Guided tours to support Wallace-Dickey Cemetery restoration

The Wallace-Dickey Cemetery Preservation Association will host two fundraising tour events this fall featuring the Wallace-Dickey Cemetery and The Oaks, the historic Wallace family home.

The cemetery is the burial site of Civil War Gen. W.H.L. Wallace, who was killed in 1862 at the Battle of Shiloh. The cemetery sits on the north bluff of Ottawa and is surrounded by eight stone walls, two which were restored this spring.

“We’re excited to show off the progress we have made in the cemetery restoration,” President of the Preservation Association Chuck Sanders wrote in a news release. “We are also very excited to be working with Jay and Kim McCracken, who are very graciously and generously adding tours of their home, The Oaks, to our event.”

The first tour event will be Sunday, Sept. 28, with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Ottawa Historical and Scouting Heritage Museum. Buses will transport attendees to the cemetery and The Oaks on a regular basis. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students. No pre-registration is required.

The second tour will be Sunday, Oct. 5, beginning at the La Salle County Historical Society in Utica. A Starved Rock Lodge trolley will shuttle participants from the museum to Ottawa’s north bluff at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m.

Tickets are $20 per person and require advance registration and pre-payment through the La Salle County Historical Society at office@lasallecountyhistoricalsociety.org. Seating is limited.

Donations also may be mailed directly to the Wallace-Dickey Cemetery Preservation Association, PO Box 392, Ottawa, IL 61350.

All proceeds will benefit the restoration and preservation of the Wallace-Dickey Cemetery.