Rebecca Walker married Joshua Atwater 1 June 1810. A register of Atwater descendents lists her maiden name and the marriage date: A genealogical register of the descendants in the male line of David Atwater, one of the original planters of New Haven, Conn., to the sixth generation: NEW HAVEN: PRINTED BY TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, 1873.
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Mrs. Atwater, along with her daughter, Julia, was among the original members of St. John's Methodist Church of Edwardsville. She joined in December of 1827 and Richard Randle was the first class leader.
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Is the Atwater monument in Woodlawn a memorial to the Atwater family? Joshua, Rebecca, their son John, and second wife of Joshua, Celia Jett, are listed as buried in Lusk Cemetery. This statement refers to information contained in Cemeteries and Tombstone Inscriptions of Madison County, Illinois Volume 10 (Madison County (ILL) Cemeteries, Madison County (ILL) Genealogy, Cemeteries Illinois Madison County, Edwardsville Township: Woodlawn Cemetery (St. Louis St., Edwardsville, IL); Creator: Madison County Genealogical Society; Compiled & Indexed by Marie Thompson Eberle (1995-1998); Publisher: Madison County Genealogical Society, 1999:

"All other inscriptions on Woodlawn stones that show a death date 1873 or earlier were not buried in Woodlawn. Some were buried in small family farm cemeteries, but those who were residents of Edwardsville were buried at Lusk. However, no records have been found for Lusk Cemetery other than a List of Lot owners from the original handdrawn cemetery plat, and no records of removal from Lusk to Woodlawn were kept by the City. However, considering that caskets were made of wood, it is highly unlikely that bodies were dug up and MOVED. Time and moisture would have taken care of both box and body!"
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CEMETERIES AND TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS, VOLUME 11, "History of Lusk Cemetery," June 1999, p. 62 (Compiled by Leigh Sills):
1905: "A large number of bodies are being removed from old Lusk cemetery to Woodlawn and to other cemeteries. Last week there were half a dozen disinterments at the burying ground on Second street."
1912: It was not until 1912 that the city of Edwardsville took steps to acquire this "first place of interment' and Lusk by condemnation to be known by the city as "Lusk Memorial Park." Subsequently, in 1913, there were legal notices in the Edwardsville Intelligencer requesting that families move more graves of their loved ones. All graves were not removed.
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Source for Lusk Cemetery information below is from Cemeteries and Tombstone Inscriptions of Madison County, Illinois Volume 06: Madison County Genealogical Society; Chairperson: Debbi (Girth) Geer; indexing: Marie Thompson Eberle; 1992:

"Once located in Edwardsville, Illinois, this cemetery is now a large empty lot which is used for a playground by residents. There is a memorial marker near the entrance and a few years ago there were still a few markers found. However, a few markers is not enough information to use, therefore, the original lot owners [list] is provided here for reference by those who might be able to find the families they need for their own research. The actual location of the cemetery is on Randle Street between Oakland and Scott Streets, (SE1/4 of the SW1/4 of the NW1/4 of Section 11- Edwardsville Township). It was platted as a cemetery in March 1864. The original stones were removed around 1910. …
Please keep in mind that some of the names are as they sound and not necessarily as they should have been. It is also interesting to note that some of the lot owners were those who have been honored by our city fathers to have streets named in their honor (Randle, Prickett). Also please keep in mind that this is our only link to the cemetery burials and even this list of lot owners do not tell who in their family is buried there (all family members, some family members, or possibly none at all)."
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