Boucher Cemetery in Murphysboro, IL
Many of my Grandpa’s people are buried in Boucher Cemetery in Murphysboro, Illinois. Among them are Grandma Phoebe – Grandpa’s mother – and her parents, Scott and Margaret Douglas. Several siblings and many other Raines family connections were laid to rest at Boucher Cemetery. While it isn’t really “the family cemetery”, I have always felt as though it should be.
When I was a teenager, Grandpa would tell me that it would someday be my job to take care of Grandpa Douglas, and Phoebe … he was always most concerned about those two. He worried that nobody would care for the graves when he was gone. He made my mom promise to place flags and flowers on the graves once he was gone. He also made my uncles promise to resent Grandpa Douglas’ headstone … it has long been sunk into the earth on the right side.
At some point last summer, my uncles decided that there needed to be a new sign at Boucher Cemetery. I’m not sure how it all came about, but I’m glad it did.
The old sign has certainly seen better days, but it’s still there … propped up against a tree. I think it pulled away from the ground in a storm at some point, but we just leave it there, holding that old tree up!
I was really happy to see the Uncles, my cousin-in-law and a few friends help put the new sign up. It’s definitely Raines handy work! My Uncle Gary Raines is the one with his back to you. In fact, almost every photo I took, he had is back to me! I opted to take a few photos of his backside for posterity, too! My Uncle David Raines is the on the backside of the sign. These men are definitely brothers … Gary is the older of the two … and they’re both ornery just like their daddy!
Ornery or not, what these men have done for this cemetery would mean the world to Grandpa. The whole process still seems daunting, but it all came together perfectly. The stone sign came from a local business … and these men did all of the concrete work. Just amazing to me.
Incidentally, this was the only photo of Uncle Gary that didn’t include his back pockets! He’s always asking me where all these photos I take end up … now he knows 🙂
This is Uncle David in full working mode. Everything Gary did, David would double check and fix 🙂 Remember, I said they were ornery.
The finished sign is beautify, and won’t likely be blown over in a storm anytime soon!
A close up …
I don’t know a lot about the history of the cemetery, or where the Boucher name entered the picture … or how the Boucher family is even connected. We’ve been on the hunt for information … the cemetery isn’t in the care of a church anymore … it just kind of exists and is cared for by those with family buried there.
Uncle Gary was able to unearth a plat map from about 1910 …
Notice the Boucher name isn’t on here. It’s Epworth Church and Cemetery. It’s the right map, though … I checked some of the names on the map against those buried in the cemetery. By the time my Grandma Douglas died in 1920, people were calling this Boucher Chapel Cemetery.
I’d say we have a bit of a mystery …
Regardless of the name, it’s a beautiful setting for those “living” there now, and I’m certainly grateful for these men for setting a new sign … and grateful for the young man who maintains the grounds. He’ll remain nameless for now, but he’s following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who also cared for this little plot of land.
Hello,
My name is David. I really enjoyed this article. The Boucher Family settled in this area in the late 1800’s. They came from Somerset, PA. The new sign is wonderful, I live just down the road. I would love to speak with you in private about the cemetery and its heritage.
Thank you
My great grandmother, Eva Clough Jones, is buried in this cemetery (she passed away in 1922) and perhaps her husband, Bedney B. Jones–though his death certificate just says that he was buried in Murphysboro. Her brother, John Clough, is also buried there. I’m in Texas, and have been trying to find out if her grave is marked. Thus far, no luck trying to find out from the young man who keeps the grass mowed or from the FindAGrave photographer, but I know she is there! What a wonderful find your article is to me! To at least see the cemetery is wonderful!
I’m sitting inside the Epworth Methodist Church right now. I found one and only one historical society article. In 1906, a coal company deeded land to the church which was located next to the cemetery. The building was moved on logs down the road to the new location.
We bought the church and have yet to find any more records. I did find a couple Sunday school photos and that’s it
I haven’t spent too much time looking in recent years, but, like you, didn’t have a lot of luck. It’s possible the Jackson County Historical Society would have something… I haven’t checked there.
I have been working with Jackson County Historical Society on several things. They don’t have a lot about this cemetery, but they have been helpful with what they do have. They are sending me the readings on the list of those buried in the cemetery (compiled some time ago) as well as the schematics. I have found that some things just disappear into the past. Sometimes, some little thing comes along to bring them back to us, but often they are gone forever.
That’s really interesting. I had wondered if it had been a Methodist Church, due to the Epworth name (Epworth in England was the birthplace of the Wesleys, founders of the Methodist denomination.) My great grandmother’s death certificate actually says that she was buried in Boucher Chapel, and someone told me that it used to be Epworth Chapel Cemetery, then the name was changed to Boucher Cemetery.
Back when we set the sign, we dug around trying to find more information and didn’t have much luck. I’ll be curious to see what the historical society has. Who’s your great-grandma? We related to a lot of the folks buried there.
Her name was Eva Clough Jones (long version Margaret Evaline Clough Jones). Her brother, John Clough, is buried there, as are some other descendants of the Clough family, all with grave stones. However, none have been found for Eva. Her death certificate says “Mrs. B.B Jones” but hopefully they wouldn’t put that on her gravestone too! Her mother is supposedly buried there, her name was Mary Ellen Baker Clough, then she remarried and added Lindsey. However, she also does not have any kind of grave marker. There is a family living next door to the cemetery who keeps the grass mowed, etc. I tracked them down through a local funeral home and they were going to check again for me for any knocked over grave markers, but they never called me back. I’ll be happy to share whatever I get from the Historical Society.
We just moved to West Harrison Road and I’ve been intending to go to walk around Boucher Cemetery. I googled to be sure it was a public property and not privately owned. Glad to find this information and to see the cemetery is on tourism sites and open to the public. I’ll take that walk soon. The sign is lovely!