Mt. Zion Cemetery is in Audubon Township, Montgomery County, Illinois. Both Jonathan Denton's land, 40 acres, and the cemetery, were a short distance from the town of Audubon, a town found on an 1874 map of Audubon Township, but which in c. 2009 no longer exists.

I was told by a man I met at the cemetery, someone whose family had lived in the area for generations, that Jonathan and Eliza probably belonged to Shiloh Baptist Church, a church that is still active in 2009, located eight miles east of the town of Nokomis. Eliza Jane's obituary confirms that she was a member of the Baptist Church when she died.

Jonathan owned land in Audubon Twp at least by 1874, since his name shows up on a plat map found from that year. Naturally, the family names of several of his neighbors from that time also are found in Zion Cemetery: Ishmael, Whitmore, Davis, Brown, and others.

He married Eliza Jane Campbell (she was married first to Isom Simmons and then to Benjamin Gordon prior to Jonathan Denton) in 1867 when he was 26 years old. At that time he was living in Shelby County, Illinois--probably in Flat Branch Township where he spent many of his early years and where most of his father's family continued to live.

Therefore, sometime between his marriage in 1867 and the plat map publication of 1874, Jonathan and Eliza moved to their home in Montgomery County. Land records, not yet obtained, would certainly confirm when they moved to Audubon. The family does not appear in the 1870 census for Audubon (nor did I find them in the 1870 census for Flat Branch in Shelby County), but they are found in the 1880 census, including Jonathan, Eliza, and their five children: Martha J., age 12; George H. (known as Harvey), age 10; Hattie M., age 8; Alice B., age 4; and James E. (known as Edward), age 2.

Where they lived when the 1870 census was taken is still a mystery. 

► More Information: Mt. Zion Cemetery Audubon Township