Elwood, Madison County
In 1829 Ransom Allphin (1812-1854) and his parents migrated from Illinois to Montgomery (present Madison) County. Allphin acquired this property in an 1835 Mexican land grant. He and his wife Elizabeth (Johnston) had seven children. Allphin farmed and operated a grist mill. In 1854, while digging a well here, Allphin discovered clay and soapstone in the soil. He abandoned the well and donated this 5-acre plot for a community burial ground. Allphin died the same year and his was the first grave. The 1918 influenza epidemic accounted for many of the burials.