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Elk Rapids Cemetery Burials

In 1851, Benjamin Williams platted the town of Elk Rapids.
The settlement flourished until 1857 when the waters of the Des Moines River carried away the mill there.
When Mrs. Benjamin (Elsie) Williams died in 1847, Mr. Williams donated the land
for her burial which was later to become Elk Rapids Cemetery.

In 1913, due to construction by a railroad company, a number of burials on the south side
of the cemetery were reinterred in various cemeteries in Boone County.

In 1973, due to the construction of the Saylorville Dam and Lake, the remaining burials were
moved to Dalander Cemetery. There are at least 20 unknown persons who were reinterred to Dalander Cemetery in 1973.

The following partial list of burials original to Elk Rapids Cemetery was gathered from death records,
cemetery records and newspaper articles. If the location of reinterrment is known, it is listed in the "Reinterrment" column.

Name	Birth	Death	Reinterrment
Annis, Elmer E.	08 Feb 1862	20 Dec 1869	Dalander
Annis, Francis	23 Nov 1824	30 May 1864	Dalander
Annis, Mary L.	09 Mar 1856	23 Oct 1857	Dalander
Annis, Nancy	27 Jan 1845	04 Mar 1908	Dalander
Annis, Warren M.	03 Feb 1860	26 May 1861	Dalander
Annis, William Frank	13 Feb 1854	20 Dec 1869	Dalander
Armstrong, Emma C.		26 Dec 1872	Dalander
Armstrong, Peter	13 Jan 1817	14 Sep 1901	Dalander
Ballard, Martha		1854	Boone
Bernico, Joseph	1805	09 Oct 1878	Dalander
Bernico, Martha	1854	16 Jul 1875	Dalander
Cagle, Dovea (Sturdivant)	1817	1856	Fairview
Cunningham, Amy Marilda	27 Nov 1860	04 Mar 1861	Fairview
Cunningham, Bruce			Mount Hope
Cunningham, Diana		1872	Fairview
Cunningham, G.	1858	1859	Fairview
Cunningham, George B.	11 Feb 1865	1867	Fairview
Cunningham, James A.	1821	05 Mar 1901	Fairview
Cunningham, John H.		1850	Hull
Cunningham, Rebecca J.		1871	Fairview
Cunningham, Theodore	1862	1863	Hull
Dennis, Emma (Bernico)	13 Apr 1846	25 Nov 1910	Dalander
Detrick, Martha		1855	Hopkins Grove
Fuller,		13 Jan 1874	Dalander
Fuller, Willie		31 Jan 1874	Dalander
Grable, Infant Son	1859	1860	Hull
Grable, Nancy		1861	Hull
Green, Julia Ann	Jan 1867	13 Feb 1874	Dalander
Green, Mary A.	10 Aug 1856	29 Sep 1857	Dalander
Gulick, John	16 May 1844	19 Apr 1900	Mount Hope
Gulick, Libbie			Mount Hope
Gulick, Mary	06 Aug 1850	04 Aug 1890	Mount Hope
Gulick, Mary E.			Mount Hope
Hardy, B.R.	1850	08 Sep 1873	Dalander
Hardy, Celia J.	1825	04 Sep 1873	Dalander
Hardy, Elias	02 Jan 1819	08 Apr 1869	Dalander
Hardy, Joseph S.	1856	21 Sep 1859	Dalander
Helm, Annie	1876	03 Apr 1895	Fairview
Higgins, Infant Female	1896	06 Jan 1897
Hively, Delmaty	21 Sep 1866	07 Feb 1895	Dalander
Hively, Rossetta		10 Jun 18?2	Dalander
Hoof, Mary	1810	15 Nov 1880
Hughes, Caroline	1872	1896	Dalander
Hughes, Isaac	1823	1885	Dalander
Hughes, John William	05 Mar 1870	24 Sep 1934	Dalander
Hughes, Sarah	1831	1904	Dalander
Hurley, Catherine		1861	Hull
Hurley, John		1866	Hull
Jones, Mary E.		19 Dec 1856	Dalander
Jones, Mary J.	1822	05 Sep 1855	Dalander
Long, Esther			Fairview
Long, Jessie			Fairview
Long, Leslie			Fairview
Long, Mary		1877	Fairview
Long, Peter			Fairview
McCall, Montgomery Warren	04 Mar 1786	15 Feb 1855	Dalander
McIntosh, Elizabeth		1867	Boone
McPheeters, John	1840	17 Dec 1874	Dalander
Mills, Edwin W.	1861	31 May 1861	Dalander
Murphy, Sarah		1865	Mount Hope
Nutt, L. Jane		26 Dec 1856	Dalander
Pepples, Abraham	28 Feb 1851	09 Nov 1928	Dalander
Pepples, Abraham	1805	07 Dec 1894	Dalander
Pepples, Amy Bell	1878	1881	Dalander
Pepples, Ann	24 Oct 1858	13 Jan 1933	Dalander
Pepples, Jacob	17 Aug 1854	04 Mar 1921	Dalander
Pepples, John P.	11 Mar 1885	22 Mar 1887	Dalander
Pepples, Laffie P.		19 May 1901	Dalander
Pepples, Rosa	Nov 1879	Nov 1879	Dalander
Pepples, Sarah J.	20 Feb 1883	25 May 1884	Dalander
Ritchhart, Elizabeth O.	1867	15 Aug 1869	Dalander
Ritchhart, John	1825	23 Dec 1867	Dalander
Ritchhart, Joseph A.	09 Jun 1862	19 Mar 1863	Dalander
Ritchhart, Joseph E.	1869	1869	Dalander
Ritchhart, Mary E.	1867	15 Feb 1870	Dalander
Ritchhart, Willis H.	1865	20 Feb 1866	Dalander
Robertson, Robert			Mount Hope
Rutherford, Infant	1874	1874	Dalander
Rutherford, John N.	1853	1862	Dalander
Rutherford, Marion G.	1866	1874	Dalander
Rutherford, Mary M.	Dec 1861	26 Oct 1862	Dalander
Rutherford, Susan A.	1851	1862	Dalander
Saunders, Joseph E.	1858	1859	Boone
Saunders, Perry S.		1876	Boone
Sharp, Mary E.	1880	13 Apr 1884
Soderland, Bertina		27 Sep	Dalander
Stoneburner, Eva Pearl (Hively)	14 Feb 1893	20 Apr 1915	Dalander
Stover, Charlotte J.	1867	19 Oct 1871	Dalander
Stover, Sarah		29 Oct 1871	Dalander
Straughan, Obedience		1869	Hopkins Grove
Sturdivant, Esther B.	1892	1892	Dalander
Sturdivant, John J.	12 Oct 1836	15 Jun 1912	Fairview
Sturdivant, Johnnie	09 Mar 1892	07 Apr 1892	Fairview
Underhill, Agnes	1814	27 Apr 1863	Dalander
Underhill, W. H.			Dalander
Vestal, Margaret (McPheeters)	07 Mar 1844	31 May 1891	Dalander
Wheeler, Benjamin			Mount Hope
Wheeler, Infant Daughter			Mount Hope
Wheeler, Infant Son			Mount Hope
Wheeler, Joshua		1890	Fairview
Wheeler, Mary	1880	16 Oct 1880
Wheeler, Mrs. Benjamin			Mount Hope
Wheeler, William		1902	Fairview
Widner, Caroline E.	20 Mar 1849	30 Dec 1853	Dalander
Widner, Henry	11 Nov 1827	14 Jan 1858	Dalander
Widner, Mary M. (Ritchhart)	09 Nov 1824	29 Jan 1895	Dalander
Williams, Alfred E.	1829	07 Nov 1894	Dalander
Williams, Algie		1873	Boone
Williams, Amy	17 Jul 1800	12 Oct 1847	Dalander
Williams, Amy	09 Oct 1833	12 Oct 1845	Dalander
Williams, Betty	1802	1866	Dalander
Williams, Elsie		1847	Dalander
Williams, Henry	1803	07 Apr 1864	Dalander
Williams, John	1842		Dalander
Williams, Margaret E.	28 Feb 1872	22 Mar 1876	Dalander
Williams, Nancy	27 Jan 1845	04 Mar 1908	Dalander
Wilson, Moses B.	1860	1861	Boone

