Blackhawk County; Iowa
Mount Zion Union Cemetery
(E. Waterloo)
If you have any questions; please email the Coordinator
History of Mount Zion Union
Cemetery Association,
INCORPORATED
Photo taken from "History of
Mount Zion Union Cemetery", by Orrin E. Miller
Commentary by Nancie
Smith-Dobyns
My first
curiosity came about from our annual Ackerman reunion in Dunkerton, IA. As
usual, I had my pen and pen out and a stack of papers to hand out for those who
wanted to ensure that their family history was recorded correctly when print
time finally arrives.
Well to my dismay, as the conversation began to go deeper and deeper into the
past, it seems some of my ancestors were laid to rest...only to have their
eternity disrupted! It seems someone bought some land and wanted to build it
where a cemetery, was located. One of my ancestors who was protesting, past
away herself before anyone could obtain permission from her to build there.
WHERE DID MY ANCESTORS GO?
It was said
that two premature, twin Ackermans were buried at Mt.
Zion. They were so tiny that they were buried in but a shoebox. The actual
confirmation of this can not obviously be made, but who am I to doubt family
stories pasted down.
The stones
gone, only the trees are a symbol of what once was. It is now time to do some
intense research and find out just where they are peacefully at rest....OR ARE
THEY?
The Forgotten Dead
Because I have died, do you forget
me?
Because I have died, do you leave me to waste?
Because I have died, do you not wish me a
Peaceful Rest for Eternity?
The first
information that I received on this cemetery was from Michael Magee,
Correspondence Secretary at the Northeast Iowa Genealogical Society in
Waterloo, IA. The second was from Janice Nugen who
also has an interest in the cemetery. I too have family still buried under the
unmarked cemetery. And it is in their memory that I bring this information to
others interested in the cemeteries and resting places in Blackhawk County.
In Memory of:
Louis Ackerman
Bert Ackerman
Fred Ackerman
and all others who lie forgotten and
unmarked
The
following is the complete contents of a report made by Orrin E Miller. For
additional information, Michael Magee with the Northeast
Iowa Genealogical Society may be able to help.
FORWARD
by Orrin E. Miller
The
following pages relate an unusual story about a cemetery that legally exists
today and so do the bodies.
Man started
burying his dead when he started planting crops, or 11,000 B.C. For the most
part graves since then have been regarded as somewhat sacred. Today there is
wreckage at the bottom of the East River in New York City dating back tot he
Civil War. The treasure has not been brought up yet because of the 80 to 100
skeletons still on the ship. They have not yet decided what to do with he
remains, so everything is on hold.
When you
land at the St. Louis Airport you fly over an old cemetery at the end of the
runway. The airport pays to use the airspace over the cemetery as they were not
allowed to disturb the graves.
This is how
other places view the sanctity of the dead who, by the way, do have rights.
However in Iowa numerous cemeteries have been covered over with farm ground and
planted in crops every spring. If the farmer ever tiles his land, as has
happened, the tiling machines can plow a furrow deep enough to tear through any
casket or vault like it didn't exist.
What is
worse was the lack of concern for the dead in the community that I encountered
while researching this. As things stand now in Iowa, any cemetery in existence
can be vandalized and plowed under and it is no big deal unless of course we
are talking about your mothers grave, then it becomes
a different situation.
What you
are about to read would not be possible without the help of William H. Lemke,
who wrote the following page. He will also be writing the legal opinion to this
under a separate cover. Special thank you’s go to
others who shall remain nameless, and to the Attorney General of Iowa and the
Blackhawk County Attorney’s Office.
Orrin E.
Miller
The sketch of Mt. Zion Union Cemetery
by Charlotte Turner Lichty
MOUNT ZION UNION
CEMETERY
Daniel and
Mary Hewitt received a deed in October 1882, for an eighty acre farm. It is my
understanding he was the first owner of the land and purchased it from the
Government. Daniel Hewitt and Mary E. Hewitt then deeded some land on their
farm for use by a newly formed Lutheran church. This transaction took place
November 8, 1883. (Land Deed 43; page 424). This is
how the Mount Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church got started. One of the founders
of the church has been a Lutheran minister before going into farming and
raising a family. His family must have been raised by 1895 because he became
active in the Methodist Church as a minister, and the Lutheran Church became a
Methodist Church in 1895 or early 1896.
Daniel and
Mary Hewitt then deeded the land to the Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church
on April 30, 1896. (Land Deed 55; page 5) The founding minister then left to minister
in a church in South Dakota in 1896 after this time.
