This song was mentioned by GUEST,Alex on 26 Apr 00. I found it on Spotify and YouTube:


THE CHOLERA CEMETERY
As recorded by Chris Vallillo on “Best of All Possible Worlds,” 1997.

On an old ... prairie, in the shade of old gnarled oaks,
By the rusted iron gatepost with poison ivy choked,

Lies a long-forgotten marker that was placed for all to see,
To warn those few that come here this is a cholera cemetery.

July, 1849, the sun burned hot and cruel.
The air hung thick and stagnant for the town of Liverpool.

There on the muddy Illinois, packet steamboats moored,
Returning from St. Louis, one passenger aboard.

Up in that sweltering stateroom, a man lay sick in bed.
Throughout the town in whispered tones, the word “cholera” spread.

All steered clear of that ship of death as word spread ’round that day,
And old women closed their windows and the children did not play.

But a man named Robert Summers, for reasons never clear,
Went on to see that dying man as the final hour drew near.

When Summers left that boat, set his feet on solid shore,
He brought with him death’s shadow that soon would dark his door.

On July fifth it struck him in writhing agony.
Bathed in sweat and vomit, he lay in misery.

Five long days he hovered ‘tween the living and the dead.
To all who came in contact, the deadly curse was spread.

Summers finally perished; his corpse lay in state.
A fine carved cherry casket was purchased for the wake.

Ah, but that coffin came eight inches short, so the body lay,
And spread the curse two more days while a duplicate was made.

A neighbor, Jordan Pritchard, helped the family in their strife.
He brought home the sickness to his children and his wife.

To his young bride Artemisia*, the deadly curse he gave.
Alive and well at sunrise, but the sun set on her grave.

Throughout the town panic spread; the death toll quickly grew.
The weak ones died in hours; the strong, a day or two.

And the houses of the victims were shuttered up and burned
While neighbors fled in terror and nevermore returned.

For thirteen days it ravaged through that stricken river town
Till thirteen bodies had been laid beneath that fresh-cut ground.

Six miles from town they dug the graves of those they held so dear,
Wrapped in some old blanket by a family gripped with fear.

A mile off the gravel road by the gnarled twisted oaks,
A tarnished sign lies fallen by a rotted wooden post.

It reads: “God rest those that lie here for all eternity,
And guard all those that come here to this cholera cemetery.”

- - -
* Spelled according to how it sounded to me on the recording, like the plant artemisia. Some sources say her name was Artimissa, some say Artmacy.

Here are some articles that give the historical background:

Crumbling 'cholera cemetery' marks final resting place for victims of 1849 outbreak – from the [Peoria, Illinois] Journal Star, Oct. 18, 2014.

GenealogyTrails.com