Excerpt from Perry Daily Chief, July 13, 1912, regarding construction of the new Milwaukee bridge

Cemetery to Be Moved

Right in the path of the monster grade is the old Williams Cemetery, grown rank with weeds and wild flowers. Headstones dating back to 1858 mark graves of men and women whose death occurred in that year. It presents a problem which the legal department of the road must solve. The company has purchased one hundred feet to the north of the little city of the dead and has secured permission from as many relatives as can be found for the removal of graves to the other side of the cemetery. The company needs fifty feet of the south end of it. A plat is being prepared locating each of the graves and the new part of the cemetery will be platted just as the old part is. The legal question of the change will be completed in a few days. When completed there will nestle along the side of the grade a neat burying ground, a monument of the past in comparison with the enterprise and ingenuity of modern man.

Perry Daily Chief, Aug. 2, 1912

OLD BURIAL GROUND IS HISTORICAL ONE

C.L. Lucas Tells of Famous Old Place Near Elk Rapids Which Milwaukee Road Is Moving

C.L. Lucas, the pioneer of Boone County and Madrid tells an interesting story of the old cemetery which the Milwaukee railroad is moving to make way for its mammoth bridge across the Des Moines River.

"It was the first spot of ground dedicated to a cemetery in Boone County," says Mr. Lucas. "The much decayed old fence that surrounds it, encloses less than two acres of land. To look at it now one is forced to the conclusion that it is a sadly neglected cemetery. It has never been taken charge of by any association of people for its care and protection. It is not known that it was ever so much as platted."

