Mt. Tabor Cemetery
Pleasant Grove Twp,
Coles Co, IL
Mt. Tabor Cemetery
Pleasant Grove Twp,
Coles Co, IL
Illinois Genealogy Trails is pleased to be able to present this history and compilation of Mt. Tabor Cemetery.
It was compiled by William Harrison and reflects Erik Conard's many years of research. We extend our thanks to
them for sharing their work with everyone. Other thanks go to Cathy Babbs for her picture of the church and the
brief history which follows. A special thanks goes to Erik Conard, who was the driving force for getting this project
coordinated and online.
History of Mt. Tabor Church & Cemetery
[Information about the history of the Mt. Tabor Church and Cemetery was compiled and presented
at a public meeting of the Coles County Historical Society in September, 1999 by Mrs. Cathy Babbs, who is a member
of the Board of Directors of the Mt Tabor Church and Cemetery. She has given permission for portions of that information
to accompany this compilation of the persons who are buried in the Mt Tabor Cemetery.]
The Mt. Tabor Church was organized in 1858, and the last Sunday School classes were held in 1967. The land that
the Mt Tabor Church and Cemetery sets on is located in the SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 4, Township 11 North,
Range 9 East of the 3rd PM, and is located on the Lincoln Highway, about 4 miles south of Charleston, Coles Co,
IL. This tract was originally entered from the government by Charles Erwin on June 20, 1837, and Charles' wife
and son were listed as two of the five founding members of the Church. The property was deeded to the Trustees
of the Methodist Episcopal Church on March 16, 1891 "to be used as a cemetery and to erect a church building".
At different times through the years, the Cemetery has been called the SHAVER, SHAFER, and SHAFFER Cemetery as
well as the INDIAN CREEK CEMETERY.
The earliest UNMARKED burial is that of 2-day old twin Mary Ann Replogle on 28-Oct-1846.
The earliest MARKED burial is that of two-year old James W. Johns who died
on 28-Sep-1847
Picture below contributed by Bill Harrison
(Please note that it is believed that there are errors on the marker.
In the 1879 "History of Coles Co, IL" on page 616, in the Johns family sketch, it states that James was
born on Jan 27, 1844 and died Sept 28,1846.
This would yield an age at death of 2 yrs, 8 mo and 1 day. )
Questions about the Church and its history or activities can be sent to Cathy Babbs (Src #125)
Contributions of information can be sent to the IL Trails Coles County Host, Kim Torp
There is a lot of information to present, so to decrease download times, I have broken down the files into the following categories.
Note: Women are listed by their maiden names
Return to the Main Index Page for Coles County