In the
court house records I was told this land was 7.5 acres and is recorded in 2-4
on page 95. Subsequent numbers needed to look this up were 33-1601-00-096-00-0.
A new number to describe this parcel will be 891209476002,
future date of use is or was unknown. Anyway this land is the S.E. S.E. 989-12.
It is my understanding these acres were for the church, cemetery, and to the
South a parsonage or house. A division within the church was starting to brew
two years earlier. John and Elizabeth Emert conveyed
lots 1,2, & 3, in block 14, within the town of Dewer, to the Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church on
August 16, 1894. These same lots in block #1 changed ownership again from Mt.
Zion E. Lutheran Church too Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church on April 25,
1896. (See Abstract #117758, page 6, item 11 & 12). The split was started
by Amos Adam and John L Maurer, who wanted the church in the town of Dewer. The farm families between the church and Waterloo
wanted the church to stay. (see last page on
historical side notes).
By 1900 the
split in the church was really starting to widen. A Quit Claim Deed was
recorded August 19, 1901, (60-568) in which Charles L. Walker, Mary B. Walker
and Nettie A. Walker, transferred to the Methodist
Church 3/4 acre of land for $100.00. This deed was probably just for the
cemetery itself in order to protect the graves in the future. The split became
final in 1905 when the church building was moved to Dewer
and its present location. The parsonage was left as it was not needed. I have
enclosed a picture of the church provided by Mrs. John L. Winder, taken in
1944. Please notice the six sided open steeple. The congregation of the church
was disbanded about 1945 as lot 2 and 3 in block #1 were sold October 19, 1945,
to the Hemsath family. The building became the Dewer town hall about 1947 or 1948, and because of roof
leaks the steeple was removed many years later.
When the
church was moved a lot of the congregation traveled to church in Waterloo and
the small community could not keep the church going. (Personal note...we have held some of
our Ackerman reunions in the building)
With the
church moved, we now have 3/4 of an acre of land where there is a cemetery.
What is unique about this is that the area for the cemetery is marked with Red
Cedar trees. These trees grew along the river named the Red Cedar River, now
known as the Cedar River. It is believed these trees grew along the river
originally and were moved here by the church founders as a landmark.
Of the
original eighty acres, 36.96 acres of land "EXCEPT THE CEMETERY"
started changing hand within the Turner family in 1932.
Cecil Brown
owned it for awhile and sold it to Frances June Carlson in 1960 on contract. Deed transaction 126-334, "EXCEPT THE CEMETERY".
Ms. Carlson
(480-699 "EXCEPT THE CEMETERY" ) sold it to
Edith O. Barringer (519-304 "EXCEPT THE
CEMETERY") who sold it to Mr. Buehler Feb. 6, 1975. He in turn sold off
thirty plus acres to Mr. Jim Ryan on Dec. 19, 1983, who owned the adjoining
farm. Mr. Buehler kept the area where the parsonage, church, and cemetery were
for a house that he built.
Please keep
in mind the cemetery stones were in place when Mr. Buehler purchased the land
surrounding the cemetery. His land purchase was "EXCEPT THE
CEMETERY". When Mr. Buehler built his house and the cemetery stones
cleared away the relatives were outraged.
A Warranty
Deed was drawn up (book 526; page 769) conveying the cemetery from Kenneth and
Kay Buehler to Kenneth and Kay Buehler for the sum of one dollar. This was
signed by the Buehlers and W. David Tyler
(lawyer/Notary Public) on the ninth of February 1976. (See deed next page).
Eldon Ebert
heard about what was going on and tried to talk to several people in the area
but nobody would tell him anything, so he dropped it altogether. In going
through the files at the Blackhawk County Court House, I pulled the yellow card
on this property. (see yellow card next page below
deed). The cemetery land has always been and still is today exempt from taxes.
A notation on the card said, "B526-769 Buehler to Buehler deed has no
legal backing. Cemetery not vacated- no legal paper selling to Kenneth
Buehler." Somebody ten years earlier wrote that for someone like me to
find, and I found it.
I expressed
my concerns to the Attorney General of Iowa in Nov. 1985. This was not the only
cemetery problem in the state, but I did not know it at the time. Anyway, what
was in past years a felony, became a simple misdemeanor with Iowa Law 566.31,
566.32, 566.33 & 566.34 dated March 20, 1986. I will not even go into how
many people could have been jailed for letting this happen in the county.
