Menard County (IL) cemeteries

[Joe Di Cola]

Ann Rutledge, born January 7, 1813 near Henderson, KY, died age 22 (probably of typhoid fever) August 25, 1835 on the Sand Ridge farm owned by the absent John McNamar. She was buried at Old Concord Burial Ground, two miles southwest of the McNamar farm. She was "exhumed" May 15, 1890 and "reinterred" in Oakland Cemetery, Petersburg, IL.

So, what was found? No trace of a body and according to McGrady's daughter there were 4 pearl buttons from the dress in which Ann was buried. Others reported that hair, buttons buckles, and a few bones were found along with casket handles and a nameplate (Ann's coffin probably did not have either of the latter two). The last so-called witness reported the presence of and thigh and humerus and hair when he was interviewed in 1958, a year before he died.
Soil sample tests at the original grave site show a high pH (7.6) indicating soil that has good microorganism activity to decompose organic matter including, over time, mineral matter (e.g., bones), with hair taking the longest to decompose. Due to their decomposition, there was nothing of Ann to remove and, as far as I am concerned, her "remains" still are part of the soil at Old Concord Cemetery.