FADED INTO the MISTS of TIME

Trotter Cemetery
Wayne County, IL

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Trotter Cemetery Cleanup
Fall, 2008

Early 2008: Mrs. Laurie Selpien works to organize this effort, and coordinate with the landowner, Nick Feather for permission to proceed with the cleanup.

Friday, October 31, 2008, Marylea Gazette, Heather & Laurie Selpien, and Michael Von Gebel, commenced removal of some of the larger debris and cleared a path into the old Trotter Cemetery. 

Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008, everyone met at JT’s a local restaurant in Wayne City, IL, where they were treated to breakfast by Michael Von Gebel.

A full day’s work was done by all, clearing out fallen tree limbs, cutting out the dense under growth.  A diligent search was made for any additional tombstones, that may have fallen and become buried, however no additional stones were located. 

With one exception all the stones were broken in half, and lying on the ground. The tombstones were cleaned, straightened, and the stones and their tops were temporarily put together and photographed looking much like they would have over 100 years ago. After the pictures were taken, the unsecured tops were placed beside the bottom half of their perspective tombstone.

The group consisted of:

Mrs. Betty Beeson, Illinois

Marylea Gazette, Arkansas

Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Hughes, Utah

Mrs. Laurie Selpien and daughter, Heather Selpien, Illinois

Michael J. Von Gebel, Missouri

Mrs. Bettie Wheat, Illinois

Special thanks to Nick Feather for allowing us access to his property and to everyone who participated in the clean up, it was a great time to visit, work, and preserve part of Wayne County history. The cemetery was left in better shape than it was found (to view pictures prior to the cleanup go to the Wayne Co. Cemeteries tab on Faded's homepage  select Trotter from the drop down menu ).