My 2nd great-grandmother, Margaret McCarty Light, was born 16 February 1866 to James S. McCarty (1825-1902) and Nancy Jane Hull McCarty (1832-1908).
James and Nancy are buried in Morris Chapel Cemetery in Iroquois County, Illinois.
I have heard and read a story that Margaret was born in a house that once stood where Morris Chapel Cemetery is now. For instance, I have a hand-written note by my grandmother which says the following:
Info from Morris Chapel Cemetery as of 10/6/1996 Church was located across the road to the east Where cemetery is now -- there was a house where Margaret McCarty Light was born.
This note was written when my great-grandmother, Clara Light Schlotman (1905-2001) was still living. I suspect the location information came from her, and it could be that my memory of this information came from her directly. She was the youngest child of Margaret McCarty Light, and so would have gotten this information from her mother.
According to Find-a-Grave memorials, there are burials in Morris Chapel Cemetery that are from before 1866. This might be explained by the following information found on the Find-a-Grave memorial for Sarah Myers Murray (1805-1840):
...Sarah was originally buried at Courtright Cemetery in Iroquois County, Illinois. Around 1870 she was reburied in Morris Chapel Cemetery at Donovan, Illinois. (From Find-a-Grave member M. Richards)
There are two possibilities…
- Grandma Schlotman was correct — her mother, Margaret McCarty Light was born in 1866 in a house which once stood at the current location of Morris Chapel Cemetery in Iroquois County, Illinois. The house was torn down at some point before 1870 and burials took place at the site from that point on. Some burials were of remains previously buried at other locations, and so their death date, which predates Margaret’s 1866 birth, doesn’t necessarily conflict with the house location story.
- Grandma Schlotman was incorrect — the house was near to but not at the current location of the Morris Chapel Cemetery. I know that the McCartys later lived across the state line and to the north of the cemetery, about one mile away. This was the location of a house that is no longer standing that James and Nancy McCarty lived in in their final years. But, we know that Margaret was not born there, as she was born in Illinois.
The solution to this, if there is one, is to look at land records, if they still exist. This would probably require on-site research in Iroquois County, as online searches have yielded no results.
The note included these names and dates of family members buried at Morris Chapel Cemetery. I have linked them to Find-A-Grave memorials:
John R. McCarty (1854-1919) Christia A., his wife (1857-1882) Melissa A., his wife (1858-1928) Della Murray Anderson (8/22/1880-8/6/1974) Justus E. Anderson (9/1/1877-7/11/1926) William T. McCarty (12/13/1852-5/26/1919) Eliza E. McCarty (1/9/1857-8/14/1942) Jacob H. Murray (1848-1933) Sarah C. Murray (Kate) (1857-1939) Minnie Murray (1/13/1883-12/29-1955) Blanche Murray (6/28/1887-3/17/1910) James S. Murray (12/26/1878-3/25/1966) (Actually buried at Prairie Dell) Luke McCarty (1867-1920) James S. McCarty (1825-1902) Nancy Jane Hull McCarty, his wife (1832-1908) Elwood Priest (1866-1930) Ella Priest (1871-1948) F. Ivan McCarty (1891-1969) Mildred McCarty (1894-1970) John R. McCarty (4/12/1928-11/7/1990) Patricia "Pat" McCarty (12/2/1934-)