Knox County, Illinois
Genealogy & History

Thurman (aka Bennington) Cemetery, Maquon Township

[Contributed by Todd Walter in December 2001.]

See THURMAN.RTF for the complete text of Todd Walter's extensive Thurman Cemetery research.

Thurman Cemetery was originally known as Bennington Cemetery.  It is located three miles south of Maquon on Highway 97, and 100 yards west in a pasture on the northeast quarter of Section 21 in Maquon Township.  It is southwest of the former Bennington School.

Elisha Thurman laid out the Town of Bennington on April 4, 1838, with 20 lots, two streets, and two alleys, but it failed to develop.  The State Legislature subsequently vacated the plat, although it continued as the township polling place until 1858.  After that, polling was moved to Maquon.

Elisha had purchased the 160-acre farm with his brother, Mark, for $500 on October 27, 1837.  On January 12, 1880, he sold the farm to Andrew C. Housh, but set aside one acre for the cemetery.  Then on June 20, 1884, Elisha and his wife, Anna, sold the one-acre cemetery plot to the Bennington Cemetery Association for one dollar.  They had previously sold the one-acre lot the school sat on to Maquon School District No. 8, also for one dollar.

The first known burial in Bennington Cemetery was in 1836, with the last being in 1923.  It is not maintained or fenced, and cows have knocked over all of the stones.  Although one acre was set aside for the cemetery, the space actually used is only about 50 by 30 feet.