Here's the results of my visit to Union County
As I promised, I visited the Cedar Grove Cemetery on Friday morning,
December 3. It is located at Union County 450N (Sanders Road) and 600W, the
southeast corner. This is tricky because it is on the Fayette County line
and their coordinates are 400N and 550E The cemetery is very badly overgrown
and in disrepair. After my visit to the cemetery I reviewed the document
that was the source of your web site entry. I also reviewed the handwritten
notes of the persons who surveyed the cemetery to create that source
document. The GenWeb Site entry needs to be change.
The Cedar Grove Cemetery list should read as follows:
Murray, John S. Died January 2, 1880 Aged 13 years, 2days
Murray, Francis R Died April 12, 1893 Aged 21 years 11 month 23 days
Children of Peter and Sarah Murray
Thomas, Rolan W. August 29, 1827 - May 27, 1889
Thomas, E.J. September 28, 1796 - June 8, 1875
Thomas, Mahala Died July 21, 1869. Aged 63 years, 1 month, 22 days.
Wife of E. J. Thomas
Thomas, Ephraim J. Died April 29, 1836. Aged 1 month, 3 days
Thomas, S.J. Died July 6, 1842. Aged 17 years, 2 month, 2 days
Sons of E.J. and M. Thomas
Caroline M Died September 22, 1868. Aged 28 years, 1 month 28 days
Wife of M. A. Price
Thomas, Margararet A Died May 22, 1848. Age 2 years, 18 days
Daughters of E. J. and M. Thomas
Thomas, Mahala J Died June 5, 1873. Aged 20 years, 2 months, 19 days
Daughter of E. J. and M. Thomas
The significant changes to the web site as it is now posted are as follows:
1] John and Francis Murray are listed on one stone which reads "Children
of . . ." It does not indicate if Francis was a male or female
2] Francis name shows a middle initial "R" on the handwritten record
3] Mahala Thomas date of death was 1869 not 1896
4] Ephraim J and S.J should be shown as "sons of . . . .
5] No last name is shown for Caroline M., only that she is the wife of
M. A. Price
and the daughter of E.J. and M. Thomas
6] Rolan's middle initial is shown as "W" on all sources
Finally, George Rinker is not listed in this cemetery. He should be removed
from this particular listing on the Union County web site. The source
document seems to have been page "-30a-" of a Union County cemetery survey
performed in 1932 by the Benjamin Dubois Chapter of the DAR. This page lists
the eight Thomas family members and two Murrays as being buried in Cedar
Grove cemetery.
Near the bottom of the page -30a- there is a solid line of asterisks
followed by
the statement that follows:
**************************************************************
"Rinker, George. Died December 11, 1835. Could not find grave, but listed in
the 1835 Pension List for Union County."
It is obvious from the layout of the typewritten page -30a- that there are
two parts to the page: First the Cedar Grove Cemetery survey, then the
comment that they could not find George Rinker's grave anywhere in the
county. This had to be frustrating to the DAR because his Revolutionary War
pension was granted there and his will was probated there as well. The
handwritten notes of the Cedar Grove Survey make no mention what so ever of
George Rinker. It is only on Page -30a- that the name occurs, but it was not
to be connected with Cedar Grove or any other specific cemetery.