Harding Cemetery - Paw Paw, IL
N 41° 41.668 W 089° 00.467
16T E 332923 N 4617801
A tiny, well-kept cemetery in rural Lee County, Illinois
Waymark Code: WMM1R3
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 07/04/2014
Views: 1
At one time there were
three Paw Paws in this area: East Paw Paw in far southwestern DeKalb County; Paw Paw (now known as South Paw Paw), and Paw Paw Grove -- both in Lee County. When the railroad came through the latter in the 1870s, many folks moved to it, and they even brought some of the buildings. The word Grove was dropped from the name, necessitating a change to the original Paw Paw to be called South Paw Paw. It is hard to imagine that there used to be a seminary at East Paw Paw. Now all that is there is a cemetery and a few houses.
There is an irony here. Both DeKalb County and Lee County wanted to call the area Paw Paw Township, but they both agreed that that could cause confusion, being in two different counties. So they drew straws or flipped for it or something. DeKalb County won the toss and ended up with Paw Paw Township. At least it has the name. The folks from the Lee County side were stuck for a name. Many of them had come from the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania; so they decided to name the township Wyoming.
A lot of history of this area can be gleaned from historian Frank E. Stevens (edited by A. C. Bardwell) for Wyoming Township and Willow Creek Township just north of Wyoming Township. One might also learn a lot about day-to-day existence in this area during the 19th and early 20th century from bachelor farmer David Smith in his Recollections of David Smith, having come to this area with his family when he was 6 years old in 1837. His mother's brother, John Colville, emigrated with them, becoming a well-known businessman in Paw Paw (Grove). The aforementioned Frank E. Stevens has a nice biography of David Smith in 1914 -- nine years before Smith died. "Uncle" John Colville is buried at this cemetery, and David Smith is buried at Ellsworth Cemetery north of Paw Paw.
Can you tell that this poster learned a bit of the local history in the 13 years that he lived here?
There is no sign at this tiny cemetery. But it is correctly marked on topographic maps, and is mentioned in obituaries. Although there are some grave markers without dates, the oldest recorded burial is from 1842 - Clayton Harding. The last recorded burial was from 1901.