Hi Peg, its been a long time since I was able to do research but I do still read the lists...I have not been to Creekpaum but I had a volunteer to there for me and it was a beautiful cemetery. I would gladly join you in any effort to protect the cemetery. I am very uneducated as to where to start, but there must be some laws somewhere....does anyone know who owns the cemetery land? :o) Linda On Dec 16, 2006, at 8:30 PM, Peg Crain Luthy wrote: > Does anyone know what's going on with the Nighthawk coal mines near > Creekpaum Cemetery? My aunt was out there today to put flowers on her > parents graves. She said the road was nearly blocked by tires, and > someone was standing guard, she asked if it was ok to go down the road > and was told there was nothing but an old cemetery down there. She was > allowed to go, but said the tires were across the road when she came > back out. > > She said the mines is really close to the cemetery now, evidence of > heavy equipment and mud everywhere. > > I have four generations of CRAIN grandparents there as well as Henson > GG grandparents and many other great aunts & uncles, cousins, etc. I > would hate to see this cemetery destroyed. My husband and I were out > there one day a couple of years ago and the lime dust from the mining > trucks was just rolling over the cemetery. I thought then that those > old stones wouldn't last long under those conditions! > > What can be done to insure we can always visit this cemetery, and that > it will not be destroyed. This is not an abandoned cemetery, it is > still used occasionally for burials, and has been kept up very nicely. > > Peg Crain Luthy > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > List Guidelines: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/JacksonCoWelcome.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ILJACKSO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hi Linda, Glad to have some more backing on this, I'm not sure what we should do or even how to start. I am assuming the county has possession of that land since there was once a church and school located there also. Since posting the first message I have talked to my brother, he was at Creekpaum about a month ago, he confirmed it's condition, he said it is very desolate, he compared it to a moon landing site, all black dirt and mud, all around, the only green spot is the cemetery itself. I got this information from Randy Crain on the laws governing old cemeteries. "This is the law for counties to follow on old cemeteries. I found the county board has jurisdiction over county cemeteries also." http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=757&ChapAct=55%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B70%2F&ChapterID=12&ChapterName=COUNTIES&ActName=Grave+and+Cemetery+Restoration+Act%2E Peg ----- Original Message ----- From: Linda Reichert To: iljackso@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 9:23 PM Subject: Re: [ILJACKSO] Creekpaum Cemetery Hi Peg, its been a long time since I was able to do research but I do still read the lists...I have not been to Creekpaum but I had a volunteer to there for me and it was a beautiful cemetery. I would gladly join you in any effort to protect the cemetery. I am very uneducated as to where to start, but there must be some laws somewhere....does anyone know who owns the cemetery land? :o) Linda On Dec 16, 2006, at 8:30 PM, Peg Crain Luthy wrote: > Does anyone know what's going on with the Nighthawk coal mines near > Creekpaum Cemetery? My aunt was out there today to put flowers on her > parents graves. She said the road was nearly blocked by tires, and > someone was standing guard, she asked if it was ok to go down the road > and was told there was nothing but an old cemetery down there. She was > allowed to go, but said the tires were across the road when she came > back out. > > She said the mines is really close to the cemetery now, evidence of > heavy equipment and mud everywhere. > > I have four generations of CRAIN grandparents there as well as Henson > GG grandparents and many other great aunts & uncles, cousins, etc. I > would hate to see this cemetery destroyed. My husband and I were out > there one day a couple of years ago and the lime dust from the mining > trucks was just rolling over the cemetery. I thought then that those > old stones wouldn't last long under those conditions! > > What can be done to insure we can always visit this cemetery, and that > it will not be destroyed. This is not an abandoned cemetery, it is > still used occasionally for burials, and has been kept up very nicely. > > Peg Crain Luthy > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > List Guidelines: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/JacksonCoWelcome.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ILJACKSO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Guidelines: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illinois/JacksonCoWelcome.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ILJACKSO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message