This burial site is listed as "Unknown Name" on page 3 of "A Guide to Cemeteries of Morgan County,
Illinois, Volune One". Although the compilers of that volume knew of this cemetery as long ago as
1972, it was not possible to pinpoint the name until June 16, 1976, when Mrs. Florence Hutchison found
a warrant deed to the property.
On August 28, 1856, James Kirkman conveyed to Thomas Wyatt 60 acres of land, with the exception of
the graveyard upon the said tract, containing "half an acre in a square form, and having the Vandalia
road on the north line.." (Deed Book LL page 368). The reader should not be confused with
Vandalia Road ending a short distance east of Nichols Park. In earlier times Vandalia Road extended
from Jacksonville to Vandalia, the state capitol.
On March 7, 1866, James Kirkman deeded the half acre of land containing the cemetery to the County of
Morgan. The warranty deed in Deed Book 2, page 121, describes the burial site as being "for the use
of the family of George Kirkman, deceased."
It is known that the tombstones were still in place over the graves about 1956. They had been stolen or
otherwise removed before 1972 when a neighborhood teenager, Tom Reed, took the compilers of the Cemetery
book to the site. At that time only one tombstone base could be found in the dense brush.