WPA CEMETERY RECORDS
LUMPKIN CEMETERY
Bird Township 31-10-8
6 Mi. West & 1 1/2 Mi. South of Carlinville
Macoupin County, llIinois

WPA workers compiled the indexes during the Depression Era (about 1939-1940).

The Lumpkin Cemetery is a small burial grounds which was laid out by Mr. John Lumpkin on his farm over a hundred years ago as the final resting place of his small daughter. Later the neighbors began using the cemetery and it became a public burying grounds. This cemetery is referred to as the Lumpkin and Reineke Cemetery because it has benefited these families most. It is located on the Eltinger-Ogg land which is now occupied by Orin Wyzard.

Land records of Macoupin County have been searched for a deed to the cemetery but none has been found. There is no exception made to the cemetery in the transfers of the land on which the cemetery is located.

The only description that we can give of the Lumpkin Cemetery is that made by the fieldmen of the cemetery (using the fence posts which are still standing as starting points) and could read as follows:

A small plot of ground (1/15 of an acre) out of the W. 1/2 of the SW. 1/4 of the NW. 1/4 of Section 31, T. 10 N. R. 8, West of the Third Principal Meridian and measures: Commencing at the SE. corner of the Lumpkin Cemetery and running thence North 65 feet; thence West 43 feet; thence South 65 feet; thence East 43 feet to the
place of beginning, situated in the County of Macoupin and State of Illinois.

The Lumpkin Cemetery is not incorporated and does not have any trustees.

The Lumpkin Cemetery has never had a caretaker. Relatives and friends of the deceased took care of the graves but that has been many years ago.

The Lumpkin Cemetery is in very poor condition and has practically been abandoned. 12 graves can be distinguished by mounds and markers but there are supposed to be more. All the tombstones are lying on the ground, being broken by the livestock which is free to graze over the burial grounds. The fence is all down and rusted away but the old posts are still standing. There is no driveway to or in the cemetery. This cemetery sets on a hill giving it good drainage.

To reach the Lumpkin Cemetery one travels 8 miles West of Carlinville on Route #108, then 1 1/2 mile South on an oiled road to old John Lumpkin farm, now occupied by Orin Wyzard. There one gains permission to cross the pasture about 675 feet West of the road to the cemetery.

There are no veterans buried in the Lumpkin Cemetery.

The oldest grave in the Lumpkin Cemetery that we can locate by the dates on the markers is that of "INFANT Dau. of J. & E. Lumpkin" who died on Feb. 17, 1840.

The other markers in the cemetery read:

John Lumpkin-Born 1808 - Died Feb. 15, 1870.
Emily A. Wife of J. L. Lumpkin - Born July 23, 1813.

Joseph Gracey-Died June 12, 1865 - Aged 72 yrs. 2 Mo. 13 Da.
Elizabeth, Wife of J. Gracey - Died March 23, 1873 - Aged 73 Yrs. 1 Mo. 29 Da.

Pascal L., Son of Wm. D. & Lucy Reader-Born Jan. 24, 1834 - Died Sept. 10, 1882

Lois Reineke, Dau. of F. & M. A. Rieneke-Died Aug. 8, 1854 - Aged 2 Mo. 26 Da.
Louis P. Reineke, Son of F. & M. A. Rieneke - Died Oct. 5, 1854 - Aged 2 Yrs. 11 Mo.
Lods Rieneke - Son Nov. 12, 1853 - Died Aug. 8, 1854
Walter O. Reineke - Born July 21, 1861 - Died Oct. 1, 1861
Nora M. Dau. of F. & M. A. Reineke - Born Apr. 25, 1863 - Died Aug. 31, 1863

HISTORY

JOHN LUMPKIN, the original owner and donor of the land on which the Lumpkin Cemetery is located was born in Kings & Queens County, Virginia in 1808. In 1815, the family moved to Kentucky and settled in Jefferson County and later moved to Davis County. There John Lumpkin received his early education and helped with the work on the farm and took up the trade of a mason.

John Lumpkin was married to Miss Emily A. Rafferty, a native of Kentucky and to them two children were born; the daughter having died in infantcy and a son, James W. who became the publisher of the "Macoupin County Enquirer"

In 1835, John Lumpkin and his wife came to Illinois by way of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to St. Louis and from there they journeyed to Illinois with an ox team arriving in Macoupin County and settling in Bird Township. He had only 50 Cents in his pocket but he managed to purchase a tract of wild prairie land on time. He
had a sturdy self-reliant spirit and was well fitted to cope with the trials of pioneer life. He at once erected a log cabin for shelter at the edge of a small timber where they could be protected against the wind and storm. As soon as his dwelling was completed he commenced to improve his land, doing all of his farm work and marketing with his ox team. He kept buying additional land until he became a large land owner and stock raiser. Whenever he had the opportunity he followed his trade as mason. He laid the foundation and assisted in building the first brick Court House at Carlinville which stood in the square. He also erected other brick buildings in the county.

Mr. Lumpkin loved hunting, especially fox hunting. He owned and raised a number of Fox-hounds which he took hunting 2 or 3 times each year. He also owned fine horses.

The Lumpkin family were members of the Shiloh Baptist Church of which he was a deacon for many years.

Mr. Lumpkin continued to make his home on his farm until the time of his death in 1870 when be was quietly laid away in the Lumpkin Cemetery.