It is not often anyone wants to go to McGee Cemetery, but when someone does this is the road he or she takes.  One takes a blacktop west out of Basco, Illinois about 3 mi. to what is called the first four way corner.  McGee is about a half mile, maybe not that far, north of here on the gravel side road.

This is hilly terrain here.  The cemetery is in fairly dense woods and undergrowth on the west side of the road which means is in Wythe Township.  It would be in Bear Creek Township if it were on the east side of the road.

The burying ground is rectangular in shape, about a half city block front and extending back perhaps a block and a half.  There are two hilltops here.  The back one levels off into a farm field across the back fence.  Fencing is very old farm field wire fencing.

There are just a few graves on the front hill (the one by the road).  Most of the burials are on the back hill.

The entire grounds are grown up to waist high brush.  People in a Basco store were not agreed as to when any cleanup work had been done in McGee.  Some said there had been some brush cutting some years back, 15 maybe.  No one could recall just what year.  Others maintained nothing had been done by way of upkeep hear in our Twentieth Century.

It would be impossible to get in with motorized equipment today.  There is an old driveway along the south fence but brush his grown out onto this to make it a narrow pedestrian lane now.

There is probably a larger percentage of beautiful granite monuments here than in any other cemetery in the county.  It looks strange to see these looming out of the brush in every direction.

When the writer of this (Warren L. Van Dine) made this burial list the last week of November in 1965 he was barely able to fight his way through the undergrowth here in many places.  Some family lots are in a completely abandoned condition, grown to John gall and with all stones down or broken up.

A Basco grade school teacher employed at Union Douglas some miles east of the town named Mrs. Bavery comment about the condition of McGee Cemetery as follows.  She said it was used as a burial ground by Bear Creek Township people but that it was just across the township line in Wythe Township, that using tax money to maintain it was not popular in Wythe and that Bear Creek couldn't afford the upkeep of anything and Wythe.

Brunton family hillside cave tomb:

This faces road about 30 ft. back from the fence.  No burials have been made in this to date or if so dead were removed for interment in more practical places.

The front is made of massive cut stone and looks to be at least 80 year old construction.  The family name "Brunton" is over the massive iron door.  This is a very heavy iron door and not locked.  It swings back on its door wide hinges and a touch.

The interior is concrete.  Two concrete boxes are built up from the floor to receive two caskets.  Apparently this was intended to be a two-person tomb.  There are bricks on the floors of these boxes on which to set the caskets there are no inscription's.  Perhaps it was intended to seal these boxes with lids or tops of some kind but if so these are not in evidence.

In most cases of the others of the handful of tunes to be found in the Hancock County cemetery burials is made the usual way in the ground and the tomb of Simply consists of a building built over the family lots.  It may be in this case it was decided even with sealed lids to these concrete casket holding boxes and the lock on the door it would be too easy for hoodlums to disturb the dead and so if they were ever put in here they were taken out for burial elsewhere.
 

