Meinhard Family Cemetary

Some History of the Meinhard Family Cemetery Property at Troy Grove, Illinois

The 2-1/3 acre property on which the cemetery is located is in the NE corner of the SE1/4 of section 26 of Troy Grove Township. Within that property there are two separate burial grounds – the Welch Cemetery that is 2 rods (33 feet) square and not fenced and the adjacent Meinhard Family Cemetery of about the same size which has a steel fence and gate, The gate is within a steel arch with the name M Meinhard spelled out in steel letters.

According to Government Land Office records, the south half of the southeast quarter of section 26 was originally entered by Zacceus Welch with patent deeds issued to him on 1 August 1838.

The Welch family comprised some of the earliest settlers in La Salle County which was formed in 1831. The group that arrived in 1834 included Zacceus Welch and the family of his brother Thomas Welch. They originated in Maine but had lived in Pennsylvania and Ohio before moving to Illinois. Thomas Welch had several grown children when they arrived in Illinois and a second younger wife name Bethiah. Thomas and Zacceus Welch jointly entered some land in LaSalle County and also entered some land separately. Zacceus died in 1838 and his brother Thomas was the administrator of his estate and, apparently, his only heir since he ended up in possession of all of the land. In 1842 Thomas sold the south half of the SE1/4 of section 26 to his daughter Rebecca Welch – but when she later married a Fulton she sold the land back to her father. In 1854 he sold it to Michael Meinhard.

Sometime before 1838 when Zacceus Welch still owned the land, a burial ground was set aside for the Welch family. Undoubtedly, Zacceus himself was buried there when he died in 1838. There were very few of the stones that were still readable the first time I visited that site. One that was readable was for Elizabeth, wife of William Winterton, who was born in 1811 and died July 26, 1838. Elizabeth was one of the daughters of Thomas Welch. When Thomas sold the land to Michael Meinhard in 1854 the deed specified that the 2 rod square burial ground was to be reserved for use of the heirs of Thomas Welch. Thomas had bought 5 lots in the village of Homer (which was later incorporated as Troy Grove) and moved there in 1848. When he died on October 27, 1861, he was also buried in the Welch Cemetery on the property then owned by Michael Meinhard. His stone is one that was still readable and shows that he was born August 27 1776.

The will of Thomas Welch listed six living children as well as his wife, Bethiah. As far as I can tell, all of them later left the area. However, all of their descendants still have the same legal right of access and use of the 2-1/3 acres as the descendants of Michael Meinhard and still have the right to use the Welch burial ground on that property.

The other children of Michael Meinhard other than Frederick remained in that area and their descendants also retain the same rights of access to the 2-1/3 acres and use of the Meinhard Cemetery. The ones who remained in Illinois included Henry, Adolph, Eberhard, Anna (Grob) and Wilhelmina (Roth).

Note that the legally defined access to the property according to the deed was to be from the south via a “public road leading under the railroad bridge along Vermilion Creek.” Since no such road exists any longer the only practical access is from the north through private farm property. But there is no defined legal access that way – so it is important to remain on good terms with the farm owner.

George J. Farris

June 19, 2020