Mausoleums & Columbariums 9/6/2012

Greenwood Cemetery – Decatur, Illinois

By Joy Neighbors

Greenwood Cemetery is located in Decatur, Illinois.  The origins of the cemetery and its history are surrounded in mystery.  Native Americans supposedly began using this section of land as a burial ground hundreds of years ago. Greenwood Cemetery was officially founded sometime in the 1840’s. 

At Greenwood Cemetery you will find over a dozen private mausoleums scattered throughout the winding hills and valleys.  Most are built in the neoclassical style with the strong influences of Greece and Rome.  Neoclassical mausoleums usually have pillars or columns in front and a triangular pediment at the top.

Here are just a few of the mausoleums with information on those who are interred at Greenwood.

The Bauer mausoleum is built in the neoclassical style. Vandalism has been a major problem at Greenwood and the stained glass window in this mausoleum has been pried out.  Interred here are Herman Bauer (1848 – 1919) and his wife, Anna Bauer (1849 – 1920) along with their children, Ella Bauer Kater (1870 – 1945), Anna L. Bauer Otta (1872 – 1911), and Emma M. Bauer (1877 – 1895).

Herman Bauer was born in Germany and came to America in the late 1860’s.  He located in Illinois and made his living as a farmer near Macon, Illinois.

The Busher family mausoleum was the first mausoleum built in Greenwood Cemetery and is located immediately to the left when you drive in. It is a stately structure with a small columned entrance and a weathered door.  Two lions reside at the entrance, one sleeping and one on guard. The mausoleum’s stained glass window is a cross with golden crown.

William F. Busher and both of his wives are interred here, along with his son from the first marriage. Busher’s first wife was Louise W. Beksmeyer Busher (1835 -1897), their son, Walter L. Busher (1857 – 1878) and his second wife, Mary Alexander Jones Busher (1840 - 1926).

William Busher was born in 1831 in Germany.    He arrived in Decatur in 1855 and ran a shoe shop until 1862. He died September 5, 1906 in Decatur.

The mausoleum for the Conklin family is built in the neoclassical style with two tall columns at the entrance and a pediment at the top. Unfortunately, the back window of the mausoleum has been pried out and removed.  Interred here are Abraham W. Conklin (1836 – 1909) and his wife, Anna H. Hargis Conklin (1847 - 1929). 

Conklin was a wealthy Decatur businessman who started the Decatur Bag Company in 1875. He also owned the Decatur Cracker Factory, before selling it to the National Biscuit Company.  He suffered from Bright’s disease and died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack while his wife played hymns for him downstairs.

Anna Conklin died 20 years later at their home, one of the oldest residences in the wealth district of Decatur.  She was well known for her musical talents in the local church quartets.

The Diller mausoleum boasts two columns, a porch and pediment.  Two flower urns flank the steps up to the double doors.  An Art Nouveau style stained glass window is located in the back of the mausoleum.  Interred here are William H. Diller (1860 – 1930) and his wife, Ada Belle Diller (unknown - 1912), along with their children, Harry Lee Diller (1891 – 1959), Laura Edith Diller (1899 – 1912), and Gerald Edgar Diller, (1917- 1918).   Daughter Laura died of Scarlet Fever at the age of twelve.

The Elson – Clokey mausoleum is situated on a slight hill with a curved retaining wall and decorative steps.  The stained glass windows located at the sides have been boarded up. The ornate doors, decorated with wreathes, are heavily chained.  Interred here are Michael Elson (1815 – 1900) and his wife, Mary Bell Sawyer Elson (1816 – 1876), along with their daughters, Mary Bell Elson (1850 – 1852) and Susan Carrie Elson Clokey (1852 – 1916).  Susan’s husband, Colonel Josiah Michel Clokey (1845 – 1923) is also interred in the family mausoleum, along with their children, Joseph Elson Clokey (1874 – 1880), Ira Waddell Clokey (1878 – 1950), and Mary Bell Clokey Wise (1881 – 1913) and her husband, Charles Bismack Wise (1873 – 1919).

Elson was one of the earliest settlers of Decatur, arriving in 1839.  He made his living building wagons and fitting them for the men who were California gold miners during the 1849 Gold Rush.

Mary Bell Elson was born in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.  She arrived in Macon County, Illinois in 1838.  She married Michael Elson in 1849.

The Faries family mausoleum is framed by four square columns and a porch. An Arts and Crafts style stained glass window graces the back. Interred here are Robert Faries (1837  - 1919), his wife, Lena Bender Faries (1843 – 1918), and their children, Laura May Faries Wallbridge (1868 – 1925), Florence Bernice Faries Irving (1871 – 1950) and J. Frank Faries (1873 – 1907), who committed suicide in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when he threw himself in front of a steamroller at the Wisconsin State Fair.

Laura May’s husband, Luther P. Walbridge (1856 – 1928) is also interred here, along with Florence’s husband, Edward Peek Irving (1863 – 1923), and their son, Robert Faries Irving (1896 – 1901).

Robert Faries made his money after designing a machine that tied knots in wire used for planting corn.  Faries then opened the Faries Manufacturing Company in Decatur and also headed the Walrus Manufacturing Company.  The Decatur Park District began when, in accordance to Faries wishes, 289 acres of Faries Park was donated to the city.

