Madison County Genealogical Society

Minutes of the Meeting – October 11, 2018

The October 2018 meeting of the Madison County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on Thursday, October 11, at 7:00 pm.

President, Robert Ridenour, called the meeting to order.

GIFT MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE

Do you have a family member that is interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.

The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $25.00
Patron Annual Membership $35.00
Life Membership $300.00

Contact our Secretary, Petie Hunter, at [email protected], about a gift membership.

October Meeting

 

On October 11, 2018, Mary Westerhold presented a program titled

Monuments and Mysteries in Woodlawn Cemetery

 

Cemetery History

In August 1871, a group of ten men met to “procure land for a new cemetery.” Fifteen acres were purchased from F. A. Wolf for $1,300 and two additional acres by Wolf for $125. The land had been inherited by F. A. Wolf’s wife, Caroline, from her parents, Philip and Henrietta Fix. Her father was a veteran of Napoleon’s army and the family had immigrated to the United States in 1837. Caroline married F. A. Wolf just a year later.

 

In 1872 the first lots were sold to Christian P. Smith, John Stullken, and Henry Stullken, Sr. for $300. That same year saw the first burial, that of Louis George William Smith, the nine month-old son of Christian P. and Frances Kaiser Smith. Christian and Frances were married in 1860 and had nine children. As was the case with many families during those times, only five of their children lived to adulthood.

 

Monuments

Prickett

The Prickett family plot has one of the tallest monuments and one of the sadder stories of the cemetery. William Russell and Virginia Frances West Prickett lived with their four children on North Kansas Street. On an evening in early November 1874, 11 year old Nancy, or Nannie, as she was known, was sitting at a table with her mother in the parlor, while her two sisters and a brother were upstairs playing a game. Their father had walked to town to visit friends. On the table in the parlor there were two coal oil lamps and suddenly one of the lamps exploded and Nannie’s clothes caught on fire. Her mother ran upstairs for a blanket to smother the fire, not realizing that her own clothes were on fire. By the time the mother returned downstairs, the fire had consumed both her clothes and Nannie’s. Both were taken to their rooms where they died early the next morning.

 

Ghost Tunnell

The Ghost Tunnel monument is one of the more famous ones in the cemetery. According to local legend, it was featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not in the 1970s. The monument actually refers to two families. Ella Frances Tunnell was born and raised in the Edwardsville area. She married Allen McDowell Ghost in 1874.

 

By 1878 they had moved to the Denver, Colorado, area where Allen was involved in developing real estate. He established his real estate firm, A.M. Ghost & Company and by 1885 Allen’s brother William had joined the firm. In 1891, he hired William Lang, the premier Denver architect of the era, to design a building for the business and the building still stands today in Denver - the GHOST BUILDING! Well, it is sort-of standing. The building was set to be demolished until preservationists dismantled the facade brick by brick in 1979 and stored it for six years before attaching the bricks to another building in a different location.

 

Allen and Ella continued to live in Denver but traveled frequently to Edwardsville. In 1908, when Ella was just 54, her health began to fail. Her doctor advised a lower elevation than Denver. Ella traveled in hopes of finding some relief, but passed away while visiting Edwardsville in 1909. Allen buried her in her beloved hometown. Allen continued to live in Denver but he retired from his real estate business. Within a few years, Allen developed stomach trouble and died in 1914. In his final wishes, he asked that his ashes be buried near Ella.

 

Sappington

Richard Sappington is the only known veteran of the War of 1812 buried in Woodlawn.  He was born in 1793 in Boonesborough, Kentucky. His father, John Sappington, served with George Washington at Valley Forge and then joined with Daniel Boone to move from Virginia and settle in Kentucky. About 1804, John purchased a Spanish Land Grant of over 1900 acres in what is now Missouri and moved his family – now consisting of his wife and 17 children, to the wilderness.

