Garden Grove Cemetery |
| Garden Grove Township, Sections 26 and 27 |
 Photograph courtesy of history4fun, September 13, 2007 |
| Nearest town: Garden Grove Cemetery GPS Coordinates: 40.8305580,-93.5957730 View Gravestone Photos |
A - L M - Z |
| In 1993, the cemetery is located on either side of county road R-69,
in sections 26 and 27 of Garden Grove Township. The east side, in
section 26, is newer, the west side, in section 27 is older. The south
half of the west side is older than the north half of the west side. In the beginning, land for a cemetery was given to the town by Lucretia Arnold. The north edge of that donation was a continuation of the north boundary of the town itself. Today that boundary is easily identified by a ditch and a small shed. The early cemetery land was divided into four areas called blocks. The choice piece of land in the Garden Grove Cemetery remains the area known as Block A. When Lucretia Arnold donated land to the town, she reserved part of block A for her family. There was no reason to designate lots in that area because they would not be for sale. The area reserved by Mrs. Arnold is known as the Arnold Reserve. It is equivalent to nine normal sized lots. The system of numbering the lots in the Garden Grove Cemetery, east of the county road, is different than the west side. Think of a grid with numbers 1 - 45 on the top, or east fence, and the numbers 0 - 9 on the south fence, west to east, or road to fence. Each lot has a two or three digit lot number. The right hand digit represents the location of the lot relative to the south fence. 25(1) The other part of the number represents the location relative to the east fence, or section number. (25)1 |
| THE ARNOLD RESERVE |
| Block A includes an area called the Arnold Reserve. It is best to
think of this area as six rows within an area equal to nine lots. Beginning from the east, next to the pavement, the first three rows include stones of the Arnold family. There are no stones in row four. Rows five and six include members of the Stephen Arnold family and Jacob and Mary Henning, apparently good friends of the Arnolds. The northwest corner of the Arnold Reserve includes the Thomas Knapp and Gilman C. Mudgett families, and although technically in the Arnold Reserve, will be treated as an extension of the Ann Knapp lot (lot 27) to the north. The stones in the Arnold Reserve, with the exception of the Knapp-Mudgett area will be listed by rows. The rest of the block will be listed by lot as was done in Blocks D and C, starting with the Iensen lot next to the pavement and going north to the ditch. |
| FREE LOTS |
| Two rows of lots along the west edge of Block B have been designated the area of Free Lots. Stones in that area will be listed in rows from south to north. There will be four rows, 23, 24, 25, and 26. |
| EXTRA LOTS |
| North of lot 3 and lot 4 in Block B, along the ditch, there are two extra lots. Since there are no numbers for these lots, they are just listed as B-. |
| Block E, Rows 13 and 14 |
| Monument erected in 1910 by Henry Walton W.R.C. No. 277 in memory of
the unknown dead who died during the Civil War 1861-1865. Flag, A memorial for Charles D. Smith, May 28, 1984. Point-Le-Grove, Post No. 450, American Legion, Garden Grove, Iowa. |
| Sources: Garden Grove Cemetery The West Side compiled by Pat Hailey
and Karla Gunzenhauser, August 1, 1996. A copy of this book may be found
at the Leon Public Library, Leon, Decatur County, Iowa. Additional
information regarding lot and row layout may be found in this book. Input by Stacey Dietiker October 10, 2002 & November 5, 2003. Updated by Sharon R. Becker, February, March & April 2015. Additional transcriptions from WPA Records, biographies and obituaries. Reformatted by Conni McDaniel Hall March 2019 |
| Cemetery Directory *** Decatur County IAGenWeb |