Today in Macoupin County, overdue respect will be paid.
Ivah Coles was a bricklayer, only 21 years old in 1904, when he dove in a reservoir to try to save a friend from drowning. Coles and his friend, Richard Cromwell, died. A few years later, he was honored posthumously with a Carnegie Hero Medal for his actions.
And despite losing his life trying to save another, Coles was pretty much forgotten about. His body lay in an unmarked grave in the small town of Bunker Hill. That has now changed. A grave marker and a plaque will be installed.
Turns out, it was the medal that made it all possible.
Even those most in tune with local history knew nothing of Coles.
David Jokisch is with the Macoupin County Historical Society. He had never heard of Coles. And he wasn't alone.
"I could find no one in Bunker Hill that knew about it," he said. "Luckily, in our historical society, we have a number of excellent researchers. I was treading for a while on my own trying to do it, but once I got others involved, I could see the story developing rapidly."
"The fact that he was buried with little fanfare. The fact the original medal turned up just sort of struck me we really need to look into this and see where the story goes."
Jokisch said a collector from Pennsylvania noticed the medal on eBay. It was put up for auction by an O'Fallon, Missouri jewelry dealer who purchased it with some scrap metal. The collector won the item and then started doing some research. The locals got involved and, eventually, Coles final resting place was discovered.
Jokisch believes Coles' family lacked the money for a tombstone when he died.
Turns out, 3 others from the county have won Carnegie medals. Robert Rutherford of Girard, Robert Bruce Ogg of Gillespie and Arthur Gene Burke of Girard.
Today, a ceremony honoring Ivah Coles is taking place at a cemetery in Bunker Hill. Coles and the other Macoupin County Carnegie Hero Medal winners through the years will be honored at a separate event.