 

When the War of 1812 started, Richard Sappington and several of his brothers joined the Missouri Militia. The militia in Missouri was prepared in case of attack by Native Americans, who had been stirred up by the British. While they saw little to no action, they needed to be prepared to protect their families and homes. After the War, Richard married Elizabeth Bowles and in 1843, moved the family – which now included 10 children – to a farm near Edwardsville. As Richard and Elizabeth grew older, they moved into Edwardsville in a house on St. Louis Street. Richard passed away in 1872 and Elizabeth followed five years later.

 

Vorwald Mausoleum

The Vorwald family mausoleum was the first one built in Edwardsville and the only one in Woodlawn Cemetery. Ferdinand Vorwald had it built for himself and his family in 1927. Ferdinand Vorwald was born about 1851 in a log cabin near Granite City to Casper and Katherine Vorwald who were both born in Germany.

 

Ferdinand worked for his father on the family farm until he was about 20 and he purchased a threshing machine on credit. He ran his threshing machine all over the area and made a good living, but also faced stiff competition from Fritz Harbig. They both began undercutting each other’s prices until finally, after meeting on the road one day, they had a serious discussion about joining forces. For the next 50 years, they were partners in the threshing business. They even bought farms together and later sold them for a profit.

 

At age 39, he decided to retire, but soon grew bored. He bought a hardware store so he would have something to do. However, even that was not enough. About this time, Granite City started to grow and Ferdinand wanted to be involved so he started the first national Bank of Granite City. Still looking for more to do, he noticed that Granite City was lacking housing, so he developed a subdivision on the farmland he owned there and called it Ferdinand Place.

 

At age 75, Ferdinand decided to build a mausoleum. The flooring was a special material ordered from Germany, the nameplate, door, and windows were originally made of bronze. He then chose where he wanted his casket to be placed!

 

Although he was one of the wealthiest men in the county, he continued to be involved in the bank and any other activity that he could until he was in his mid-eighties. In 1936, Ferdinand fell down some steps at his home and broke a hip. He died a few weeks later and was buried in his grand mausoleum – just as he planned it.

 

Pogue

The Pogue family monument is the tallest in the cemetery and easily visible. It contains the names of the family of Dr. Joseph Pogue. Joseph Pogue was born in Philadelphia in 1835 and moved to Madison County with his parents, a brother and a sister in 1854 settling in Alton but by 1858 he settled in Edwardsville to begin his medical practice.

 

When the Civil war began, Dr. Pogue raised a company of men from Edwardsville; but after someone questioned his loyalty, he was denied the chance to serve with that company. In 1862, he joined a Missouri regiment and served as a surgeon until he was mustered out in 1865. While he was serving in the war, his wife and child died and Dr. Pogue returned to an empty home. He soon married a second time, to Elizabeth Hoagland. They had seven children, but three of them died before the age of two. Even with all of his medical knowledge, there was very little Dr. Pogue could do to save his own family. Dr. Pogue was a busy doctor and his experience in the War had turned him into a fine surgeon. As long as he was practicing, he never stopped making house calls.

 

The Pogue’s built a fine house on Commercial Street with a landscaped yard, including a small creek with a bridge and even a small pond. It was the scene of many fine parties. However, when their five year old son Robert drowned in the pond, Dr. Pogue was so distressed that he filled in the pond immediately.

 

In 1894, his wife died and their oldest daughter Katherine served as a hostess for the many parties and events until in 1904, Dr. Pogue married for a third time to Mary Littleton McCorkle. This marriage was not as happy as the first two; and the couple separated, and Mary moved to St. Louis and died from cancer in 1913. At age 78, Dr. Pogue decided to NOT marry again!

 

Dr. Pogue was gradually cutting back on the hours of his medical practice but was still often consulted by other doctors. He filled his spare time with activities of the Grand Army of the Republic—consisting of Union Veterans of the civil war. In 1915, his health began to seriously decline and in August of 1919 he died. His funeral was a grand affair with many medical professionals and GAR members present. Dr. Joseph Pogue finally had time to rest.

