Illinois Trail of Tears site where Cherokee buried named to National Historic Register

Several graves in a cemetery near Anna, Illinois, hold Cherokee who died during their forced migration on the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. Thanks to local efforts, the cemetery now is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Campground Cemetery itself is the site on the National Register, according to the application, with the existing Campground Cumberland Presbyterian Church, built in 1850, listed as a noncontributing element of the site.

Both are at 50 Tunnel Lane Road, about six miles east of Anna, in Union County.

The application notes graves and cemeteries typically are not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, but graves of Cherokee who died on the Trail of Tears between 1838 and 1839 are an exception, as they reveal information about a significant event that contributed broadly to American history, according to the application.

The application included results from two non-intrusive research projects conducted in 2010 by Harvey Henson. Remote-sensing investigations of vacant space in Campground Cemetery and geographic information system, or GIS, documentation and mapping of the two springs in the woods were conducted.

The original route of the Trail of Tears is marked at the Campground Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 50 Tunnel Lane Road, as seen Tuesday east of Anna, Illinois.Fred Lynch

Between 1999 and 2009, three remote techniques were used to examine an area about 98 by 115 feet within the cemetery, according to Henson’s remarks in the application.

While the exact number of graves was difficult to determine, Henson wrote, results suggested 10 to 12 people, likely children and infants, were buried there.

Though it was not possible based on imaging evidence alone to determine whether these were Cherokee, historical evidence “strongly suggests that these subsurface disturbances are Cherokee burials.”

Adjacent to the area between tombstones are two grave sites for the Hileman children, Willis and George, who died within three days of each other in January 1838, according to the application. George Hileman Sr. was a landowner whose homestead was nearby and who, according to oral histories in the region, allowed the migrating Cherokee to bury their dead next to his children.

“That most of these unmarked graves appear to be those of children and infants adds support to this interpretation,” the application stated.

This historical marker is seen Tuesday at the Campground Cumberland Presbyterian Church cemetery east of Anna, Illinois.Fred Lynch

In 2012, a survey of the site revealed two natural springs in the nearby woods. These provided water to travelers and their livestock along the road and often were linked to campground sites throughout Southern Illinois.

The two springs have not been excavated, according to the application, and whether artifacts related to the Cherokee migration are nearby hasn’t been determined.

The application is 48 pages and was submitted by Mark Wagner in November 2016. Wagner, an associate professor of archaeology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, is the director of SIU’s center for archaeological investigations.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

50 Tunnel Lane Road, Anna, Ill.