a local historian who has since passed away, speculated that Vermont Cemetery, which dates to the 19 th century, was the designated resting place for settlers who came from Vermont. This fencing not only protects the gravesites but also the native flora of the Illinois Nature Preserve. The cemetery is still protected by fencing, so no public access is allowed. In 1970, Betz enclosed the entire cemetery with a chain link fence, paid for by contributions. To protect the native vegetation existing at the cemetery, he and his helpers took to performing periodic burns, clearing brush, removing litter, controlling trespassing and providing surveillance of the parcel. Botanists and biologists crisscrossed the state for years, visiting 4,000 cemetery sites to find what was left of even the narrowest sliver of prairie microcosm.” To date, 29 prairie cemeteries in east central Illinois have been identified.īetz, along with volunteer assistants, began managing this special 1-acre plot. (It's a glaring reminder of the benefits of being protected, standing a full 18 inches higher than the unprotected, soil-eroded residential-commercial land that surrounds it.) In 1976, inspired by Betz, the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory began an extensive study of sites with pre-settlement vegetation, which later became a cornerstone of nature preservation in Illinois. He started with Vermont Cemetery in Naperville, now a part of the Forest Preserve of Will County. His commitment would lead to a greater effort to preserve the natural world that the pioneers would still recognize today.īorrelli writes that cemeteries such as this sat abandoned, “Until the 1960s, when Robert Betz, a botanist at Northeastern Illinois University (who died in 2007), started drawing connections between a handful of pioneer cemeteries and what remained of prairie ecosystems. According to an August 2017 Chicago Tribune story written by Christopher Borrelli, titled “In Pioneering Cemeteries, a Disappearing Part of Illinois’ Landscape Lives On,” Vermont Cemetery’s protection was due to the efforts of one man who recognized its significance as a natural history treasure.
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