A formal opening ceremony is drawing nearer for a new memorial park honoring more than 2,600 people interred at the defunct Moffatt Cemetery in south Peoria. Among those being honored is a notable Pekin pioneer named Nance Legins-Costley (1813-1892), known to history as the first African-American enslaved person to secure her freedom with the help of Abraham Lincoln.
Nance Legins-Costley died in Peoria on 6 April 1892 and was buried in Moffatt Cemetery, where he husband Benjamin Costley (c.1812-1883) and their son Leander Costley (c.1845-1886) were also buried. They and the other Peorians interred in Moffatt Cemetery — including Pvt. Nathan Ashby of Pekin and Peoria, one of Pekin’s original eyewitnesses to the first Juneteenth in Galveston, Texas — will be “Forgotten No More” thanks to the creation of Freedom & Remembrance Memorial Park.
Nance Legins-Costley and her son, Pvt. William H. Costley (c.1840-1888), another of Pekin’s Juneteenth eyewitnesses, will also be celebrated in Pekin at a special Juneteenth celebration and dedication ceremony next month in downtown Pekin, where Pekin and Tazewell County will place the Costley Monument in their honor. Pekin’s celebration and ceremony will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, 17 June 2023, in the 400 block of Court Street. Pekin and county officials are scheduled to speak at the event, where Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White, first African-American to serve as a judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit and first African-American justice on the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District, will deliver the keynote address. A community picnic with live music is also planned.
In addition, the Pekin Public Library will host a special program about Moffatt Cemetery, Nance Legins-Costley, and the Costley Monument at noon Friday, 16 June 2023, in the library’s Community Room, the day before the Costley Monument is dedicated.
As for Peoria’s new memorial park, a formal opening ceremony is being planned for Flag Day, Wednesday, 14 June 2023, at 10 a.m. This spring saw major steps forward in the years’-long efforts to create Freedom & Remembrance Memorial Park. The first of those steps this year was on Tuesday, 28 Feb. 2023, when the Peoria City Council unanimously agreed to acquire the land at the intersection of South Adams and Griswold, which United Roofers Local #69 donated for the creation of the memorial site. The official transfer of the property took place 16 March 2023.
Then on Tuesday, 28 March, the posts for the storyboard and Illinois State Historical Markers were installed at the site in preparation for the installation of the park’s sign and markers. The memorial park’s historical markers have been on public display at the Peoria Riverfront Museum and the RiverPlex since last year, awaiting the preparation of the park site so they could be installed.
The next step in the creation of the park was the installation of a flag pole, lighting, and raising of flags, which were done by Peoria Flag & Decorating on Wednesday, 12 April. The U.S. flag and the Prisoners of War flag now fly over the memorial park to honor the 52 veterans — 49 Union Civil War veterans and one each from the Spanish-American War, the War of 1812, and the 1792 Virginia Militia — who are buried at the former Moffatt Cemetery just to the north of the park.
Then on Friday last week, 12 May, came the central pieces of Freedom & Remembrance Memorial Park, when Peoria Park District staff installed the park’s storyboard and the three state historical markers that tell the story of Moffatt Cemetery, list all of Moffatt Cemetery’s honored Civil War veterans, and tell the remarkable story of Nance Legins-Costley of Pekin’s strength of spirit that secured freedom for herself and her children.
Further updates on the Peoria and Pekin events will be posted here at the dates draw closer.
Note: Unlessed otherwise noted, all images in this post are graciously provided courtesy of the Freedom & Remembrance Memorial Park Project Team.
