This monument marks the final resting
place of the victims of one of the saddest historical events to occur in
Tazewell County. The inscription on one side of monument is as
follows:
This Monument
is Consecrated To The Memory of
Mary Ann, Emma and Ulalia,
Wife and Daughters of
George Orndorff
Who Departed This Life Oct. 12, 1860,
Aged Respectively 27 Yr, 2 Ms, 27 Ds,
8 Yr, 27 Ds - 6 Yr, 9 Ms 15 Ds
On the cold cheek of
death smiles
and roses are blending.
And beauty immortal
arises from the tomb.
The inscription on the
other side of the monument tells the sad story represented by this
monument:
On the morning of the
12th of Oct. A.D. 1860, the husband and father in whose memory this
monument is erected, was called away on business, from his residence
three miles southeast of Delavan, Illinois, where he left his family,
consisting of his wife and two small daughters. At his return, no
little ones ran to greet him, as was their custom, and at once alarm for
the welfare of those dear ones took hold on his heart. Entering
the house, he found his wife and daughters, whom he had left in perfect
health and joyful spirits but a few hours before, had been cruelly
murdered during his absence, and were now lying prostrate and weltering
in their blood. The mother and younger daughter - alas - dead.
The older daughter was still living and moaning piteously but unable to
whisper one word in a father's ear. At four o'clock next morning,
death ended her suffering. Kind friends bore them in one coffin,
to their last resting place.
And here, all that was
mortal, lies beneath this marble.
The confessed object of the murder was to obtain money.
The murderer, a former
hired hand, apparently was surprised to find anyone home during an attempt
to rob the family. He killed the family in order to cover up his crime.
He was later found hiding in a corn crib in Logan County.
He was returned to Pekin
where he became the first man to be hung in Tazewell County. The
Pekin mayor was forced to call out the militia in order to calm the crowds.
