Cemetery Index
Cemetery List
Cemeteries by Township
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72. CAMPGROUND OR GOD'S ACRE CEMETERY
Located near the head of the Little Wabash River, on the east bank of Lake Paradise,
reached by turning south off Old State Road.
For a long time the entire area, in Paradise Township, including Dry Grove and Paradise
settlements, was known as the Wabash Point settlement. Wabash Point and Muddy Point, in
Pleasant Grove Township, were the two most populous and important settlements in Coles
County in those days.
After the Wabash Point Methodist Society was established in 1828, camp meetings were
held in the woods in warm weather, along the east bank of the Little Wabash stream. A
few years later a wooden tabernacle was built, about 50 feet square with a log house
adjoining. Wooden tents also surrounded the meeting place. Until 1855, thousands came
here annually from spring until fall to attend services in the open air.
Just across the ravine on the west side of the river was the site of a second camp
ground which for several weeks each year, for many years, was a tented city where
services were held under the auspices of the Methodist Church.
In the course of these meetings some deaths occurred and a few graves were placed in an
adjoining plot of ground, known as "God's Acre". Soon settler families in
the area were bringing their dead there for burial.
Because of the early connection to the camp meetings, it's name was changed to
Campground.
The older part of the cemetery, on the south side, has lost many of the stones marking
the graves. Current burials are usually in the northern section which is the newer part
of the graveyard.
Campground Cemetery is well cared for by a board of trustees.
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73. DRY GROVE CEMETERY
Located just west of Route 45 on Lakeland College Grounds. Access is on first road
sough of the college and then west to first turn north.
The Dry Grove Methodist Church Cemetery is located in Paradise Township, Coles County,
Illinois.
This property, which was in two sections originally, was ceded by William Ferguson and
his wife, Nancy, on or about January 19, 1869, to a group of men (and their
successors), who were trustees of the Dry Grove Methodist Church and Cemetery. These
men were J. J. Gannaway, W. S. Ferguson, John Hendrix, W. W. Apperson, and James H.
Williams.
The sections were adjacent, the larger part consisting of about two and one acres. This
section was known as the Old Cemetery Grounds and is the oldest part of the cemetery as
it exists today. The lots in this section were plotted but not recorded and the plot
diagram is now lost.
According to an Affidavit, signed in 1939 by John L. Henley, a trustee, the lots in the
first section were given, free of any charge, and no deed was given in connection with
them.
The second section of the property consisted of about one acre located on the south
side of the property and was the part where the church building stood. The original
church building was sold and abandoned on or about the year 1884. At a later date,
probably about 1890, this building was moved to Trilla, Illinois.
In 1913, the trustees of the Dry Grove Methodist Church Cemetery petitioned the State
of Illinois for permission to organize the Dry Grove Cemetery Association. This
permission was granted on April 17, 1913, by the state, signed by Harry Woods, who was
then Secretary of State for Illinois.
Those whose names appear on the petition are James Bradley, John C. Bradley, C. C.
rose, Thomas Highlord, Mrs. T. F. Hamilton and C. E. Green.
Among the papers relating to the Dry Grove Cemetery, it is interesting to note
statements made in an Affidavit signed by Almira Henley in 1938, granddaughter of
William and Nancy Ferguson, saying that she had known the cemetery for the last
fifty-six years. There were head stones there that she remembered and which can be seen
today in this well kept cemetery.
Lake Land College is the present Custodian of the Dry Grove Cemetery since its grounds
surround the burial ground. The college never formally purchased the cemetery land but
acquired the area at the time the campus was established.
Burials in the cemetery are infrequent. The last known one was in 1978. The cemetery
itself has become a monument to the early settlers of the Dry Grove area.
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74. OLD BAPTIST (CURRY) CEMETERY
Located south of Route 16 on first road west of Lake Road.
This cemetery is said to have been an old Indian burial ground. The pioneers of the
area used it for their burials shortly after their arrival in the early 1830's. A
Baptist Church was established about 1840 and Samuel Pullen was the first minister. It
is believed the church was on the south side of the cemetery since remains of an early
building have been found there. I has been gone many years for no one living in the
neighborhood can remember it being there.
John Ellis owned the land on which the cemetery is situated. His wife, Nancy is the
only Ellis burial in the graveyard. She Died at age 42 on January 12, 1853.
The Ellis family intermarried with the Curry family and many of those descendants
remained in the area and are buried at the Baptist Cemetery. As the number of Curry
Burials increased, it became known as the Curry Cemetery.
The older part is on the western side and many of the names on the tombstones are those
of the pioneers of this section of the township. It hasn't been used much in the
past 40 years, but is still well-tended by Mr. C. M. Curry and Mr. Tommy Hendrix who
live nearby.
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75. ZION HILL CEMETERY
Located adjoining Zion Hill Church at the western edge of the town of Paradise.
Zion Hill is the home of the oldest religious congregation in this section of the
country. In 1828 a Methodist congregation was established in Paradise Township, called
the Wabash Point Society, a part of which, years later, was to become the ZIon Hill
Methodist Church. Wabash Point became a regular point of call on the Shelbyville
Circuit.
Eventually, because the settlers were so widely separated, the original Society at
Wabash Point divided into three congregations and each organized churches in their own
neighborhood. One of these became the Paradise Methodist Society, later to be Zion
Hill.
The first Methodist church was built in Paradise Village in 1853. It was located just
south of the main road of the town and constructed of bricks which were made on land
adjoining the church site.
In 1869 a movement was started to build a new church on the hill west of the village.
The old church was torn down, the mortar used in the present building. There is a
tradition that the name "Zion Hill" came came through the singing of the hymn
"We're Marching to Zion"a; by the congregation on their way to the new
church.
Camp meetings were held in the grove by the church in the early 1870's. After the
building of the Wabash Church in 1874, annual camp meetings were held in the Wabash
grove.
In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose Hart sold one acre of land to the Wabash Masonic Lodge at
Etna, to be used for the Zion Hill Cemetery. In 1892 the Lodge conveyed the cemetery to
the trustees of Zion Hill Church. Additional land has been acquired from time to time.
In 1906 the cemetery was incorporated as the Zion Hill Cemetery Association, at which
time the trustees were: J. Z. Butler, D. W. Chamberlin, J. H. Deckard, A. W. Hart, D.
A. Michael and R. T. Mayhew.
The burials in this cemetery which pre-date it's establishment must be assumed to
have been moved from family plots or other cemeteries.
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