South Fork Township Cemeteries

Achenbach Cemetery (aka German Lutheran or Southfork Cemetery)

Located near Bulpitt in South Fork Township of Christian County in Illinois, these grounds were once the location of a German Lutheran Church. All that remains on this well tended lot is the pioneer cemetery. "It is tradition that adults be buried on the East side and children on the West. That is why there is such a separation between the graves. Many of these families went on to join the Lutheran churches in Pana and other members of the families are buried elsewhere. Stones found in the cemetery are typical for German cemeteries - very large and ornate." (A special thanks to Cheryl Stogdell for this narration and other valuable details about this cemetery's history)

OK, so I'm a cemetery geek.  I was thrilled to see the new fence and gate in 2009!

Bethany Cemetery

Bethany Cemetery is one of two graveyards located on the SangChris Lake property in South Fork Township of Christian County, Illinois. When the lake was built, the stones were mapped and removed. After the ground was built up, the stones were put back in their original places. This cemetery is well kept and still active.

Finley Cemetery

Tombstone photos and burial information can be found at US Cemetery Project. 

Finley Cemetery is one of two graveyards located on the SangChris Lake property in South Fork Township of Christian County, Illinois. When the lake was built, the stones were mapped and removed.  After the ground was built up, the stones were put back in their original places. Unlike it's counterpart, this cemetery has been abandoned and is nearly inaccessible. In April 2009, a small group from CCGS fought our way through the brush and undergrowth to find the cemetery and photograph the stones. Without the use of GPS, we would have failed in even locating it. While the information on some stones can be read, we were unable to get to others to read them. Still others were rendered unreadable when a recovery attempt, of sandblasting the stones to clean them, erased the writing almost completely.

Tovey Cemetery

This cemetery is part of our Gravestone Photo Project.

Once located in the yard of a residence in South Fork Township in Christian County of Illinois, this property is now owned by the local municipality. Only 2 stones still stand in the small inactive cemetery.

Ralston Cemetery

Ralston Cemetery is all that remains of some of Christian County's earliest history. In 1992, we find four stones are all that remain. It is very overgrown and hard to see even though the field goes right beside it. The South Fork Predestinarian Baptist Church was located west of the cemetery. The Christian County Genealogy Society has the minutes of this church. In 1987 Nelvin and Ida Sloman transcribed them for ease in using them as a genealogy tool.