A Historical Perspective
In the last few years, several people had mentioned a Weaver Family Cemetery in South Moline Township. Dwight Mohlenbruck and Mary Lou Schaecter met with an elderly surviving member of the Weaver family at Poplar Grove (near the Rock River.) On the wall there, hung a framed copy of a deed dated April 1891, from “John D. Weaver and Martha A. Weaver” to George Weaver for a plot 8 rods by 10 rods for a cemetery “forever”.
Mary Lou wrote of that meeting: “Dwight and I have spoken to an elderly Weaver from Chicago. He says the cemetery had 20-25 graves and was where the new Village Inn is now. He also said the homestead was behind K-Mart and was torn down a few years ago. He does not know the names of those buried there but remembers the tombstones.” “The old gentleman seemed a little unclear. He mentioned that as a little boy he took a wheelbarrow over there and brought back a couple of tombstones. His mother made him take them back. He did mention that some of the Weavers were a wild bunch. I remember one who had a “pumpkin” market in the 1970’s up on 23rd Avenue.”
And from another BGS member: “A possible member of my family tree was murdered in a fight at the Weaver’s in 1880’s so I have an interest in knowing more about the location of the home on the Moline hill, also. My cousin and her husband lived at the farm (near Coal Valley) and farmed there for several years, probably in the 50’s, so I’ve been in the house, but at that time I didn’t know just how notorious the Weaver family would turn out to be. … It’s a small world, but the Weaver name touched quite a few of us.”
Dwight brought us a copy of a column from the Dispatch of August 16, 1949. In his “Off The Beaten Path” column, Fred Klann wrote, “The Weavers were one of the first and largest families in South Moline Township and the Wells school district. They had their own cemetery on the old Colona road, where the WHBF transmitter station and tower are now located, and about 25 members of the family were buried there.”
Dwight also got a copy of the cemetery deed from the elderly Chicago Weaver. That deed is reproduced here. Note along the left margin near the top is the reference to the filed document at the Rock Island County Courthouse.
Another BGS member writes: “My great grandmother’s sister – Mary Christina Nave – married George W. Weaver, the son of George Weaver, about whom this article was written.” (And, who was the recipient listed in the deed of land for the cemetery.) She also noted that the three people listed in the deed – John, Martha and George Weaver are all now buried at the Bowlesburg Cemetery located in the southern part of Hampton Township.
And the latest communication from another BGS member is: “Frank Weaver and his Mother lived next door to us about 10 years ago. He told me the WEAVER Cemetery was where the Village Inn and Governors Tap is.”
Click to see “Weaver Cemetery Deed”