Cemeteries of Steele County Minnesota ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Ron Houghtelin Submitted: May 2003 ========================================================================= Cemeteries of Steele County Minnesota When we talk about the cemeteries here in Steele County, we must also talk about the people that are buried there, because most of them lived in Steele County just like we do, and many of them were very important to the history here. I have 54 cemeteries counted and I am certain that some have been destroyed by the elements of time and neglect. Possibly other cemeteries exist also. Most of the cemeteries in Steele County are kept in good condition but some are rather neglected, but some of these are now cared for by Steele County or the township. Many of the cemeteries are nationalist based. The names and various languages verify which nationality is predominate in a cemetery. Some cemeteries are affiliated with a church, but are away from the church and some are Church Yard Cemeteries. All of these are well cared for. The very first settlers to Steele Co and Owatonna were the eastern Americans that came here from New York, New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and many Steele County settlers remained briefly in Wisconsin before coming here. Some of the very early settlers came to Steele county from New England, New York, and the North Eastern coast states and we find many of these settlers buried in Oak Mound, Somerset twp near Hope, Berlin Twp Cemetery near Ellendale, Elmire near Hope (no markers),East Meriden Lemond Cemetery (Lemond Road) Bragg Cemetery south of Lemond, Oak Hill at Clinton Falls, Riverside and Union at Medford, Merton Twp Cemetery, Havana Cemetery, Coggswell and Aurora Twp Cemetery and Sacred Heart and Forest Hill Cemetery also have eastern Americans many with English names. Forest Hill has a mixture of all nationalities found in Steele County and Owatonna and is the largest cemetery in the county. The very first cemetery in Owatonna was located where the old Milwaukee Depot was located just north of Front Street which was called the Owatonna Cemetery with records from the Steele County Recorder's Office in Owatonna. These records show burial lot assignments on June 20 1866 to Addison Phelps, 1866 to Ewelin Stebeus, Wait Stoughton, Elias Scarwel, 1867 John Duckeing, 1868 Owing & Hables. The record was made May 15 1872. When the Rail Road was built thru Owatonna, the bodies were moved to the new cemetery north of town, Forest Hill. The original part of the cemetery is on the hill overlooking Dartt’s Park. Forest Hill was plotted out in Sections and Divisions with roads and drives. 1 Early German names will be found in Owatonna at St Johns Cemetery, St Paul’s Cemetery, the older Meriden Cemetery, Mueller and Rhodes Cemeteries (together) in Meriden twp. There are six cemeteries with many German names in Deerfield Twp. One is north of Meriden, Corpis Christi has many German names as well as other nationalities and a small cemetery west of Clinton Falls. Crane Creek has two cemeteries together with mostly German names and Trinity Lutheran Church of Medford has a cemetery in the north part of Deerfield twp. Zion Church Yard in Lemond twp has mostly German names and The Lemond Twp Cemetery a mile east has many German names. Steele Center Lutheran Church Cemetery also has more German names than other nationalities. The Degner German Cemetery (Owatonna German Cemetery) in the south part of Owatonna Twp is all German names. Also in the Johns E V Lutheran Church Yard Cemetery in Havana twp are German names and just south a mile or so is another Cemetery with mostly German names of the area. Most of the Scandinavian names in Steele County are Norwegian and Danish. You will find the Norwegian names at Thompson Cemetery in Havana Twp and a mile or so south at the Aurora Lutheran Church Yard Cemetery, Moland Lutheran Church Yard Cemetery in Merton twp near Moland, Union Lutheran Church Cemetery near Blooming Prairie and one or both cemeteries in Blooming you can find Norwegian and Danish names (one Catholic and one protestant. The St Ansgar Cemetery on Highway 30 east of Ellendale and the Ellendale Lutheran Church south of Ellendale, also Pontoppadan Lutheran Church in Lemond Twp has mostly Norwegian names. The old Lemond Cemetery near the Lemond town hall has Norwegian and German names. The Meraker Norwegian Cemetery is all that is left of the church and the people that were Norwegian and lived in Deerfield twp. The Danish names are found in Havana Twp at Dania Cemetery, on the old Dane Road, In Somerset Twp north east of Steele Center, on the south county line in Summit twp and the Danish Baptist Church Cemetery in Blooming Prairie twp. You will find Czech (Bohemian) names at Litomysl in south Somerset twp, cESKO NARODII HrBITV Cemetery in Summit twp, (St Vences Lous) HrBITOV SV VACLVA Cemetery near Saco in Somerset twp, The Bohemian National Cemetery in Owatonna twp south of Owatonna. Also many Czech (Bohemian) names are found in the Sacred Heart Cemetery in the south part of Owatonna.   2     The early immigrants from European countries did not mix well with each other or with the Americans already settled in Steele County. It seems like each tried to retain as much of their native language and former customs as they could. It was difficult to trust someone of another nationality. The national barriers only broke down as another generation came and the next generation came and the melting pot process in Steele County began to work. The various cemeteries in Owatonna and Steele County shows that a persons nationality was very important and even today the cemeteries that people chose for burial, reflects some of their forefathers attitudes. The Steele County and Owatonna cemeteries also show Steele County people have always been loyal and patriotic (all nationalities) and many have died in service to this country. Many also served and came home and lived in Steele County and Owatonna and now rest in these cemeteries with military markers of the service and command they served in. Many are noted as veterans and many are commemorated by the GAR, The American Legion, And the VFW in all wars. Some veterans served before the county was settled and came along with the migration of the early settlement. And they rest here in these cemeteries. Many of the early stone markers are made from white marble and are very fragile and are very hard to read and some of them have lost their memorial message. Some of them are broken and gone and so there are graves that don't have any marker left and many of these pioneer people set the way for us. Our Steele County and Owatonna cemeteries hold so much HISTORY of families and the stories of the past in Owatonna that can be told with a visit to the cemetery with some reflection. Grandview Memorial Gardens became Owatonna Memorial Gardens, north of Owatonna and Resurrection Cemetery west of Medford are only about 35 years old so they are new. Many of the County's cemeteries are active and will continue to grow. Other cemeteries are not active and remain silently as a memorial to many of Steele County's and Owatonna's earliest pioneers. 3 Written and researched by Ronald E Houghtelin January 1993