Researching my family history, I discovered that my 3rd great grandfather was buried in an unmarked grave in Nickerson Cemetery. William Ashby was born to a slave in Virginia in 1812. He emigrated to Illinois in the 1830’s. He fell in love with an Irish woman but it was illegal for them to marry. She died of Cholera in 1851 leaving him with 3 small girls. The youngest was Mary Ashby, my 2nd great grandmother. She married Joshua Nickerson and they emigrated to Stone County sometime before 1876. Her father William came with them and died in 1884. He was buried on the Nickerson homestead in what would become the Nickerson Cemetery. As far I know, he is the only African American born to a slave buried in Stone County