This memorial is dedicated to the three mothers and their five children buried in the Hathaway Cemetery. Located in Section 34 of Jersey Township North, the cemetery was the final resting place of: Lydia and John McCluer; Katherine, Elizabeth, and John Arnspiger; and Margaret, Elizabeth, and George Davis.
In 2010, the stones were found stacked beneath a tree by a man who had recently purchased the land. Unsure of what to do with them, he asked the Jersey County Historical Society to take possession of the stones. Because we were unable to locate the original cemetery, the state granted us permission to create this memorial by repairing and resetting the stones.
The other three stones in this memorial (Laura Biggs, J.G. Hutchinson, and Mary Kurby) were located in Jerseyville's oldest cemetery, which was located across the street in what now is a park.
State laws enacted in 1989 protect graves, grave markers, and grave artifacts that are over 100 years old from vandalism, excavation, cultivation, removal and exposure, defacement, and destruction, even at the hands of landowners. Offenders can be charged with a misdemeanor or felony and fined up to $10,000 for each occurrence.
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