Holly Labisky doesn’t find cemeteries creepy at all.

“I try not to deal with urban legends because I think it detracts from the good part of cemeteries,” Labisky said.

Labisky, author of Cemeterying with Hope, was the main speaker on a cemetery walk on Sunday. The event, “Cemetery Strolling Through Rocks of Ages: Observing the Cultural Evolution of Memorial Expressions,” was sponsored by the local chapter of the East Central Illinois Archaeological Society.

Brenda Beck, president of the group, said this is the first cemetery walk the group has hosted. There were seven cemeteries on the route stretching from Woodlawn Cemetery in Urbana to Locust Grove in Philo. Labisky said in her author’s note of Cemeterying with Hope that the book became more than just an archaeological study. She said it is a book on how the living, memorialize loved ones who have passed on and the issues around death. Labisky and her mother Hope Labisky spent more than seven years researching and photographing 550 cemeteries in central Illinois for their book.

In Woodlawn Cemetery, Labisky did an overview of the rich cultural history that can be found in cemeteries, such as family stories, art, architecture and history. The cemetery has a large monument to General Charles Bowen Busey, a soldier in World War I. The Busey family burial plot is in the cemetery, including Simeon and Samuel, the founders of Busey Bank. Labisky said it’s always interesting to look at family burial plots because some of the people may not have wanted their final resting places to be by their families, especially people who married into a family.

A statue of a little girl sits astride a tombstone for Ina Cora Irene. Labisky said this is a good example of a children’s grave. The statue is of Ina and Labisky said the words on the bottom almost seem to be comforting her parents.

“It says, ‘Do not weep my dear parents for I am not gone but sleeping here,'” Labisky said.

Isham Cook’s tombstone has many stories behind it.

“This is one of our historical discrepancy sites,” Labisky said.

The stone marker says Cook was one of the first whites to die in Champaign County and that the American Indians buried him in a bark coffin. But Labisky said there are records that a $6 coffin was purchased for Cook. Cook might not even be buried there because he was originally buried on a farm. The stone might have been placed there just to remember him. This shows that what’s written on tombstones doesn’t always tell the full story.

“You can put anything on a tombstone but it doesn’t make it necessarily true,” she said.

The Vriner family plot is an example of the cultural customs that become part of cemeteries. The Vriner family was Greek, and it was popular in many European cultures to put photos of the deceased on their tombstones. One side of the tombstones has their names in English and the other side is in Greek. German cemeteries usually have German on their headstones, Labisky said.

The children of Mary McLeod wrote an entire poem in her honor. People have all different reactions and memories of their family members she said, and often these feelings come across on epitaphs on tombstones.

“If you want some good reading go to a cemetery,” Labisky said.

Clements Cemetery has been vandalized many times in its 131-year history, and many stones are broken or destroyed. The land originally belonged to James Clements, “a magnanimous man,” who was married three times, Labisky said. His personal history is also skewed.

“He’s had six, 13 or 26 children. It depends on who you read,” Labisky said.

There are four Civil War soldiers buried in the cemetery, including J. Newton Shaw, who has the only government-issued Confederate marker in Champaign County. Labisky said Union stones are round on the top and Confederate stones have a point on them.

“So that no Yankee can gain comfort by sitting on top of his tombstone,” Labisky said.

The Labiskys know many people buried in Mt. Olive Cemetery in Mayview. Knowing the biographies of people buried in a cemetery affects the way you feel about it, she said.

“When you know someone who is buried in a cemetery it takes on a different essence for you,” she said.

Hope Labisky grew up in Champaign County and shared anecdotes about people she knew who were buried in the cemetery, such as the Collins family. At the age of six, Hope said she had a crush on Dale Collins, who she says was her first boyfriend. Collins’ mother, Minnie, was her babysitter when her parents went on trips, and she used to cry because she missed them. Minnie placed a photograph of Dale, who was a Marine, by her bed to get her to calm down and go to sleep.

The tombstones of high school sweethearts Brock and Melissa – who died in a car accident in 1993 and were buried next to each other – show the different ways they were remembered. Brock’s tombstone is a celebration of their lives with photos and engravings of Brock’s interests such as sports. Melissa’s gravestone mourns her death.

“The story goes that he was buried on the north side of Melissa to protect her from the wind,” Labisky said.

Sue McDonald, a resident of Champaign, said she enjoys going to old cemeteries and enjoyed the walk.

“I think it’s fascinating,” McDonald said.