Cemetery


Cemeteries

Spring Township Pioneer Cemetery in Section 32

Article supplied by Don Blake.

Spring township, unlike most townships has two official cemeteries. The need for this no doubt was the fact that the river bisects the township and prior to the building of bridges crossing the river presented a big problem. In times of flood it was nearly impossible.

The cemetery in section 32 has a most hazy history. When the Afton Lucky Clovers chose the restoration of this cemetery as their Bicentennial project the hunt for information began.

Fortunately a reliable source of information has at last been found. Mrs.Will Rhea, formerly of Afton township and now living in Cherokee furnished the following information.

There are seven bodies buried in the cemetery though apparently only six interments were made.

The seven buried there as reported by Mrs. Rhea are: her great grandfather, John Whitney, who died in 1909; a so called grandfather Cannon; the great grandfather of Lyle Gifford; George Smith, brother of Mordecai Smith; an unknown male; Winnie "Prolific" Scott and an infant Scott child.

The date of the earliest interment in the cemetery is unknown. It appears that the last burial was that of John Whitney in 1909.

An interesting feature of this area is a small Baptist church which stood just north of the cemetery. The church burned in 1910. The old county histories and atlases do not record the existence of this church. For that reason we are indebted to Mrs. Rhea for bringing its existence to our attention. We hope to have additional information on this church in a future issue.

FEEDBACK-- The February issue of the newsletter printed an article on the Spring township cemetery in section 32. In that article the names of those buried there were mentioned along with the item that a Baptist church once sat just north of the cemetery. Several former residents of that community have contacted the Society disputing those facts.

Staff research has indicated that at least one of the burials reported is in error. John Whitney is actually buried in the Afton township cemetery some miles south. We have been unable to authenticate the existence of the church mentioned.

The facts reported in the article were take from an article printed in the Cherokee Daily Times and the sources given in that article were checked by the newsletter staff.

The research staff has been unable to authenticate the information in the article. As several sources dispute the facts as printed the accuracy of facts contained therein are open to question.