Township 3 South, Range 4 West, NE ¼ NW ¼, Section 23 A Transcript of this cemetery was done by Robert H. Foxand the Boy Scouts in 1987. Since then, upkeep has been on an occasional basis. The cemetery is fenced in to prevent livestock damage to the stones. I played in this cemetery in the 1960's, amazing how it has changed now in 2008.                                                                                 Karla Shreeman Skabialka. Taken from an earlier transcript of this cemetery, author unknown :       The cemetery sits on a hill south of the home of William Ayers, the first resident of the village of Oakdale. He entered land from the Government in 1826, but it is not knownhow long he might have lived there before buying the land. When he built his second home, he moved his log structure back and used it as a Trading Post - Lodge. In those days, Oakdale waas known as Ayers Point.

Additonal info Welcome     Please e-mail to :Wayne

WM. AYERS Born Dec. 25, 1771 Died July 5, 1865		Additional excerpts from the "History of Oakdale Township", 1969 by Lawrence Hood and Claudine Coulter       "William Ayers is known to have selected a site for his home on the high east bank of the Elkhorn Creek near where the Kaskaskia - Vincennes Trail crossed the creek. He built a log cabin in 1823 and went abouty the business of making a living. We also suppose that he must have prospered for in a few years he built a much llarger and finer house for his family and turned his first house into a trading post. Mr Ayers' second house was a frame building constructed in the southern style. It was longand had a rambling appearance. It faced the road. It was two stories high with a porch on each level, extending the length of the house. Mr T. E. McLean has a picture of this house which was acquired by the McLean family in 1891. The J. Morrison family had lived in it before this.       Abstract of Title records show that on April 20, 1826, Wm. Ayers purchased this land from the Government. Feb. 29, 1832 he deeds a portion to Wiley Ayers. June 13, 1866 Wiley sells this section to James B. McClurkin. Aug. 2, 1866, James B. McClurkin sold ¾ undivided interest in this section to John McAfee, David McClay and S. D. McClurkin."       At this writing, 2008, the Ehret family resides in this home and has for many years.

		Tabitha AYERS Wife of Wm. Ayers Born About 1771 Died June, 183_         There is also a mound of stones nearby that is said to be Tabitha Ayers' real burial site, Indian fashion, so the legend says.

James W. AYERS 25 Dec 1825 9 Feb 1873 47y 2m 5d		Elizabeth AYERS Wife of J. W. Ayers Died 11 June 1866 28y 6m 11d

Harrison ELLIS s/o A. & M. Ellis 11 June 1869 2 Aug 1877		Tabitha E. ENGLAND w/o J. B. England Died 8 Feb 1882 28y 9m 25d On the bottom of this stone : Died 4 Nov 1852      1y 16d

Robert A. PARK s/o Thomas _?_ & Ruby Park 9 Feb 1853 16 Aug 1854		I didn't find these two graves or markers : Jennie KAUFMAN d/o Daniel & Mary 31 aug 1902 22 Jun 1906 Infant KAUFMAN 1 Dec 1906 1 Jan 1907

		Noah WASHBURN Died July 25,1859 Aged 29 years ? Born May 1, 1830 ?

Mary WASHBURN w/o Noah Washburn Died 7 Feb 1883 Aged 58y 7m 14d		Tabitha (?) WASHBURN Died 25 Dec 1825 ? 29 years ?

McCLURKIN		In Memory of James McCLAY