 

Steinmeyer Angel

The Steinmeyer monument is one of the most unique with a beautiful angel watching over the family graves. Henry Steinmeyer was born in Germany and came to this country in 1869 with his wife and eight children. He began farming in Fort Russell Township. Two of his sons, Henry and William, started a lumber business in Collinsville. The oldest son, Fritz, bought a farm in Jarvis Township and prospered there.

 

In 1890, Henry retired from farming and he, his wife Mary, and three unmarried daughters – Sophie, Wilhelmine, and Ernestine – moved into a large house on St. Louis Street. Henry passed away in 1897, and his wife Mary in 1911. Sophie, Wilhelmine, and Ernestine continued to live in the house. In 1926, they and their siblings decided to sell the land surrounding the house to create a subdivision called Steinmeyer Place.

 

The siblings did not always see eye to eye on finances. Within a few years of selling the land, William decided that his two remaining sisters were not giving him his fair share of the inheritance and filed a suit against them. William died in Collinsville in 1941 leaving only Wilhelmina and Ernestine living in the big house on St. Louis Street. Both were getting older and suffering from the normal ailments of old age. In addition, Ernestine was nearly blind. But by helping each other they could get by. In December of 1945, Wilhelmina passed away at age 80. With all of her family gone, Ernestine lost the will to live and just a month later passed away. Henry Steinmeyer, his wife Mary, their son Henry, and all of the girls are resting under the watchful eyes of this Angel.

 

More Cemetery History

John Amschler was the first sexton of Woodlawn. Born in Germany, he came to the US with his parents and his brother Andrew. His brother was described as deranged with the cause given as a bout with scarlet fever as a child.

 

John’s father died the same year they arrived and John assumed the duties of the head of the family. In 1862, he joined Company F of the 117^th Illinois volunteers. Shortly after his return from the war, his mother died but asked him not to send his brother to an insane asylum or poor house. He promised and took care of his brother for the rest of his life. He never married because his brother was his duty, along with taking care of Woodlawn for thirty-three years. His final salary at the time of his death was $5.00 a month. When his health failed, he left his work and cared for his brother until he himself passed away in 1909, leaving his brother as the lone survivor of his family. John designated in his will that his house should not be sold as long as his brother Andrew was alive.

 

Mysteries

Early Stones

There are quite a few stones in Woodlawn Cemetery with death dates as much as fifty years prior to the date the cemetery was founded. These graves are probably persons who were buried in other cemeteries and “moved” to Woodlawn. Whether there are any bodies under these stones is unknown. But after fifty years being buried in a wooden coffin, there was probably not much left to move.

 

Confederate Veteran

One of the biggest mysteries, however, is a grave stone engraved: ROBERT M. HUNTER, PVT, Co. B, 8 KY CAV, CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY, 1885. Research has been done on this Confederate Soldier for the Voices of the Past at Woodlawn. If one checks Find-a-Grave, you will find a Robert M. Hunter with the same birth date and place, and military and personal history, but buried in 1896 in Lawson Cemetery, Lawson, Missouri. Why is this stone in Woodlawn and why is there one in Lawson, Missouri?

 

Perpetual Care

As the cemetery continued to grow, the cost of maintenance became an issue. In 1888, the Executive Committee made a decision to assess lot owners for the care of the cemetery but assessments did not begin until 1900. In addition, the civic minded ladies of Edwardsville had ice cream socials on the cemetery grounds and in December the men sold Christmas trees to offset the costs.

 

Woodlawn became a Perpetual Care cemetery by the efforts of Miss R. Louise Travous in 1936. Her next goal was the Memorial Chapel, which was funded entirely by donations, designed by Edward A. Kane, Sr. and dedicated in 1967. The chapel, overlooking the rolling acres, serves as a serene location for Easter sunrise services, memorials, and weddings. On May 20, 2014, Woodlawn Cemetery was designated a historic landmark by the Historic Preservation Commission. Through dedicated staff and volunteers, Woodlawn continues to build on its history, maintain its beauty, and serve the current needs of families.

 

 

About the Speaker

Mary Westerhold is the Archival Research Manager at the Madison County Historical Society Archival Library.

 

This presentation was very well received and provoked many questions and comments.

 

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