Winnebago Cemetery: Where many veterans were laid to rest

The veterans memorial statue depicts a Union Infantryman at rest, and has the symbol of the G.A.R. on one of its faces, and its dedication date, 1899, on another.

The Winnebago Cemetery originally surrounded the Old Stone Church, a congregational church dedicated in 1855 after the congregation had been organized in 1846 by later veteran D.W. Grippen, Luther Miller, and Reverend James Hodges.

Many members of the church took an active part in the Underground Railroad helping escaped slaves to Canada. In 1863 the Cemetery Association was formed. Then in 1882 the church was torn down because it had become unsafe and the congregation moved to their new church, currently the Winnebago United Methodist Church on Elida.

After the church was demolished the cemetery expanded into the area where the church once stood, taking up the land it does as of this page’s creation in 2021.

The veterans memorial statue depicts a Union Infantryman at rest, and has the symbol of the G.A.R. on one of its faces, and its dedication date, 1899, on another. The dedication ceremony was attended by many people from the local area as well as Illinois leaders such as Congressman Robert Hitt.

In 1986 the monument was defaced by vandals, one hand and the soldier’s rifle were broken. The cemetery caretaker at the time, Dave Sittion (a veteran now buried in the cemetery) buried them below the statue with the reverence they deserved. The monument was then repaired a few years later in time for its rededication ceremony in 1999.

If you have any information to add or subtract please contact James (J.J.) Huggins at : [email protected]

Section 1:

Samuel J. Two, Samuel Two, Joseph A. Copeland, Albert M. Hurwitch, George Tucker

Section 2:

Dudley R. McDonald, Frank E. McDonald, Wayne M. Wysong, John A. Coffin, Paul A. Johnson, Leroy Pederson, Robert W. Colborn, Richard A. Meyer, Cosmo Matranga

Potter’s Field:

Frank M. Shinn 

Section 3:

Stanley L. Meyers, Maurice J. Gambrel, Fred C. Sauberlich, Flagpole, In memory of Charles R. Seyler (Section 4), James F. Spain, John J. Young Jr., Donald S. Hubbartt, Edward L. Waufle, Roy H. Johnson, Bertis G. Carey, Thomas H. Briggs, Abel L. Marchant, Donald B. Smith, Milo R. Faulkner, Walter A. Straw

Section 4:

Demus W. Grippen, Peter MacNaughton, John F. Palmer, Oscar L. Davis, Albert Z. Posson, Leon G. Tritle, Artemus C. Thorne, Charles A. Thorne, Henry W. Dever, Jack L. Thorne, Norton W. Goodrich, Gary A. Barton, William H. Hansel, James A. Elliott, Peter Seal, Benjamin F. Whitcher, Jesse J. Kuntzelman, Charles R. Seyler, Billy R. Thomas, James W. Brown, Dale F. Straley, Alfred S. Brown, David L. Sitton, Robert B. Thomas, John L. Thomas Sr., Warren L. Falconer, Richard E. Owens Sr., George W. Hoffman, Joseph B. Hoffman

Arnold T. Dunbar, Wyllys J. Gross, Franklin R. Winters

Section 5:

Thel V. Frost, Clifford L. Frey, Leo E. Weires, Harold B. Dickens Sr., Harold B. Dickens Jr., John T. Palco, Thomas E. Erb, Ralph L. Peterson, Donald R. Higgins, Marvin L. DeGarmo, George W. Bell, Deryl L. Krause, Arnold W. Krause, Dale R. Drexler, Thomas J. Wilcox, Harold G. Wakeley, James Braithwaite, William R. Snyder, Richard F. Coffell Sr., Ernest E. Dove, John H. Allabaugh, Everett W. Allabaugh, William C. DeVoe, Clarence Gruhlke

Section 6:

John Elliott, Henry W. Alworth, Richmond L. Hudson, Isaac Mandeville, William H. Mandeville, George Hollenbeck, Byron W. Briggs, George D. Taylor, Stephen G. Cox, J. Clark Mellen, Samuel Vanston, Stanley R. Coolidge, Alfred G. Swan, Howard L. Falconer, Ernest J. Leake, Russel G. Stringer

Section 7:

Benjamin Vastine, S. Russel Merryfield, Frank E. Ollman, Peter H. Brayton, Donald J. Froning, Fred E. Johnson, George Nelson, Charles E. Tilton, Earl E. Bomgarden, Nels E. Nelson, Bernard C. “Bud” Oakes, Gerald J. Weerda, Kenneth H. Wright, James D. Hult, Jerry L. Hult, Robert B. Franklin, William Prescott, Smith Birkitt, Richard T. James, Carl J. Sauberlich, Harry C. Hunter Sr., Frank Nevens, David E. Nevens, John W. Mitchell, Cyrus A. Miller

Section 8:

Dr. Robert M. Barrick, ? Barker, Aaron M. Bachman, John Schoonmaker, Samuel E. Patrick, Lester W. Davis, James W. Shelden Sr., Walter W. Shelden, Robert V. Kissack, James W. McCartney, Lee E. Fulrath, Reuben J. Schenck, William D. Mason, Martin D. Leonard, Maynard B. Anthony, Thomas F. Smith, George H. Wibben, Harrison G. Mason, Clark M. Greenlee, Arthur D. Walker, Rev. William O. Risinger, James R. Swanson, John H. Morris,

Vernon L. Bowman, Maurice D. Randerson, John R. Watersteet, James M. Malone, Fred J. Waterstreet, Ernest Swanson

Section 9:

Edward C. Altendorf, Paul F. Lineback, Relton L. Forrester, Kenneth R. Roush, Harry Jacobsen, Lloyd S. Taylor, Wayne E. Jones, Frederick C. Runyard, Richard J. Runyard, Charles D. Egbert I, Charles J. Meehan, Ernest Buse, Ivan M. Runyard

Section 10:

Donald W. Runyard, Richard H. Michaelsen, L.V. Wheeler, Ralph L. Lightner, Franklin F. McCray, Gordon M. Lenox Sr, Clarence Clark Sr., Hugh E. Hankins, Alfred B. Two, Richard G. Westphal, R. Charles Cunningham, Albert A. Davis, Lowell D. “Pete” Reed Harry F. Sandager, George A. Hanson

Section 11:

George R. DeVoe, George W. Weaver, George H. Redfearn, Robert O. Ulvog, Travis D. Wigton, Paul W. Overmier, Richard J. Seibold, Ralph A. Johnson, Adam E. Eberley, Job Moore, John W. Robbins, Melvin M. Strang