HOLLIDAY CEMETERY, Murphysboro, Jackson Co, IL Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Jinks Pate Lee (jinksp@juno.com) Copyright 2001 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** HOLLIDAY CEMETERY Murphysboro, Jackson Co, IL Recorded by Gene Ruble, about 1967 Typed by Jinks Pate Lee This old and abandoned cemetery lies about 1 1/2 miles northeast of Murphysboro, IL on what is now the Baker farm. The old "Mud Line" once ran along the southern edge of the cemetery. The raised bed of the old railroad is still in evidence. The cemetery itself is a jungle of suma trees (the tallest I've ever seen), vines, old fashioned rose bushes, lillies, wild vines of various kinds and weeds. Cattle have been allowed to run in the cemetery since the fence was done away with several years ago. Ground-hogs have dug great holes in some places, often in the graves. A casket handle and a set of false teeth were on top of the ground, apparently dug out by ground-hogs. Many of the tombstones are toppled over, some are broken. One of the largest stones I have ever seen is located in this cemetery. It makes one pause to wonder how it was ever carted to the site, unloaded and erected. It marks the resting place of one HENRY BOWLBY, born 1822, died 1892, aged 70 years, 4 mos and 26 days. Also recorded on this huge stone are REBECCA BOWLBY, 1832-1895, and ANGELINE BOWLBY, 1837-1874. On a separate, smaller stone in front of the large stone is ELIZABETH BOWLBY, dau of HENRY BOWLBY, died Oct 30, 1855, aged 37 years. Many of the older names known in and around Murphysboro appear on stones in this old cemetery. Among them: MALTER, ISAAC C DEEN, HENDERSON, KEITH, DAVIS, CLAYTON, BOUSCHER,BUTCHER, WHIPKEY, many KINGS, PILE, CARBAUGH, WILSON, WINDSOR, BOLLS, LATTA, HALL, GILL, CARLISLE, LEWIS, RICHARDS, BRADLEY, MC CORD, MURPHY, BENNER, HARRIS, BARBEE,CHAMBERLAIN, GUNSTER, JONES, HANKS, HAMILTON, KIRBY, BODEKER, SHANK, MOORE, and many, many more. The family for whom this cemetery is named is represented in number here. As one enters, one of the first plots that catches the eye is one surrounded by an ornamental wrought iron fence. Tall sumacs shade the graves, one side of the fence is down and cattle have tromped on the graves. Large vines have twined around the stones and some of them are almost impossible to read. A turtle dove had a nest in one of the tall sumacs and flew away when her privacy was invaded. This plot contains STEPHEN A HOLLIDAY b. 18?? d. 16 Mar 1892, aged 72y 4m 10d This plot also contains BENJAMIN HOLLIDAY d. 29 Nov 1???, aged 27y 3m 14d s/o S A Holliday & Rebecca Holliday JENNIE GRAFF b. 1856 d. 1897 d/o S A Holliday & N E Holliday AMANDA HOLLIDAY d. ?? d/o S A & N E Holliday CONRAD HOLLIDAY b. 1858 d. 1884 s/o S A & N E Holliday NANCY E HOLLIDAY d. Nov 1826? (This stone cannot be read with any accuracy) Evidently Stephen A Holliday was married twice, as his wife is listed as being Rebecca, but some of the stones say "N E Holliday." Also later on I discovered Rebecca's grave in another wrought iron fenced plot with some of the other children. She is buried in the far NW corner, while the others are buried in the center and across the east end. One separate lone grave lists SARAH, wife of WM HOLLIDAY, d. 17 Nov 1870, aged 24y 11m. Other graves in the fenced plot are D J HOLLIDAY, d. 15 Oct 1857, aged 45 yrs. Then in the NW corner is REBECCA, wife of S A HOLLIDAY, b. 8 Oct 1817, d. 2 Sep 1854, aged 36y 10m 24d. Two graves side by side belong to DAVID HOLLIDAY who died in 1849 at age 65, and his wife, MARY HOLLIDAY who died in 1845 at age 66. Then ELIZABETH WHIPKEY, wife of BENJAMIN HOLLIDAY (who is buried in the first portion with his father). ELIZABETH was born in 1827 and died in 1844, aged 17. This verse is on her stone for all to see and reflect upon: "My sparkling eyes are closed, My blooming cheeks are gone. Sickness and death hath hurried me off, to my eternal home." Then one comes to another lone grave, the stone is down and buried in the ground, face down. Upon digging it out and turning it over it proves to be unique in its design. At the top, carved in bas-relief is the Union soldier, with rifle held in readiness. It marks the grave of one HENRY BOUSCHER, aged 20, who died 11 Mar 1863. I have seen many stones for fallen soldiers, but none with such a startling design as this. Another lone grave, with no other near it bearing the same name, is one for SARAH V, dau of DR A S & ELIZABETH LATTA, d. 21 Aug 1855, aged 17 yrs. Another stone of interest when dug out of the undergrowth was one marking the grave of an infant, ROMY, son of B F & N W HALL, d. 3 Jan 1863, aged 2 mos. Two lambs are resting atop the stone, one facing one way, one facing the other. These lambs have long tails. Farther along one comes on the long forgotten graves of two brothers, JOHN and WILEY GILL, Union Soldiers, buried side-by-side. JOHN was born 1844, died 1862 and WILEY was born 1843 and died also in 1862. It is reasonable to assume that they died in battle as these were the war years. Near these two boys are several graves