Dale C. Maley: Weston Cemetery provides a glimpse of prairie before settlement

After the Ice Age ended about 10,000 years ago, the climate warmed and the Fairbury area became prairie lands. One of the earliest Illinois maps, from 1821, shows Livingston County was prairie grass except for trees along the creeks and rivers.

The Native Americans who lived in the Fairbury area used the dry prairie grass to their advantage. When they saw a herd of buffalo or deer, they would start fires on three sides around the herd. The herd of animals was forced to move in the direction without any fire. The hunters would be waiting in this same area, and they could kill hundreds of animals within just a few minutes.

Fires would often start from natural causes. The Native Americans always knew where the nearest creek or river was located. If a massive prairie fire approached them, they took refuge in the water of these creeks and rivers. Native Americans stayed close to water, which explains why more stone artifacts are often found near Indian Creek and the Vermilion River. One of the two known Native American burial sites in the Fairbury area was located where Indian Creek empties into the Vermilion River north of Fairbury.

Unfortunately, no photographs are known to exist of the native prairie in the Fairbury area. The only information we have is written accounts of the native prairie from the early settlers.

William T. Stackpole was one of the pioneer farmers in the Anchor area. In 1855, Mr. Stackpole took three teams of horses and men to start working the 2,320 acres he had bought from the government. Mr. Stackpole recounted that rattlesnakes, greenhead snakes, and mosquitoes were the most troublesome enemies that engaged the new farmer. Prairie wolves were also a challenge the first few years he broke the prairie.

Stackpole said the animal threats were minor compared to the terrible prairie grass fires. He said the prairie grass grew to a height of eight feet, which provided the fuel for massive prairie fires. Stackpole experienced some of these prairie fires. He said there was no loss of human life, but there was a significant property loss.

It was also common to see herds of deer from five to 50 animals. The skeleton of an American bison was found on Stackpole's Anchor farm. In 1857, Stackpole became one of the first residents of Fairbury. He built a house at the northeast corner of Maple and Webster streets, next to Marsh Park. This house still stands today.

Several early pioneers in the Fairbury area described the prairie habitat in the 1878 Livingston County history book. They said the tall prairie grass waving in the wind afforded excellent hiding places for the wild prairie chicken, wild duck, sandhill cranes, and prairie wolves. Here and there, a large slough or swamp appeared, full of tall grasses and rank weeds, on which the crane or wild goose reared their offspring in security.

Not a road broke the monotony of the scenery, and not a house or sign of a white man could be seen. The primary food sources for the early pioneers came from hunting deer, wild turkey, pigeons, opossums, ducks, geese, and quail. Fishing also helped.

In 1857, the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad installed railroad tracks from Peoria to Indiana. The village of Weston was founded in 1867 by W.F. Bryan. The original town included 288 small lots, five blocks that were not subdivided, and a public park. Mr. Bryan hoped that Weston would grow in population to rival neighboring Fairbury and Chenoa.

Around 1869, three prominent men decided the new town of Weston needed a cemetery. They purchased five acres of land east of Weston and just south of the railroad tracks. The three men were Christian Wink (1830-1920), John Farley and Mr. Johnson.

The Wink family liked to reuse the first names of Christian and Herman. The Christian Wink that started the Weston cemetery in 1871 was born in Germany. His father was Herman Wink. Christian Wink then named a son after his father, Herman Wink.

This Herman Wink married Katherine Eichenlaub. They named one of their sons Christian Elmer Wink (1892-1982) and Fairbury residents commonly called him "Bud" Wink. He married Florence Lorine Shepherd. Bud Wink was a World War I veteran.

Lee Orville Garber (1900-1986) was the only known Fairbury man who served in both World War I and World War II. He became a college professor and lived in several states during his college teaching career. Dr. Garber taught at ISU and Illinois Wesleyan before he eventually retired to Fairbury. He was close friends with Bud Wink.

Around 1971, Bud Wink and Dr. Lee Garber decided that something should be done to preserve the virgin prairie in the Weston Cemetery. Bud Wink had a family interest in preserving the cemetery because his grandfather, Christian Wink, was one of the three men who founded the cemetery. Dr. Garber had an interest in preserving local history.

Dr. Lee Garber then contacted Dale Birkenholz, a biologist at Illinois State University. Birkenholz visited the Weston Cemetery and was astounded to see all the wildflowers still growing there. Some of the wildflowers were so rare that he could not identify them.

After Birkenholz visited the Weston Cemetery, a story in the The Blade from June 1971 was published about preserving the virgin habitat at the Weston Cemetery. Somehow, a Chicago college professor saw and read The Blade article on the Weston Cemetery. This professor was a nationally known expert on prairie soils and flora. The Chicago professor immediately rushed down to Weston to view the site.

All of this interest in preserving the virgin prairie at the Weston Cemetery led to it being designated by the State of Illinois as the Weston Cemetery Prairie Nature Reserve in 1972. The natural prairie at the Weston Cemetery has nearly 100 native plant species. Common grasses include big bluestem, little bluestem, prairie dropseed and Indian grass.

Bud Wink and Dr. Lee Garber were the initial driving forces to preserve the virgin prairie at the Weston Cemetery. With the help of academic personnel, Yates Township personnel, and various others, future generations will be able to easily see how the prairie looked before the pioneering farmers arrived to till the land.