Ashlock, Amanda R- b:    d: May 16, 1848 aged 37 years 29 days
Baldon, John C.- b: April 24, 1844   d: March 11, 1889  Co. E.  7th  Reg't  IA.
Baldon, Lucretia- b:1838   d:1878  (w/o Harvey Baldon)
Baldon, Mary E- b: July 16, 1848   d: April 11, 1920
Barnaby, Bernice B- b: July 17, 1897   d: November 16th 1906  (d/o J.W. and H.H. Barnaby)
Barnaby, Emma E- b:1889   d: February 25, 1943 in Basco Village, Hancock Co, Illinois
Barnaby, John W.- b:1838   d:1850
Barnaby, Mary L.- b: June 22 1906   d: August 7, 1907   (d/o J W and E.E. Barnaby)
Beedle, Elizabeth- b:   d:, October 28, 1908
Beedle, Joseph- b: June 13, 1827   d: April 9, 1906
Bersin, Fannie J.- b: August  7, 1852   d: October 21, 1924  (w/o Julius M. Bersin)
Bersin, Frank M.- b:1875   d:1926
Bersin, Joseph O.- b: May 28, 1861   d: December 9, 1906  (s/o Julius and Fannie Bersin)
Bersin, Julius M.- b: February 16, 1850   d: August 14th 1936   (h/o Fannie J. Bersin)
Boldon, James W.- b: October 31, 1872  Aged 2 years 1 month 14 days  (s/o T.R. and F.A. Boldon)
Boren, Bennet- b: October 2, 1821   d: July 21, 1898
Boren, John- b: April 21, 1852   d: June 8th 1857
Bourchard, John B.- b:1868   d: 1928
Bourchard, Roberta E.- b: 1938   d: 1941
Butler, Douglas- b:   d: September 2, 1853  ( s/o W. J. and M. J. Butler)
Butler, Flora I- b: December 12, 1877   September 6, 1882
Butler, Isabella- b: April 28, 1797   d: October 27, 1871  (w/o Richard Butler)
Butler, Jacob J.- b: December 8, 1830   d: June 19, 1901
Butler, James A.- b: August 28, 1871   d: November 15, 1876
Butler, Mary J.- b: December 24, 1846  (d/o Edward and Eliza Ann (Daw) Davis)
Butler, Thomas J.- b: May 16, 1828   d: September 19, 1863
Butler, William J.- b: February 17, 1833
Caldwell, Paulina Jane- b: January 19, 1830   d: April 5, 1896  (w/o I. N. Caldwell)
Cardwell, Sarah T- b: May 25, 1852   d: August 21, 1878   (d/o J.H. and P.J. Cardwell) " could be Caldwell"
Cardwell, Henry B.- b: unreadable  (s/o J.H. and P.J. Cardwell) " could be Caldwell"
Cardwell, Theresa H- b: unreadable  (d/o J.H. and P.J. Cardwell) " could be Caldwell"
Case, Lucinda I- b: October 26, 1871   d: April 20, 1893
Comfort, Mocen-  b:   d: August 1, 1882
Daw, Edward- b: 1809 in England   d: 1883  (h/o Eliza Ann Daw)
Daw, Eliza Ann- b:1811 in Delaware   d:1874
Dowdall, Edgar A.- b: June 30, 1866   d: September 17, 1867  aged 1 year two months 17 days
Harris, W L- b: June 17, 1834   d: October 20, 1889
Harris, Riley- b: August 12, 1806   d: January 24, 1876  aged 69 years 5 months 12 days
Harrison, John- b: April 11, 1805   d: March 13, 1861
Harrison, James- b: November 21, 1835   d: March 10, 1921 <(?) (h/o Jemima (Phelps) Harrison)
Harrison, Jemima (Phelps)- b: March 6, 1838   d: January 17, 1918 in Basco, Hancock Co, Illinois
Hughes, Lovina- b: January 11, 1826 in Ohio   d: January 10, 1882
Lewallen, Martha E- b: December 14, 1823 in Tennessee   d: April 11, 1895
Lindsay, Ruth Biddle- b:1837   d: 1915
McGee, Andrew J.- b: October 27, 1843   d: May 2nd 1916  (s/o Samuel and Elizabeth McGee,   h/o Rebecca A. Kearns) McGee)
McGee, Elisha- b: January 5, 1828 in Indiana   d: July 24, 1902  s/o Samuel and Elizabeth McGee)
McGee, Elizabeth- b: October 14, 1801 in Kentucky   d: August 21, 1882   (w/o Samuel McGee)
McGee, Francis M.- b: February 9, 1836   d: June 30, 1914   (s/o Samuel and Elizabeth McGee)