But notwithstanding all this neglect the remains of many prominent people rest within its borders. Of those he mentioned Benjamin Williams the man who donated the land on which the cemetery is located. Judge Montgomery McCall who was prominent in those early times. Joseph Bernico, John and Albert Williams, Joshua Wheeler and L.L. Wheeler, and three soldiers of the civil war, Isaac Hughes, Robert Robinson and John Gulick.

"The first burial in this cemetery was that of Mrs. Elsie Williams, wife of Benjamin Williams, who died June 10, 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Williams settled on a claim here in the spring of 1816. John Green and his band of Mesquake Indians were camped on the claim he took when Mr. Williams and his family arrived. They had just finished making maple sugar for that year. Their sap troughs became the property of Mr. Williams which he used for a number
of years. When the land came into the market about the year 1850, Mr. Williams bought it of the government at $1.25 per acre. It recently sold for $200 per acre."

"When Mr. Williams sold his farm to John Dalander some time in the sixties he reserved the cemetery. The title to it is now in his heirs."

"It is now very necessary that an association be formed and a quit claim deed be made to it by the heirs, so that the association may look after and take care of the cemetery. This is an absolute necessity."

"Some time ago a Perry paper seemed to be puzzled because the name Elk Rapids is applied to this cemetery. This comes from the fact that there is a rapids in the river nearby, which has from the earliest white settlement borne the name of Elk Rapids. The wild elk which were very numerous were in the habit of crossing the river at the rapids because the water was shallow there and from this the name originated."

The Perry Daily Chief, Saturday, July 24, 1913

BODIES ARE RAPIDLY BEING REMOVED

Elk Rapids Cemetery one of the Oldest in Central Iowa - Many Pioneers Are Buried There

The removal of bodies from the Elk Rapids Cemetery near the Des Moines River crossing of the Milwaukee road is being rapidly completed and within a short time it is expected that the change will be completed and the old cemetery extended to the north and south end disappear beneath the huge fill which the railroad company has to make to protect the big grade up to the famous high bridge.

This cemetery is one of the oldest burial grounds in central Iowa and among the graves opened are those of early Boone and Dallas County settlers. According to the records on the tombstone, the remains in one of the graves were laid away in 1855.

The following is a list of the bodies now being removed, and the names, age at time of death, dates of burial and the cemeteries to which the bodies are being removed, are as accurate as it is possible to secure them:

John Hurley, aged 80 years, buried 1866; remains moved to Hull Cemetery.

Catherine Hurley, aged 40 years, buried 1861; remains moved to Hull Cemetery.

Nancy Grable, aged 23 years, buried 1861; remains moved to the Hull Cemetery.

Infant son of Nancy Grable, aged 1 year, buried 1860; remains moved to Hull Cemetery.

John H. Cunningham, aged 35 years, buried 1850; remains moved to Hull Cemetery.

G. Cunningham, aged 1 year, buried 1859; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

A.M. Cunningham, aged 1 year, buried 1861; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

Rebecca J. Cunningham, aged 15 years, buried 1871; remains moved to Fairview Cemetery.

J.A. Cunningham, aged 72 years, buried 1901; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

Diana Cunningham, aged 8 years, buried 1872; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

George Cunningham, aged 2 years, buried 1867; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

Theodore Cunningham, aged 1 year, buried 1863; remains moved to Hull Cemetery.

John Gulic, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Mary Gulic, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Libbie Gulic, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Mary Long, aged 14 years, buried 1877; remains moved to Fairview Cemetery.

Martha Detrick, aged 27 years, buried in 1855; remains moved to old Hopkins Grove Cemetery.

Obedience Straughan, aged 81 years, buried 1869; remains moved to Hopkins Grove Cemetery.

Sarah Murphy, aged 74 years, buried 1865; remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Martha Ballard, aged 20 years, buried in 1854; remains moved to Boone Cemetery.

William Wheeler, aged 70 years, buried in 1902; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

Joshua Wheeler, aged 90 years, buried 1890; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

Johnnie Sturdivant, aged 1 year, buried 1892; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

John Sturdivant, aged 76 years, buried in 1912; remains moved to the Fairview Cemetery.

Robert Robertson, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Algie Williams, aged 14 years, buried 1873; remains moved to the Boone Cemetery.

Moses B. Wilson, aged 1 year, buried 1861; remains moved to the Boone Cemetery.

Joseph E. Saunders, aged 1 year, buried 1859; remains moved to the Boone Cemetery.

Perry S. Saunders, aged 19 years, buried 1876; remains moved to the Boone Cemetery.

Elizabeth McIntosh, aged 76 years, buried 1867; remains moved to the Boone Cemetery.

Mary E. Gulick, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Peter Long, remains moved to Fairview Cemetery.

Esther Long, remains moved to Fairview Cemetery.

Jessie Long, remains moved to Fairview Cemetery.

Leslie Long, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Dovie Cagle, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Bruce Cunningham, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Benjamin Wheeler, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Mrs. Benjamin Wheeler, remains moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

One son and one daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Wheeler removed to Mt. Hope Cemetery.

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