Armstrong Cemetery

Armstrong Cemetery

Armstrong Cemetery is located in Section 12 of Truro Township. Go north on Route 180 through Williamsfield and follow it out of town. After you cross the Spoon River, look for 1650N and turn right. Follow it as it turns left and then right. It will turn into 1660N...follow that road until you see the "Dead End" sign. It is almost directly across the street from a private residence... in a field. During the summer, it will be hard to see from the road if corn is planted. It is only a few yards from the road on the right-hand side.

(left to right) Mike Switzer and Mike Crandell
pictures taken in June 2005

Mike Switzer showed us where he had dug up a stone many years ago which he was able to find in a mound of dirt and dead grass. We (my husband, Mike, Mike Switzer and I) then carefully proceeded to use metal probes to locate other stones and gently dug them up. My daughter, Claire, found a footstone several yards away with plow marks on it. These same type of marks were found on the other stones. Years ago, there used to be a fence surrounding the cemetery...now long gone.

We were able to piece together some of the fragments but there is a top of one stone that doesn't seem to belong to the others we found...which might mean there were more people buried here we don't know about yet. Another reason we think there were more burials is because there is a huge base, with a 20 1/2 inch wide insert, without a stone to match it.

At this point in time, we are calling this burial ground the “Armstrong” cemetery because all the stones we have found so far belonged to Armstrongs. P. Armstrong owned the land in 1870 upon which the cemetery is located, so we surmise it was a family plot. Andrew Collopy-Fritz believes there might be other people buried here other than the Armstrongs. According to his research, there is a cemetery in the same general area that might have been established around 1896 (perhaps adjacent to the Armstrong family plot?). He is calling it the Anderson-Greep Cemetery.

From all the various censuses of Menard, Knox and Peoria counties (up through 1880), I was able to determine that William, born in Kentucky, was one of the first settlers in Menard County and had been married three times with approximately fourteen children. Also deduced from the census, William and his family had moved from Menard to Knox County sometime in the 1850’s and after his third wife died, lived with his children in Elmore, Peoria County. He was listed as living in 1880, so it is presumed he died after 1880. If so, he died a very old man having been born in 1799.

William was a farmer who had owned land both in Menard and Knox Counties. Based on the age of his children, we guess that his first wife, name unknown, died around 1842. William married his second wife, Lucy Ann Brown on January, 2, 1843, in Menard County and married his third wife, Lydia C. Simons, on January 25, 1863, in Menard County also. The children from his marriages were: William, Pleasant, Elizabeth, Martha, John, Nancy, Daniel, Catherine, Winfield Scott [Scott's obit], Emily, Louisa, Elias, Lavena and Corry.

Click on thumbnails for a larger image...

Marriage License of

William & Lucy

Marriage License of

William & Lydia

The stones have been cleaned a little more since these pictures were taken...

Click on the thumbnails for a larger image...

Lucy Armstrong's stone as we were unearthing it...

Lucy A. Armstrong (wife of William Armstrong [Sr.?])
died Feb. 16, 1862
Age 42 yrs 3 mo

There's also a footstone that says: L. A. A.

Lydia C. Armstrong (wife of William Armstrong)
died Feb. 22, 1876
Age 57 yr 1 mo 22 da

There's also a footstone that says: L. C. A.

Daniel K. Armstrong (son of William & Lucy A. Armstrong)
died Nov. 23, 1862
Age 18 yr 8 mo 9 da
Co. E. 85 Ill. Regt. Ill. Vol.
Remains near Bowling Green, Ky.

Daniel/David Armstrong at the National Cemetery in Nashville. Is the name wrong on the tombstone?

Daniel is mentioned as David in the 85th Inf. book by Henry Aten and the Nashville Cemetery records at http://www.bonps.org/natlcem/natlcem.htm states "ARMSTRONG DAVID N 10932 12/5/62 IL PRIVATE" but the stone I found at the cemetery and the Illinois State Archives say differently. The archives states "ARMSTRONG, DANIEL, PVT, E, 85 IL US INF, PETERSBURG". There isn't a David listed at the Archives that fits the son of William and Lucy. I think Henry Aten got his information from the National Cemetery in Nashville and the State archives got their data from the Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois.

Little Annie Armstrong (dau of W. M. & M. E. Armstrong)
died Dec. 31, 1863
Age 12 yr 2 mo

John C. Armstrong (Son of P. & M. A. Armstrong)
died ____ __, 186?
Age ?

? Armstrong
died Mar. 25, 1862
Age 5 mo 7 da

This could belong with a part of a stone that said "C----" (first letter of the first name)

There's also a footstone that says: C. I. A.

Here's a top part of a stone that does not belong with the other stones we found.

Any contributions, corrections, or suggestions would be deeply appreciated!

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