"Sams Cemetery is located in Section 9, Poweshiek Township, Jasper County, Iowa. To be more specific North 47th Ave West, West of West 126th ST North, lane North to gate, East and then North to top of hill. Find the intersection named above, drive a half mile or so West and look for a lane going North. Look closely it is easy to miss. The cemetery sits atop a little knoll West of the site of the Sams family home. Another name for the Cemetery is Nicely Grove.
"No recorded deed can be found for the transfer of this plot of ground to the Trustees of Poweshiek Township. However, in the Memoirs of John Sams we are told that he and his wife Susan Evaline Humphreys, Hilton Sams and family came from Illinois in June of 1853. They purchased 640 acres of Poweshiek Township, Jasper County government land and they lived there until his death, 38 years later. John Sams died 09 April 1891 a victim of the measles. ’He was laid to rest in the burial ground he had bequeathed to the Township and which bears his name.’
"There is a Right of Way Deed to the trustees from Solomon Dickey and his wife R. J. Dickey which describes a ’strip of land twenty feet wide . . . . to have and to hold said srip of land for all purposes incident and necessary to travel to and from the cemetery.’
"It is said the first grave in Sams Cemetery was in 1853, that of three month old Malissia Harper, daughter of S. P. and M. M. Harper. This cemetery tells some interesting tales. Intriguing tombstones such as these are found:
Hinda R. Scoondyke
Dau. of A. & E. J. Scoondyke
died November 26 1878
age 22y 9m 6d
’By his false deluding vows,
He poured the poison liquid down
And parted life, joy, and peace forever more.’
"Another interesting one is at the grave of Samuel Bailey a World War I soldier:
’He left his home in perfect health,
He looked so young and brave
Little we thought how soon he’d be,
Laid in a soldier’s grave.’
"A third, on the stone of Leonard Booth: ’Died by the hand of Morris Spangler.’
"Research in an old newspaper tell us that Spangler, aged 17, and another youth had followed booth’s son to the Booth residence. An argument rupted, and Booth’s son called to his father for help. When the elder Booth joined the fracus, Spangler, ’Raising a heavy piece of fence stake, struck Mr. Booth a powerful blow upon the head. It crushed through the skull, literally braining him on the spot.’
"Sams Cemetery is fenced, drive-in (dry lane only), there is no sign, but it is well maintained by the Poweshiek Township Trustees. Lacking a map the cemetery was walked by rows from North to South, starting in the Northwest corner."
Source: Jasper County, Iowa Cemeteries: Poweshiek Township, compiled by Jasper County Genealogical Society; published by the Iowa Genealogical Cemetery. Copyright 1995. Used with their permission.
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