in a row, all having identical stones, all are toppled over and have to be turned over before they can be read. These identical stones mark the graves of the CARLISLE family. SAMUEL CARLISLE, the father, also a soldier, b. 1826, d. 1873; MARY JANE, d. 1855, aged 25; NANCY, 1854-1854; HARRISON, 1864-1864; EDW, 1868-1871; SAMUEL, JR, 1861-1870; WM A, 1858-1874. The mother was not buried here, apparently. Another soldier, B A RICHARDS, 1843-1862, aged 18y ?M 26d, 27th Reg ILL Vols; GEORGE, hus of MARY CARBAUGH, 1800-1855. Next to him, SAMUEL B CARBAUGH. A grave which was very "dug out" by ground hogs was one marked by a large stone which read simply, BATES. And now we come to the wonderful part of the search. At last it is know where CERANA (DRAPER) BRADLEY is buried, and to whom she was married. Her stone is fairly large, still standing upright and remarkably legible. It reads SERENA BRADLEY, wife of WILLIAM BRADLEY, SR, d. 24 Jan 1882, aged 77y 28d. On the opposite side of the stone it reads, REV WM BRADLEY, d. 10 Aug 1887, aged 73y 5m 27d. And in the very north end of the cemetery is the plot for BENJAMIN LEE HARRIS, b. 22 Oct 1824, d. 23 Dec 1899, and his wife, HARRIET, 1831-1889. B L HARRIS, father, ARCHILLES HARRIS, married ELIZABETH "BETSY" DRAPER, sister to the above CERANA (DRAPER) BRADLEY, TRYPHENA (DRAPER) HOLLIDAY (who is buried in the Hall Cemetery and will be written up in that account) and RAVENNA (DRAPER) PATE, who is buried at Pate Chapel Cemetery. On May 7, 1967, I made the acquaintance of HARRIET HARRIS (now ADAMS) who still lives in the old family two-story farm home built by her great-grandfather and which is over 100 years old. He sent to St Louis for the beautiful old stairway. She is the dau of GEORGE and MARY (PIQUARD) HARRIS. Her mother is still living and they were hulling strawberries as they talked. Her father, GEORGE HARRIS was the son of the BENJAMIN and HARRIET HARRIS buried in the north end of the Holliday Cemetery, and it is the belief of Mrs Harris and her daughter, Harriet Adams, that the great grandfather, ACHILLES HARRIS and his wife, ELIZABETH "BETSY" (DRAPER) HARRIS are also buried in this same plot. However, since this was one of the most over-grown parts of the entire cemetery, their stones were not to be found. However, Mrs Adams assured me that she remembered going there as a child, and that it was told to her then that they were buried there. The old family Bible was brought downstairs from the trunk and it yielded the following records: The original BENJAMIN LEE HARRIS came from England in the 1700's and settled in Pittsylvania Co, VA. The son, ARCHILLES had a step-mother, left home in his teens, went to Tennessee, married ELIZABETH "BETSY" DRAPER then came to Illinois and settled. ARCHILLES HARRIS b. 19 Jul 1800 ELIZABETH (DRAPER) HARRIS b. 09 May 1801 d. 29 Dec 1858, aged 57 yrs Children: PATSY HARRIS b. 05 Sep 1822 d. 17 Jun 1896 md a Bradley (This was Congressman Kent Keller's grandmother) JEMIMAH HARRIS b. 24 Dec 182 d. 25 Apr 1901 md a Carbaugh WILLIAM HARRIS b. 14 Jan 1829 d. 23 Mar 1853 SALLY HARRIS b. ?? Mar 1821 d. 03 Oct 1879 md a Murphy BENHAMIN HARRIS b. 22 Oct 1824 d. 23 Dec 1899 JAMES HARRIS b. 24 Jan 1831 d. 06 Nov 1875 POLLY HARRIS b. 1833 d. 20 Feb 1890 md a Ranner ELIZA JANE HARRIS b. 11 Jun 1835 d. 27 Jul 1868 md a Mc Dowell (One name torn out) b. 23 Feb 1833 SERENA HARRIS b. 07 Dec 1840 d. 05 Jan 1859 Getting back to the cemetery inventory we find one ELLA E BRADLEY, 1860-1882, aged 22. She is not buried near the other Bradley's, so it is not known if she is one of the family. Only one stone, apparently, bears the Mason insignia, that of a MR MURPHY. Three graves in a row suggest that PETER and MARIE GUNSTER either moved elsewhere, or are buried elsewhere. They are dau, CARRIE GUNSTER, d. 1882, aged 7 yrs; dau, SALLY GUNSTER, d. 1883, aged 4 mos; and son, OSCAR GUNSTER, d. 1884, aged 8 mos. Little HARRY LEWIS, 3 yrs, and apparently all alone. A low stone (solid, carved) fence surrounds the grave of a MR JONES. Next to this is where the casket handle and false teeth came to light. MR JAMES HANKS, 1857-1884 (27) was deeply missed, according to the verse written upon his stone: "Dearest husband thou hast left us - Here thy loss we deeply feel; But 'tis God that has bereft us, He can all our sorrows heal." Only one plot has had any attention in recent years, it belonging to the Carbaugh's. A woman recently raked the cattle-scarred dirt, tried to right the toppled stones, and placed artificial flowers on the graves. She left a note on the Baker farm gate when she left "to please keep the cattle off my Mother's grave." But the note will go unheeded, as the Bakers do not intend to erect a fence to keep the cattle out. They say that if the woman wants the cattle off the graves they think she should erect a fence around that particular family plot. As for myself, I think it is terrible to let cattle roam on graves, the last resting place here on earth should be sacred enough to keep undefiled. WRITTEN BY GENE RUBLE, about 1967 Typed by Jinks Pate Lee, 5 Jul 2001