The Huff mausoleum is a solidly built neoclassical structure with two grilled doors.  Interred here are William J. Huff (1860 – 1925) and his wife, Katherine Sherrick Huff (1868 – 1920.)  The Huffs were married in 1907 in Decatur.

The McCoy family mausoleum is located between two gentle, winding roads in the cemetery.  Interred here eleven members of the McCoy family:  James S. McCoy (1819 - 1898), Eliza J. McCoy (1835 – 1923), Edwin J. McCoy (1857 – 1907), Hezekiah B. McCoy (1859 – 1948) and his wife, Florence A. McCoy (1863 – 1950), James J. McCoy (1862 – 1931) and his wife Millie F. McCoy (1878 – 1941), Lizzie McCoy Anderson (1862 – 1934) twin of James, and her husband, Dr. Robert S. Anderson (1861 – 1915). Also, Annie M. McCoy (1865 – 1946) and John R. McCoy (1876 – 1901).

The Miller mausoleum is built in the Gothic style and merges into a small hill.  Interred here are John R. Miller (1831 – 1908), his wife, Mary E. Brockway Miller (1826 – 1901), and their infant, (1862).

John Miller was well known in the real estate business in Decatur.

The Millikin - Aston mausoleum is built in the Italianate style with a flat roof and arched door and windows.  The side stained glass windows show the sun setting behind a hill overlooking a lake with trees. Interred here are James Millikin (1827 – 1909) and his wife Anna B. Aston Millikin (unknown – 1913).

James Millikin arrived in Decatur during the cattle drives of the 1850’s. In 1860, he started the James Millikin National Bank.  In 1901, he founded Millikin University, a Presbyterian liberal arts college.

The Mueller – Cruikshank mausoleum is located near the road and has an angled step from the street leading up the walk to the double doors. Interred here are Hieronymus Mueller (1832 – 1900), Anna Fredericka Bernhardt Mueller (1839 – 1911), and two of their nine children, Frederick Bernhardt Mueller (1862 – 1927) and Leda M. Mueller Cruikshank (1889 – 1951), along with Leda’s husband, Frank Cruikshank (1872 – 1934), and their son, Philip H. Cruikshank (1901 – 1962). William Mueller (1905 – 1918) is also interred here.

Hieronymus Mueller was born in Germany and came to the U.S. in 1850.  He founded the Mueller Company in 1857, one of the oldest industries in Decatur at the time of his death.  He was working on patents for automobile parts when he died of burns suffered from a gasoline explosion.

The Henry Mueller mausoleum was built in 1911 and boasts two short columns and a double door. Interred here are Henry Mueller (1858- 1910), his wife, Ora McClanahan Mueller (1883 – 1940), and their daughter Henrietta Virginia Mueller (1907 – 1910).

Henry Mueller was the son of Hieronymus Mueller and Anna Fredericka Bernhardt Mueller.  Henry was the vice-president of the family’s Mueller Manufacturing Company in Decatur.

The Schroeder mausoleum was built in 1902.  It includes four ornate columns, a double door, and an artistic oval stained glass window.  Interred here are Martin E. Schroeder (1831 – 1919), his wife Sarah A. Phelps Schroeder (1842 – 1919), and their son Thaddeus Schroeder (1871 – 1896).

The family mausoleum of David S. Shellabarger has four short columns and double doors in the Art Nouveau style at the entrance.  The stained glass window depicts stylized flowers. 

Interred here are David S. Shellabarger (1808 – 1884), his wife, Catherine Byerly Shellabarger, and four of their eight children; David Sterritt Shellabarger (1837 – 1913) and his wife, Anna Elizabeth Krone Shellabarger (1843 – 1928), their children Frank Shellabarger (1864 – 1866), Lucien C. Shellabarger (1868 – 1943), and Fred David Shellabarger (1870-1917), Grace S. Shellabarger Allen and her husband, James M. Allen (1873 -1957) and daughter Corinne Allen (1903 – 1919), Katherine Shellabarger Black (1846 – 1915), and Corinne S. Shellabarger Ramsey (1875 – 1959).

David Shellabarger was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Decatur in 1862.  He ran a dry goods store there until 1871.

The Vandeveer – Brownback mausoleum was constructed in 1898.  The doors have since been boarded up.  Interred here are James Hamilton Vandeveer (1824 – 1905), his wife Elizabeth Beeson Vandeveer (1827 – 1906), and their daughter, Mary Jane Vandeveer Brownback (1857 – 1898) with her husband, Joseph Marion Brownback, and their children, Alciem Vandeveer Brownback (1887 – 1961), his son Joseph Mueller Brownback (1914 – 1941), and Eloise Vandeveer Brownback (1892 – 1913).

Greenwood is a cemetery full of history, intrigue, and legend.  Located at 606 South Church Street in Decatur, Illinois, the gorgeous mausoleums here are just one of the many reasons to plan a visit and explore this amazing Illinois cemetery.

~ Joy Neighbors

Writer/Blogger

A Grave Interest

http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com/