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THE RECORDING OF A CEMETERY By Thelma Greene Reagan
Today we walked where others walked On a lonely, windswept hill. Today we talked where others cried For loved ones whose lives are stilled.
Today our hearts were touched By graves of tiny babies. Snatched from the arms of loving kin, In the heartbreak of the ages.
Today we saw where the grandparents lay In the last sleep of their time. Lying under the trees and clouds - Their beds kissed by the sun and wind.
Today we wondered About an unmarked spot. Who lies beneath this hallowed ground? Was it a babe, child, young or old? No indication could be found.
Today we saw where Mom and Dad lay. We had been here once before On a day we'd all like to forget, But will remember forever more.
Today we recorded for kith and kin The graves of ancestors past. To be preserved for generations hence, A record we hope will last.
Cherish it, my friend. Preserve it, my friend, For stones sometimes crumble to dust And generations of folks yet to come Will be grateful for your trust. |
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Mower County Cemetery Information Visit Find A Grave for more information on Mower County Cemeteries
Oakwood Cemetery Address: 1800 Fourth Street N.W., Austin, MN Austin was a village of 400 people before a move was made to
have a place to lay its departed. The dead were laid away in the vacant lots
of the platted city. The body of Chauncey Leverich,
who was murdered, was buried near where the Swen Anderson building now stands
on Chatham Street. Near the banks of the Cedar near the South Bridge the
bones of Don and Jack Fleming molded. They came here from New England for
their health, as they were both suffering with consumption. It was not until
1862 that a move was made to secure a cemetery. A few of the ladies of the
city got talking about the needs of the city and a meeting was called
February 1, 1862, at the home of J.L. Davidson, for the purpose of organizing
a society for the purchase
of suitable lands for a burial ground. At that first meeting Mrs. J.L.
Davidson was elected president and Mrs. Ormanzo
Allen secretary. The name adopted for the society was, "The Mite Society and
Cemetery Association", and the meetings were to be held every two weeks
at the homes of the members in alphabetical order. Each member was to pay 10
cents at each meeting. The attendance at the meetings was between eighty and
100, for there was little doing in the pioneer village in those days. The first regular meeting was held at the home of Mrs. J.L.
Clark. Here it was voted to have the men buy the land and the Mite Society
promised to build the fence. A subscription paper was passed among the
businessmen and twenty agreed to take lots at $5 each. On March 15, 1862, the
men met and organized the cemetery association. Solomon Snow was chairman of
the meeting and Ormanzo Allen secretary. The following trustees were elected: For one year, L.N. Griffith
and Ormanzo Allen; for two years, John S. Lacy and
Oliver Somers; for three years, Solomon Snow. A committee had been sent out to secure land and on the
suggestion of the Mite Society looked over the Baudler
farm. The committee found the land suitable evidently, for it purchased five
acres at the cost of $100. D.B. Johnson surveyed the land, laying it off in
lots twenty feet square, and Squire Griffith made a map. The $100 was raised
by twenty men, each of whom bought a lot at the cost of $5. The story of the cleaning up of the grounds by the ladies,
assisted by the men, is told elsewhere by Mrs. L.A. Sherwood. Mrs. Sherwood
says that the first body buried in the cemetery was that of Katie, the eight year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.L. Clark. The
little girl died of diphtheria and Mrs. Sherwood assisted in the care of the
little girl. That was the first case of diphtheria that appeared in the
little village of Austin. Having bought the land and laid it out as a place to bury the
dead, the cemetery seems to have received but little attention, each lot
owner being supposed to care for his own lot. In 1895 the Oakwood Cemetery
Association bought 160 acres of land of the Adler farm adjoining the
cemetery. They sold about 30 acres lying east of the river to D.B. Smith.
D.H. Stimson was one of the prime movers in this purchase. Anton Friedrich
was elected superintendent of the cemetery and has been in charge from that
day to this. The cemetery was graded, the unsightly grave mounds all being
leveled, flower gardens were laid out and each year saw the place still
further beautified. Now it is one of the most beautiful resting places for
the dead in the state. On March 7, 1904, the trustees were authorized to erect a chapel
and vault, not to exceed the sum of $5,000, and this beautiful building was
dedicated in the fall of the same year. William Baudler had opened
up a private cemetery on the northern line of his farm adjacent to the
Oakwood Cemetery and the lot owners of this cemetery wanted those lots taken
is as a part of beautiful Oakwood. This petition was presented by Mrs. Hiram
Smith at a meeting held November 12, 1904. She stated that $430 had been
subscribed and guaranteed that $70 more would be raised, making the amount
$500 for the purchase of the unsold lots in the Baudler
Cemetery. On December 3, 1904, a meeting of the cemetery association was held
to consider the proposition. At that meeting the Baudler
Cemetery lot owners were ready to pay $500 to the Oakwood Cemetery to secure
possession of the Baudler lots so that the two
cemeteries might be united. The board of trustees offered to take over the Baudler Cemetery, lots, alleys, streets, etc., on the
payment of $2,000. N.F. Banfield said he would be responsible for the amount
and the proposition was accepted. Soon after, the old fence was torn down, both cemeteries were
made one, the Baudler Cemetery being graded and
beautified to conform with Oakwood. On August 23, 1905, the cemetery association purchased four rods
of land adjoining the old Baudler Cemetery on the
east, paying for it $75. On March 2, 1906, McIntyre Post G.A.R. exchanged
their old lot for a lot in center of section 3 of the new cemetery and the
bodies of the dead heroes were removed to their new sleeping place. On this
lot a beautiful soldier's monument was erected and dedicated in 1907. From "History of Mower County, 1911" Transcribed and submitted to MnGenWeb
by Kathy Pike, Nov. 2006
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