Deck Cemetery

Michael Deck, his wife Susannah, their eleven children, Christiny's husband Samuel Fitch, Margaret's husband Mattmias Long, and Michael's brother Jacob settled this area in the spring of 1829 after traveling from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in their own wagon train of 16 wagons to St. Louis in 1828, spending the winter there, and continuing to Illinois the next spring. They became the first landowners in an area named Decksprairie after Michael Deck, covering about 16 square miles. A few years later, the Koepflis and Suppigers stopped with them on their way from St. Louis to found the city of Highland. Michael Deck donated land from his farm for Deck Cemetery, where he and his wife Susannah, many of their descendants, relatives, and many others are buried. Michael was a Revolutionary War veteran who for a short time served as one of Washington's bodyguards and fought in numerous battles, including Valley Forge and Yorktown, where he witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis. He had first come to this area in 1778 with the George Rogers Clark Expedition to Cahokia and Kaskaskia and decided to return later because he liked the country so well.

Illinois · United States