Fort Hill Cemetery
Avon Township, Lake County, IL
“We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”
– Abraham Lincoln from the Gettysburg Address
This website is dedicated to my second cousin, Ray Elliott Paddock (1946-2022).
Ray was a proud Veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He was my inspiration and incentive of the Fort Hill Cemetery restoration and preservation project. ~ Vern Paddock
Updated 4/26/2023
FORT HILL CEMETERY
The historic Fort Hill Cemetery was officially established in 1847 and is located in Lake County, Illinois, in the southwest corner of Avon Township between the villages of Volo and Hainesville on Route 120 near Fairfield Road.
The first settlers, mainly from the East, arrived in the northeast corner of Illinois in 1833. Slowly, the early settlers trickled into the unnamed territory. This area that would become their home and community was given the name of Fort Hill Settlement in 1837.
To learn more about the history of Fort Hill, select “History”; if you are doing genealogy research on an individual that lived in the area and buried in the Fort Hill Cemetery, you will want to select “Genealogy”; to read the preservation story of the Fort Hill Cemetery, select “Preservation”; and if you have information about any of the individuals buried in the Fort Hill Cemetery or about the Fort Hill Settlement, we would like to hear from you by selecting “Contact”.
IN HONOR OF OUR U.S. VETERANS
buried in the Fort Hill Cemetery
Lt. Arthur Whitney genealogy (Click to View)
PFC Clarence LeRoy Hagen, Jr. genealogy (Click to View)
List of Veterans buried in the Fort Hill Cemetery (Click to View)
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The information provided for this website has been compiled by Vernon B. Paddock to preserve the legacy of the Fort Hill Settlement and the individuals buried in the Fort Hill Cemetery.
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Click each of the following to view interesting information of the Fort Hill Cemetery:
- Second Lieutenant Arthur Whitney (Story written for the Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society “Quarterly” magazine) (Click to Read) (New April 2023)
- Historical List of Lake County, IL Cemeteries (Click to Read) (New Oct. 2022)
- Lost Cemeteries of Antioch IL (Click to Read) (New Oct. 2022)
- Union Mausoleum in Waukegan met the wrecker’s ball (Click to Read) (New Oct. 2022)
- History of Angola Cemetery in Lake Villa IL (Click to Read) (New Oct. 2022)
- “Before” and “After” photos of the cemetery restoration
- “Before” and “After” photos of the gravestone preservation
- Fort Hill Cemetery Preservation article – Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society “Quarterly”
- Fort Hill Cemetery Preservation Update article – Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society “Quarterly”
- Documentary of the Fort Hill Cemetery (YouTube video) (10:31)
- 1965 Aerial photo of the Fort Hill Cemetery (updated August 2022)
- Fort Hill Cemetery Gravestone Symbols
- Historic Preservation Recognition Award