A record of
this cemetery can be found or easily located if you know where to look. The
Mayor’s Conference Room in City Hall (Waterloo) has a large colored map on the
wall of Blackhawk County made in 1983. Follow N. Elk Run Road to the green
cemetery area and read the red script. This map made eight years after cemetery
was cleared off. Or you can refer to the Blackhawk County Plot Book. In 1985,
Mt. Zion Union Cemetery is featured on page 10, with a cross marking where the
cemetery exists or is supposed to exist.
The best
one I like to refer to is the United States Dept. of Agriculture Soil Survey of
Blackhawk County, Iowa. The one I looked at was issued in December 1978 and the
cemetery is marked with a cross on sheet number 26. Keep in mind these are
actual recon aerial photographs you are looking at. By the way, U.S. Government
Soil Survey's are recognized in the courts as proof or evidence.
All of the
information written about so far is only maybe half of what Bill Lemke and myself collected in all. The letters from attorneys stating
laws, opinions, and precedence within Iowa fill a briefcase.
I want to
emphasize and say thank you again to those who contributed but must go
unmentioned because of their job or position. This thing could have been buried
and a lot harder to find if it was not for those who wanted it known.
There are
two more cemeteries in Blackhawk County that are lost and planted in corn.
There are two more cemeteries in adjoining counties that are also planted in
corn. There is no use in pursuing the others if nothing is going to be done
about this one.
I talked
with several relatives who gave me the names of people they believe to be still
buried in the cemetery. Some of the names were repeated to me more than once.
There still exists one living relative who remembers attending funeral services
as a child in the 1890's at the Mount Zion Union Cemetery. He is Howard Bunn
and was about age 94 when I talked to him in early 1986. He was born and grew
up close to the church. He was baptized June 28, 1901 in the church, and his
sister is still buried in the South-East corner of the cemetery. Below is a
partial known census of Mt. Zion Union Cemetery:
Cora Bunn,
died age three, 1883, first grave S.E. corner
Charlie Clinton Myers, born 11-24-1884 died 1-16-1885
Oscar Jackson, born 3-18-1838 died 2-26-1893
Josephine Shorpening Barron, born 1-3-1846 died
2-19-1898
David Ausin Barron, born 12-27-1844 died 6-10-1899
(Josephine & David were married)
Alvin Wesley Myer, born 6-27-1900 died 7-30-1903
Henry Myer, age two, dates unknown
Bert Ackerman, child, dates unknown (b. 8-2-1907 d. 8-3-1907 ...added by Nancie L. Dobyns)
Fred Ackerman, child, dates unknown
Louis Ackerman, child, dates unknown...one of these Ackerman children died in a
slew burn-off
Warren Russel Brooks, infant, dates unknown (***uncle
to Janice Nugen) (she also notes that her great
grandmother, Brooks was moved to Elmwood Cemetery)
John Turner, age 45, died about 1900
Amy Turner, infant, died about 1900
Bertha Turner, infant, died about 1900
May Turner, infant, died about 1900
John Veach, adult, died 1880, interned 1900, see last
page of historical side notes
Sara Veach, John's wife, died 1916, may be interned,
see last page of historical side notes
Baby brother of a Mr. Claude Holdiman
Hattie May Myers Holdiman, born 1-25-1888, died
9-26-1915
Miss Thornberry, died as a young girl 1915 or 1916
Loyde Myers, 5-19-1912 died 11-15-1912
_________ adult male, victim of suicide, about 1900
Friedly family members buried here according to
Howard Bunn, no names recalled (*** family of Janice Nugen
- three graves)
The graves
still in existence could number thirty or more, with no one around to remember
them or the dates that they lived.
A Land Deed
Record #71, page 354 dated December 11, 1912, rededicated this land from the
MOUNT ZION METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH too the MOUNT ZION UNION CEMETERY, a
corporation and association. The trustees of the church became the corporation
and they signed this deed stating, ..."we do
hereby covenant to WARRANT and DEFEND the title to said real
estate"...forever. One thing I have learned about churches in general is
that people that do not tithe do not matter, and the dead do not tithe.
A Charlotte
Turner Lichty, born 1912, remembers cleaning the
cemetery as a child and her Uncle Louis Turner saying that he feared some day people
would forget about those buried in the cemetery. His fears are now realized.
