Humboldt County
Historical Association
PO Box 162
Humboldt, Iowa
50548
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UNION CEMETERY
At the first death in the Township David Thomas, son of Walter Thomas,
gave a corner of his farm. There is no record of this transaction. This
was a two-acre plot. The first burial was George Elithorpe who died in
November 1862; his stone is in the old part of the cemetery in the east
part. The Cemetery Association was organized in 1869.
In 1883 or 1885 the
soldiers monument was put up by John Means whose lot and tall marble
column are southeast of it. He died in 1889. There are 167 veterans
listed on it who gave their lives to have slavery abolished. In the
early days the monument was encircled with high bushes with a roadway on
the outside. Entrance was made through openings in the bushes at flour
places. Services for decoration day were held within this circle. The
bushes had to be removed later because the motor drawn hearse could not
make the circle without driving on close graves. The county removed the
bushes and the road was closed. Later the old soldiers monument started
to lean, so in 1959 the American Legion made repairs by putting cement
on the inside.
The Association felt there
should be a better gateway and new road beds to handle the cars. They
also arranged fro the present gateway to be built by a monument company
with plaques fastened to the gateway. Stone for the new pillars was from
the old Humboldt College which was being wrecked at that time. (The
college was taken down approximately 1926. See
Humboldt College)
The old windmill which
was noisy and squeaky was replaced with an underground line for electric
power and lights when and if needed.
All mowing and care was
done by hand and only the graves which had perpetual care or those paid
for each year were kept up. It was optional if you had perpetual care
then, but was changed so every lot had to have perpetual care. Many
years were spent contacting relatives to get the whole cemetery under
perpetual care. Some unused parts of lots were sold and that money used
to set up perpetual care for those lots. In the early days, as now, the
money received was kept from the sale of lots in the general fund. The
money received for perpetual care was place in a trust fund and the
earnings from funds may be used for upkeep of the lots. The funds
themselves were never to be used.
In 1882 the cemetery was
increased to 14 acres and in the bicentennial year of 1976 there was a
total of 25 acres.
Originally the cemetery
had an old iron fence along the road with large iron gates that closed
and could be locked. This was taken out about late 30's or early 40's.
There was a large vault built into the
ground north of the east road into the cemetery. It's doors faced east.
This was used to place bodies in when the weather was such that the
ground was frozen so hard they had to hold the bodies for burial in the
spring. When spring arrived the sexton would have a number of graves
ready and then with the help of the undertaker, minister and often the
loved ones, final burial was made. Mr. Joe Reasoner, former board member
of eh Cemetery Association remembered of having twelve bodies in there
at once. This vault was taken out in the fall of 1979.
It is told that many
years ago the hearse and the mourners would drive into the cemetery near
their loved one's grave and the rest of the people would tie their
horses to the iron fence that went around the cemetery and walk to the
grave.
"When daylight has died,
and the world is at rest, the magic of moonlight gleams on the grey
marble stones, and the brilliant stars write this message in the sky.
Life is but a preparation for eternity, death is only a pause in the
afterwhile, and Mother Earth, who knows and holds so much of birth and
life and death, whispers, 'Do not weep, they only sleep.' "
Some of this
information was taken from a 1963 letter written by Joe Reasoner when he
was retiring from the board of the cemetery. Typed February, 1980 by
Anita Hinners.
_________________________________________________
1986—Union
Cemetery officials asked and received public donations to repair the
Civil War Memorial erected in 1883. Nearly $4000 was raised to
straighten the leaning monument.
FROM: The
First Quarter of Humboldt's Second Century, 1963-1988
by Harriett E. Housel and Frances I. Messer