Cemetery Destroyed - Alexander County, Illinois' Seven Mile Graveyard Bulldozed

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This video is an excerpt from the DVD Earth, Stone & Memories: Historic Cemeteries and What They Tell Us. If you’d like to order a copy, click here:
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What happened to the Seven Mile Graveyard, also known as the Cemetery of the Lotus? It appears the property owner bulldozed the site in the late 1950s. During the production of this video, I spoke with the daughter of the original property owner and asked permission to visit the site and interview her. The response was not positive. In fact, she became quite augmentative and defensive. I followed up with a letter thanking her for her time. I also asked her to consider donating the property to nonprofit organizations for archaeologists to use as a training ground. When the final video was published, a lawyer from Belleville, Illinois, purchased a copy. I assume it was this woman's attorney investigating whether I had defamed her family. I never heard another word. The proof that a cemetery existed on the site is rock solid. In fact, the property owner told me families have contacted her in the past for information about any graves that may remain there. I also have multiple obituaries from old newspapers that mention the cemetery.
I can only imagine the artifacts you could find on the property today. After a heavy rain, bones, casket hardware, buttons, and God knows what else probably wash to the surface. The witness interviewed for this video said the site held the remains of hundreds of people. I'm confident the property owner disposed of the headstones in a pit he created while clearing the site.
Gary Tweed published this video about the cemetery many years ago:
• Seven Mile Cemetery, C...
It was a different time. No one had been buried on the site in decades when it was bulldozed. No laws existed to prevent its destruction. The owner exercised his right to clean up the property. End of story.
Richard Kuenneke is a media producer living in southern Illinois.
#richkuenneke

[@brandyjean7015]

So between 1938 & the 60s. One would think there would be some record.

[@Richkuenneke]

Hi Brandyjean7015 A different time - no law existed to protect the cemetery. Its disposition was up to the land owner since the association dissolve multiple decades before.