Charlotte also remembers flags in the cemetery and feels Civil War Veterans are
buried there. She drew the picture, next page, from memory at age of 74, and is
representative from the way she thinks it was and based on what she saw at age
9. Please keep in mind the church was already moved when she saw this area, so
the barn really sat farther left.
The Waterloo Courier
The
Waterloo Courier on Sunday February 23, 1986, carried a headline, "An Old
Cemetery that Disappeared." The Methodist Church officials say
recordkeeping "fell through he cracks." Another headline March 5,
1986 was "Attorney's finding that cemetery belongs to church disputed by man."
On March 12, 1986 a headline was, "Lawyer says he's dug up proof of
cemetery ownership." Then on November 26, 1986 was "County could have
cemetery on its hands." Finally on May 21, 1987 the Courier headline was
"Property Owners offer cemetery compromises."
All these
stories have brought us to this day when we must decide what to do about these
graves or burial sites and how to protect and preserve them.
At issue
are three distinct points:
·
The
Cemetery as a whole: 198 feel north and south and 165 feet ease and west
comprising 3/4 acre
·
The
graves themselves: 25 and possibly 30 to 35.
·
Location
of the graves within the cemetery.
The Iowa
Code clearly states in s566.33 "A governmental subdivision or agency
having a burial site within its jurisdiction for which protection or preservation
is not otherwise provided, shall preserve and protect the burial site as
necessary to restore or maintain its physical integrity as a burial site."
(Emphasis added).
Over the
years time and weather may have obscured some of the names on the stones of
this cemetery, but one man buried them all, thereby destroying the integrity of
the cemetery and losing forever the exact location of the burial sites.
I would
propose the following solution:
·
The
cemetery land must be surveyed and permanent boundary stone markers be erected.
These markers should be large enough and permanent in structure to discourage
vandals.
·
A
common memorial stone large enough to contain the name of the cemetery and the
names of all known persons buried there and dates as known. Also there should
be room for additional names as they become known. This stone should be located
close to the road and visible. It should also be engraved that the exact
location of the graves is unknown but that all is consecrated ground within the
bounds of the cemetery. The cemetery should be bounded by these stones after
Mr. Buehler has returned them as required by Iowa Code S566..34,
Confiscation and Return of Memorials. "A law enforcement officer having
reason to believe that a grave memorial is in the possession of a person
without authorization or right to possess the memorial may take possession of
the memorial from that person and turn it over to the officer's agency. If a
law enforcement agency determines that a memorial it has taken possession of rightfully
belongs on a grave or burial site, the agency shall return the memorial to the
site or make arrangements with the agency having jurisdiction over the grave or
burial site for the return of the memorial."
It is indeed
sad that laws to protect the graves themselves have had to be enacted in 1986.
Other than unthinking juvenile vandals tipping over stones it is rare that
anyone would try to steal a cemetery itself.
It has been
contended that graves have been moved to other sites. Common sense tells us
this is not so, as few of us have ever seen any graves moved in our lifetimes.
It has been
contended that the heirs should look after their loved ones - - but many were
children and have no heirs. Thus it is society that must step in and protect
the graves from common use.
The law is
slow and ponderous. there are sometimes lapses, and
this cemetery was desecrated during one of these lapses. Now we must do what
the law and common decency demand. The cemetery must be returned to the
consecrated status that ll cemeteries must have
through all time, whether they be Christian, Jewish, Moslem or
non-denominational. And if these various entities cease to function then it is
clearly the duty of the state to protect and defend the grave from unlawful
use.
It has
often been said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. The only
thing that you will ever have through all eternity is your grave. It is the
duty of those that follow to protect your grave just as we must protect those
that have gone before us.
We must
tell Mr. Buehler and others like him that he cannot own nor use this cemetery.
Some
discussion of adverse ownership by Mr. Buehler of the cemetery has taken place.
Let us also consider conversion: the unauthorized assumption and rights of
ownership over personal property belonging to another The
dead do in fact have rights. Not many, to be sure, but one of them is the right
of undisturbed rest in consecrated ground and that their monuments or markers
be left undisturbed.
Now let us
require Mr. Buehler to replace those stones that he caused to be removed.
Re-mark the cemetery boundaries, restore and maintain its physical integrity as
a burial site. It is not necessary to locate each individual grave, as some
have been lost forever. This is why the entire 3/4 acre must become as a common
grave and be dedicated to those graves it holds, both known and unknown.
Information
included from William H. Lemke
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Updated:
25 February, 2004