South Moline Township Cemetery History
The cemetery began in 1840 as the private graveyard of the Hartzell family, one of the first pioneer families to come to the Rock River Valley. Called the Hartzell Graveyard, it was on the southern edge of the family farm on the bluff above the Rock River.
In 1870, it formally became the Hartzell Cemetery and began selling plots to non-relatives. In 1873, directors changed the name to the Rock River View Cemetery. The cemetery expanded four times between 1879 and 1934, adding more land mostly to the south and east.
In 1966, South Moline Township took over the cemetery and renamed it South Moline Township Cemetery.
Adam Hartzell, who arrived April 30, 1835 at what what later became Rock Island, died on Aug. 20, 1840, and became the first person buried in the hillside.
Other burials include Dr. Richard S. Trevor who fought in the Civil War and then settled in Coal Valley and became a butcher and developed a well-known veterinary practice. A native of Ireland, he died in 1902 at the age of 69.
Fred H. Harrington, cofounder of Harrington-Seaburg Signal Corp. was buried there in 1976 at the age of 95.
Lee L. Greko who died in 1988 at the age of 91, organized and managed the Moline Plow Boys quartet, the first group in the area to sing on the radio.
Hannah Sullivan, born Hannah Cleveland, is said to be related to President Grover Cleveland. She died in 1895 at the age of 76.
This information was excerpted from a newspaper article entitled “TINY CEMETERY HOME TO MOLINE’S PIONEERS”, by Sarah Larson, Staff writer. We have neither the name of the paper nor the date of the article.