Use the links above to explore Schumann Cemetery and the efforts to document and preserve it. 

Located on a high bluff of the Illinois River above Kampsville, Illinois, historic Schumann Cemetery is the final resting place of numerous early European settlers to Calhoun County and the surrounding area.  Schumann Cemetery dates at least to the 1840s, and possibly earlier.  Among the gravestones are those of one Civil War and one WWI veteran, an early stone carved in German, and numerous uncarved, native stones marking individuals whose identity has been lost to time. 

Sponsored by a grant from The History Channel’s Save Our History program, the Schumann Cemetery Recording Project was a collaborative effort between the Center for American Archeology and Calhoun and Carrollton High Schools to record historic Schumann Cemetery. Throughout the Fall of 2006 and Spring of 2007, students documented and photographed the cemetery, and conducted background research through census rolls and other vital statistics records. To learn more about The History Channel’s Save Our History program, visit www.saveourhistory.com.

The Center for American Archeology is an independent, not-for-profit organization with a mission of education, research, and public service in archeology and the natural sciences. For over 50 years the Center has fulfilled this mission by discovering and disseminating the unwritten story of past Americans’ lifeways, accomplishments, and changing natural environments. For more information on the Center visit www.caa-archeology.org.

Organizations participating in the Schumann Cemetery Recording Project include:

Assistance was also provided by the Calhoun County Historical Society.

The Schumann Cemetery Recording Project was directed by Dr. Gregory Vogel of the Center for American Archeology.  Project assistants were Jena Whipking and Pat Cavanaugh of the Center for American Archeology, and Michelle Berg Vogel of the McCully Heritage Project.  Participants from Calhoun High School were teacher Nathan Bloodworth and students Emily Baltisberger, Andrew Bland, L. J. Brangenberg, Rob Hausmann, Jessie Herren, Donny Johnson, and Justin Vetter.  Participants from Carrollton High School were teacher Kraig Garber, and students Kate Alexander, Jerry Childress, Zach Daum, Tessa Day, Jamie Edwards, Alex Flatt, Ryan Weber, and Brandi Williams.