East Central Reporter

As we outlined in the first article at this link, we reached out to Shelby County Board member Carol Cole in order to get clarification pertaining to the burial of persons at the Shelby County farm site.

We asked:

During your comments, you stated it was your understanding people were buried along the fence row but you don’t know where the fence row is (was) at the farm.  How did you come to this “understanding”?  Is this understanding based on any facts or just hearsay? 

You also claimed after being questioned by the Chairman on the location of these grave sites you said “we don’t know where they are”, referring to those buried at the farm. What factual information do you have that points to any bodies being buried in any location other than the marked cemetery area? 

You also claimed you were “told” when the weather was bad they just buried them where they could find a place since the hearse could not get back to the cemetery.  Who told you that and what facts do you or the person telling you this have to support such an assertion, or is this simply hearsay?  

We received her response this morning which is found below.

“My mother told me many stories about the shelby county poor farm and this was one of them.   unfortunately she passed away in 2006.  I have no one else to corroborate with since everyone associated with the farm during the time she lived there, 1925-1940, have all passed away.   I have no facts about people being buried along the fence row just her word.  I have no reason to believe she was just “telling stories”.  There are facts about who is buried in the cemetery and proof where on the graveyard plot these 79 people are buried.   You can check those facts in the Almshouse Registry located in the courthouse county clerks office.   According to the book the last person buried at the farm in 1942 is not listed on the grave plot, all 79 people are accounted for in the cemetery. There were many more people who died while living there but were taken to other cemeteries. All those names are also listed in the Almshouse book, when they died and where they were taken for burial.”

I have asked some follow-up questions to better understand the number of unknown burial sites.  Based on the above response, it appears there is only 1 person buried at the farm in 1942 that is not listed on the grave plot.  If that is the case, it appears that location must be identified in order to ensure numerous laws pertaining to grave sites are not violated.

Under the Illinois Administrative Code, there are requirements for notification to the State Agency on such matters.  We asked Mrs. Cole the following.

“Have you notified the applicable state agency that you have reasonable grounds to believe there are unregistered graves or unmarked burial sites on County Property as outlined in the Illinois Administrative Code Section 4170.200(b)?”

We will update you with a new article as more information is provided.