McGee, Mary Ann (Brunton)- b: March 31, 1832   d: March 17, 1890 (or 1896)
McGee, Mary J. (Cole)- b: September 30, 1839   d: December 24, 1915   (w/o Francis H. McGee)
McGee, Rebecca A. (Carnes)- b: October 14, 1837   d: January 12, 1918  (d/o John and McGee, Mary Carnes,  w/o Andrew J. McGee)
McGee, Samuel- b: March 24, 1793 in Kentucky    d: May 31, 1864 (h/o Elizabeth McGee)
McGee, Theresa H- b: March 23, 1850    d: July 28, 1904
McGinnes, Henrietta B- b: January 28, 1841   September 17, 1904
McGinnes, John R.- b: June 10, 1834   d: December 1, 1887
McIlmoil, Mary- b: July 12, 1831   d: July 28, 1900
McIlmoil, Mary A.- b:1867   d: 1938
McIlmoil, Robert- b: March 18, 1833   November 29th 1909
McIlmoil, Ruth S.- b: September 22, 1870   d: May 8, 1906
Nettekoven, Minnie (Comfort)- b:   d: September 1932
Phelps, Eddie L- b: June 25, 1878   d: September 15, 1878  aged 2 months 21 days
Phelps, Julia Josephine- b: March 22, 1849  d: October 16, 1850 aged 1 year six months 24 days  (d/o John and Mary J. Phelps)
Phelps, Laura E.- b: July 9, 1852   d: March 18, 1860  (d/o W L and M F Phelps)
Phelps, Mark- b: August 2, 1803 in Canada   d: May 22, 1885
Phelps, Mary- b: August 2, 1803
Phelps, Mary C.- b: June 2, 1839   d: February 23, 1900
Phelps Mary E.- b: unreadable
Phelps, Sarah- b: May 15, 1807 in Ohio   d: February 11, 1891
Phelps, Sarah L.- b: January 26, 1880   d: August 1, 1882  Aged 2 years 6 months 6 days  (d/o W. L. and M. C Phelps)
Phelps, W L- b: February 16, 1827  d: April 25, 1898
Pierce, Horace- b: 1851    d:1873
Pierce, Isaac J.- b:1821   d: 1902
Pierce, Sarah- b:1821   d:1890
Pomeroy, Elizabeth- b: February 16, 1810 in Pennsylvania  d: May 15, 1894  (w/o Walter Pomeroy)
Renken, Addie- b: November 2, 1868   de: September 22, 1887  (d/o Diedrich and Anna Renken)
Renken, Anna- b: September 29, 1846   d: January 26th 1897  (w/o Diedrich Renken)
Renken, Diedrich - b: April 1, 1834   d: June 20, 1914  (h/o Anna Renken)
Roseberry, Ellen (McGee)- b: October 29, 1842  d: January 15, 1870 Aged 27 years 2 months 17 days  (d/o Samuel and Elizabeth McGee,  w/o L. T. Roseberry)
Shirkey, Darius- b: April 25, 1840   d: September 17, 1890   (h/o Nancy E Shirkey)
Shirkey, Nancy E.- b: January 2, 1850   d: November 30, 1904  (w/o Darius Shirkey)
Shirkey, Mary- b: September 3, 1876   d: February 26, 1894
Wallace, Ester Louisa- b: May 26, 1826   d: April 5, 1877
Wallace, William- b: November 1, 1826   d: June 25, 1895
Webster, Frances- b: May 10, 1839 in Ohio   d: November 8, 1913  (w/o Samuel H. Webster)
Webster, Mae- b: February 12, 1891   d: November 9, 1899  (d/o B. And R. M. Webster)
Webster, Samuel H.- b: November 26, 1841   d: April 6, 1930  (h/o Frances M.
White, Amana E- b: October 31, 1853   d: February 13, 1882  Aged 28 years 3 months 13 days  w/o J W White)
White, Charles B.- b: aged 9 months 28 days
White, Clara L- b: aged 19 months
White, Drucilla- b: January 23, 1828 in Indiana   d: March 10, 1899  aged 71 years 1 months 15 days
White, Hannah E.- b: February 12, 1843   d: October 29, 1866   aged 23 years 8 months 17 days
White, John- b: May 12, 1812 in Virginia   d: August 22, 1904
White, Nellie- b: January 21, 1877    d: January 25, 1877 Aged 4 days
White, Sarah Helen- b: November 18, 1883   d: March 12, 1891  (d/o Zimri and Eliza White)