English Ridge Cemetery
Aka Mackey Cemetery
Marshall Township, Richland County, Wisconsin
USA
Tales The Tombstones Tell - Republican Observer - May 2, 1957
English Ridge
Cemetery
Just across the highway from the English Ridge
church and school house, is the English Ridge cemetery, where rest the
pioneers of that section of the town of Marshall.
English Ridge is so named because the early settlers
of that area came from England back in the days of long ago. Some of
the early comers were the Grahams, Bannisters, Moons and Harris. Many
of these families are buried in this cemetery and other familiar names
which appear upon the stones are Richards, Davis, Dillingham, Minett,
Cooper, Hewitt, Carlton, Reed, Unbehaun, Malpress, Hilleshiem, McCann,
Richardson, Lowry.
Among the early settlers in that area were William
Minett and John Graham, both natives of England who came to Richland
county in 1853. They came from Rock county where they took up
settlement earlier. Both entered land on Horse Creek. They or members
of their families are buried in the English Ridge cemetery as is Thomas
Graham. Thomas, according to his tombstone, was born in England and
where in 1851 he was married to Elizabeth Malpress. They came to
America the same year and to Richland county in 1854.
William Minett, a native of Maves, England, was born
April 11, 1828 and at the age of 21 he came to America and from
Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1853 to Richland county. In 1852 he was
married to Mary A. Graham and she died in 1863, leaving six children.
He was again married in 1864 to Maria Moon, the widow of Albert
Carlton, and they became the parents of six children. She died in 1903.
On her tombstone is this verse:
O' Mother,
first to leave our band,
Life's song as
yet unsung,
While gray
hair gather on our brows
Thou art
forever young,
A son, Irvin, who died December 11, 1902, at the age
of 31, has his name upon the tombstone with the note that he is buried
at Osage, Iowa.
Joseph Moon, another Englishman, lived to a ripe old
age. He was born in May, 1812, in Cambridgeshire. He married Sara
Richards, also a native of England. They sailed for America in 1851 and
it took them six weeks to cross the ocean. They lived in New York for a
time and then set out for Wisconsin, taking up their home in Walworth
county, remaining until 1855, when they came to Richland county. They
were the parents of nine children, one of whom, Maria, became the wife
of William Minett. Mrs. Moon died in June, 1880. Mr. Moon passed on
April 10, 1893, at the age of 80 years.
William Richards, born in England in 1816, was
another of the pioneers of English Ridge. His wife, was also born in
England, the date of her birth being July 11, 1823. Her maiden name was
Mary Minett and their marriage took place January 19, 1846. They came
to America in 1850 and to Richland county in 1855. Like the others who
came in 1855, they built and lived for a few years in a log house,
later building frame homes. On the monument for Mr. Richards is a verse
which reads:
A loved one
has gone from out circle,
On earth we
will meet him no more,
He has gone to
his home in Heaven
And all his
afflictions are o'er.
Mr. Richards died November 2, 1873, aged 62
years. His wife Mary, died March 10, 1898, and on her gravestone it
says:
Weep not for
me my children dear,
I am not dead
but sleeping here.
I was not
yours but Christ's alone,
He loved me
best and took me home.
Thomas Parsons, born in London, England, May 12,
1812, came to America in 1841, located in Canada, where in 1843 he
married Mary Harris.
John Harris, his wife Mary, and their son William,
are buried in this cemetery. Mr. Harris, so the tombstone says, died
February 17, 1889, at the age of 94 years, four months and 15 days. His
wife died the year previous, March 25, 1888, aged 93 years, 10 months
and six days. They lived to an honored old age. Their son, William,
noted above, died January 9, 1862, at the age of 22. Mr. Harris was a
Civil War veteran, a member of Co. F 15th New York Cavalry. Other
members of the Harris family are buried there. On a broken stone all
that can be read is this:
"Adopted son
of J. and E. Harris, died June 26, 1878."
Another of the Harris family is Samuel Harris, who
was born in Canada February 16, 1844, coming here in 1855. He married
Laura Gorsuch in 1866 and she died in 1877. His second wife was Penina
Beeman, and she passed on in 1889.
David Reed and his wife are among those who were
laid to rest in this burying ground. Mr. Reed died on March 24, 1887,
aged 79 years, and his wife Susanna, died March 9, 1886.
John Barrett, who died August 22, 1883, found rest
in the English Ridge cemetery. John had one more than ordinary bit of
excitement during his lifetime. He was a constable at the time of mob
violence in Richland Center in September, 1868, which ended in the
lynching of a 15 year old lad who was charged with the murder of a lady
residing in the town of Dayton. Barrett as a constable, together with
others, started in quest of the boy accused of the crime, located him
near Ferryville and brought him to Richland Center where he was lodged
in jail. On the afternoon of the day of the lady's funeral a mob formed
and marched to the jail, demanded the prisoner. This being denied the
mob stormed the jail, placed a rope around the neck of the lad and hung
him to a tree nearby. Excitement was at high pitch and as an officer of
the law Mr. Barrett and others were in the midst of it all in an effort
to protect the young man and let the law take its course.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bannister, long time residents of
Horse Creek, also of English birth, rest in the cemetery. Mrs.
Bannister was a Graham. Mr. Bannister, before coming to Richland
county, resided in Milwaukee where he was employed as a boilermaker.
Their sons, John and Alvin, continued to live on the farm until their
death. The sons were buried in the Richland Center cemetery.
There is a stone in the burying ground for Rev. J.
Marks, who died October 2, 1903, at the age of 74. His wife died on
January 19, 1893, aged 72. Rev. Marks died at West Port, in the town of
Richwood, of a heart attack in the church. His body was taken to the
English Ridge cemetery where he was laid to rest on October 5th. It is
of interest to note the difference of funeral costs between 1903 and
the present. The undertaker of Rev. Marks was John S. McKinney of
Excelsior, and it was he that took the body to English Ridge for
burial. The entire cost of the funeral was only $37, which sum, Mr.
McKinney reports, was paid in cash.
The English Ridge cemetery is not far from the
Unbehaun farm. Henry T. Unbehaun, born January 14, 1827, and died
November 24, 1904, is buried close to the gate by the side of his wife
Kathrine Wacker Unbehaun, born Sep. 21, 1834, and died December 30,
1910. He was a native of Germany and came to America when he was 20
years old. He met Kathrine Wacker, also a native of Germany. They were
married at Highwood, Illinois, in 1852, and went to Crawford county
where they remained a few years and then came to Richland county. Mr.
Unbehaun served in the Civil War as a cook. They became the parents of
ten children.
Another of the Unbehaun family to find final rest in
this cemetery close by the church was George Unbehaun, born
September 17, 1870, and died April 2, 1951. His wife, Augusta, is also
buried there. She was born February 5, 1912. They were married March
27, 1900 and became the parents of four children; one daughter,
Florence, died in August, 1928, and she is buried by the side of her
parents.
A stone for Moses C. Davis marks his grave. Mr.
Davis was born in 1841 and died in 1899. He was well known throughout
that section.
There are a number of Civil War veterans buried in
this cemetery, Lorenzo Dillingham, Arthur S. Ladd and others whose
graves are just marked by G.A.R. emblems. One World War I veteran,
Ralph Parr, has his grave marked with a government stone. He was born,
so the stone says, on November 15, 1890, and died on his birthday,
November 15, 1948.
S.F.
Go
Back to This Cemetery's Main Page