Cormack-Powers (Lost) Cemetery Staunton Township - Macoupin County IL

History of Cormack-Powers (Lost) Cemetery

Partial Listing
Donated by - Kathleen Cormack


Words in brackets [ ] or parenthesis ( )are not on stone.

Note: William G. Cormack is in the Staunton City Cemetery. His grave is marked.

History of McCormack-Powers (Lost) Cemetery

Excerpted from a 1999 "They Were in Macoupin" article written by Cindy Leonard for the Staunton Star Times,
"The person who knew of this small cemetery brought home a couple of the stones with the intent to repair them and return them to the site. In the meantime, he & his wife suffered health problems and the project was never completed. We DO know where a few of the stones are & hope to find a temporary home for them. The reason we can't return them to their original resting place is because the current owner of the property has forbidden a descendant of the Cormack family from doing so. This person is down in Texas trying to find help here in Macoupin county to preserve the final resting place of some of Staunton's earliest settlers. An excerpt from her letter in march of this year: "I must have spent two hours on the phone to various folks from Staunton to Carlinville, to Chicago and Springfield. Basically what I was told, contact the owner and hope they do the right thing." Unfortunately, when she contacted the owner, her letter was forwarded to a relative of the owner who sent a terse note telling her to stay away from the property. Just less than a month ago, I received an e-mail from her and she was about ready to give up. She felt like she was the only one who cared what happened to this little cemetery (which by the way, still shows up on topographical maps provided by the state of Illinois); it was just downright depressing. What a heartbreak for this descendant of the early settlers of Staunton."

Lewis Cormack was born in North Carolina 25 June 1769. He moved to Stewart County TN in 1803 and raised his family there until 1819, when he moved to Madison County, Illinois (near present day Troy, Illinois). According to the information in "History of Macoupin County" " In 1820, John Cormack (son of Lewis) came to what is now known as Staunton Township, followed by Lewis and William Cormack and they settled on Section 30. On 18 April 1829, Lewis Cormack was appointed judge of the election for justice of the peace and constables in Macoupin Co. In May 16, 1829, he is listed as a voter to elect three magistrates and two constables in and for said district. It is Cormacks and members of the Powers family, who are buried in this little cemetery."

"Each of the three Cormacks bought land in our township in the 1830s but no information about their descendants was available until recently when the family in Texas began their search in earnest & connected with the man who sent her pages of information about the cemetery and the stones and the family. And Staunton lost a lot of history when he and his wife passed away. They were vital members of our genealogical society until their health failed them and they could no longer actively participate in our group. They shared much of the history they had accumulated with anyone who was interested."



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