With winter behind us, beautiful spring weather provided the opportunity for two significant community-wide cemetery clean-ups. Thanks to the help of some seventy volunteers, including individuals, entire families, and members of religious, fraternal, and service organizations, much was accomplished with the first clean-up on April 29th. Then, a second clean-up, on May 20th, put finishing touches on the grounds of our historic cemetery in time to place flags at veterans’ gravesites prior to the Memorial Day weekend. In between, crews from the City of Jacksonville mowed paths and open areas, leaving the cemetery looking better than it has in a long time!
On May 10th, FOJHC volunteers completed a project our late founder, Dirk Siedlecki, had been working to accomplish for many months through delays due to COVID-19 and wildfire smoke—helping Mary Spangler, a descendant of one of Jacksonville’s earliest (1852) pioneers, place a marker at the gravesite of her great-great-grandmother, Cynthia Pribble Dairy.
Not long after Cynthia and her husband, Philip, arrived in Jacksonville with their three young children, Philip ran a boarding house, and the Jacksonville town plat showed the seasonal creek through town as Dairy (with an “r”) Creek. Sadly, the arduous journey on horseback, and an accident along the way, had weakened Cynthia considerably and she died in 1853. Her remains were eventually moved from the town burial grounds to the new Jacksonville Cemetery after it opened in 1859, and she now resides there, with her new marker, in City section, block 187.
A subsequent map from 1871, for reasons unknown, is said to clearly show the “r” in Dairy having been changed to an “s”, forming what has been referred to ever since as Daisy Creek.
History Saturday in the Cemetery, Saturday, July 8, 10-11:30am, Marker Symbolism: What is that…and what does it mean?—No advance registration is required. May not be suitable for the very young. Please dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Meet at the Sexton’s Tool House, top of Cemetery Road near the flagpole. Parking available within the cemetery grounds. There is no fee for the tours however, donations are greatly appreciated and help support our educational programs and restoration and preservation work within the cemetery.
Marker Cleaning Workshop, Saturday, July 15, 9am-noon—Please join us and learn to safely clean and help preserve the many grave markers in our cemetery that are covered in moss, lichen, and dirt and have become difficult to read. This is a hands-on workshop, so dress accordingly. Bring a stool to sit on, sunscreen and a hat. Meet at the Sexton’s Tool House, top of Cemetery Road near the flagpole, for detailed instructions and to pick up cleaning tools and supplies. Parking within the cemetery grounds.