O'Fallon Cemetery Detectives

Local history with a splash of Outlander!

DAR Waterloo request for help-
O'fallon cemetery detective Tim Ogle working his magic this Memorial Day
(Revolutionary War)

Our own Cemetery Detectives Linda Begole Murray and Tim Ogle have deep roots in this cemetery

The oldest church in the Collinsville area is not in the City, but about three miles southeast of Uptown on Bethel Meadows Road. The Bethel Baptist Church was organized in 1809 by abolitionist Baptists who broke off from another church over the slavery issue. It is the oldest Baptist Church in Illinois.

The church would perhaps be best described as a safe stopping point for slaves seeking freedom prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Slaves were reportedly kept hidden under a trap door in the church while being transported to well-documented Underground Railway stops in Alton and Jacksonville.

Members of the founding Lemen family, elders and others preached to the growing congregation over 40 years. The first minister called in 1855 was Rev. D.M. Howell. The first church was built in 1824; it was replaced by the 1838 church, which was demolished in 1977. The 1838 church is seen in this photo taken to commemorate the church’s Centennial in 1909.

The Museum’s historic churches display features 10 Collinsville area churches. The Museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Presidential history

History surrounds us in Shiloh
Oldest birth date 1799
Many local families still reside locally

Lemen Cemetery off Lemen Settlement.
Both Tim Ogle and Linda Begole Murray are descendants
Babe Papproth and granddaughter Brooke Papproth Devine
Linda Begole Murray and son Ryan Murray
Janet Alexander
Tim Ogle

Beedle Cemetery off Milburn school- clean up day ( still looking great from previous OCD clean up)?
Detectives Babe Papproth, Tìm Ogle, Jan Hinchcliffe Alexander, Brooke Papproth Devine and Beedle descendants Linda Begole Murray and Ryan Murray
Queen Babe arriving in her chariot( thanks Ryan)

Day trip anyone??

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum! 🍀

, we honor one of our Irish souls resting eternally here at Bellefontaine Cemetery. Born in 1791, St. Louisan Colonel John R. O’Fallon was a descendant of a long line of Irish kings on one side explorers on the other. John was the nephew of explorer William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

John entered the army early in the War of 1812. He quickly became a military officer and was promoted to Captain of the Second U.S. Rifle Regiment by March 1814. By May 1815, he commanded his unit. He resigned his commissions in July 1818 and returned to St. Louis where he secured a post as an army sutler.

After suffering financial losses, he farmed, made whiskey, and turned a big profit. In 1822, St. Louis elected him Representative to the first Missouri State Legislature and re-elected him in 1824. Through investments and inheritance, he became one of the leading businessmen and the wealthiest person in St. Louis. Athlone Farm (now O’Fallon Park) was his country estate. The cities of O’Fallon, IL, and O’Fallon, MO, are named after him. He donated land for Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis (two blocks), O'Fallon Park, and a water works. He also supported Washington University's medical college and founded O'Fallon Polytechnic Institute.

John died December 17, 1865, in St. Louis and is buried here at Bellefontaine Cemetery. His monument is on the largest lot and is the work of George I. Barnett.

You are invited to visit Colonel John T. O’Fallon’s final resting place, stop number 30 on our historic tour line! March is one of the best times to visit Bellefontaine Cemetery and view the Celtic images on monuments and markers in the Cemetery.
Whether you visit us for a self-guided tour, to enjoy a run, to walk your furry friend, or to see the emerging foliage from our extensive daffodil collection or dogwood buds,
we think you will enjoy your time at beautiful Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum.
Learn more about Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum. Sign up for our e-newsletter. https://bellefontainecemetery.org/history-soc/

We
Love a good mystery!

He died in London in 1892, buried among strangers—and it took a woman browsing a flea market 100 years later to finally bring him home.Chief Long Wolf was a Lakota Sioux warrior who'd left the windswept plains of South Dakota to travel with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. It was 1892, and across Europe, audiences packed theaters to watch dramatized battles, sharpshooting, and performances by real Native American performers—spectacles that turned culture into entertainment and warriors into curiosities.Then, in the cold dampness of a London winter, Long Wolf fell ill with pneumonia.He died far from the sacred lands of his ancestors, far from the people who spoke his language and knew his stories. With no family to claim him and no money to send him home, he was buried in Brompton Cemetery, beneath a simple headstone carved with a wolf—a lonely grave in a city of millions who would walk past without knowing who lay beneath.For 103 years, the warrior rested there. Forgotten.Then, in 1995, Elizabeth Knight was browsing a used book market in England when a worn volume about the Wild West caught her eye. Flipping through its pages, she found a small mention: a Lakota chief who'd died in London and was buried in Brompton Cemetery.Elizabeth wasn't a historian. She had no connection to Native American culture, no academic credentials, no reason to care beyond simple human decency. But something about that single paragraph wouldn't leave her alone.He died so far from home. And no one brought him back.She started with the cemetery, finding his grave overgrown and weathered. Then came the letters—to archives, museums, historians, anyone who might know more. Most people ignored her. Some thought she was wasting her time. What did it matter now? He'd been dead for a century.But Elizabeth kept digging.She discovered his Lakota name: Charging Thunder. She learned about his family, his community, the reservation he'd left behind. And then she did something remarkable—she reached out to the Lakota people themselves.At first, they were cautious. Who was this British woman asking about their ancestor? But as they spoke with her, they realized something profound: she wasn't trying to claim his story. She was trying to give it back.For two years, Elizabeth worked tirelessly, navigating bureaucracy, fundraising, coordinating between governments and tribal leaders. She became an unlikely bridge between cultures—a woman with no title or authority except an unshakable conviction that this warrior deserved to rest with his people.In September 1997, Chief Long Wolf's remains were exhumed from Brompton Cemetery. Lakota elders performed ceremonies. Prayers were spoken in languages that hadn't been heard over that grave in 105 years.And then, finally, he was brought home.At Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, hundreds gathered to welcome him. Drums echoed across the plains. Warriors in traditional dress carried his casket. Elders wept. The community that had lost him more than a century ago received him back with full honors, burying him in the land of his ancestors under the wide Dakota sky.Elizabeth Knight stood among them—a stranger who'd become family simply by refusing to let injustice remain buried.She didn't do this for recognition. She never claimed credit or sought fame. She simply saw a wrong that needed righting and decided that if no one else would act, she would.Chief Long Wolf's story could have ended in that London cemetery, his name erased by time, his sacrifice forgotten. Instead, a woman with no reason to care except her own humanity ensured that a warrior found his way home.Sometimes the most profound acts of justice come from the most unexpected people. Sometimes all it takes is one person willing to say: "This matters. He matters. And I won't let the world forget."Rest in peace, Chief Long Wolf. Your journey home took a century, but you made it.

Recent work day at Miles Cemetery