JOHNSON COUNTY
 IAGenWeb Project

Johnson County Cemeteries




 

Cline/Strabala Cemetery

 aka Mellow

 

Liberty Township


Link to Iowa Gravestone Project for Cline/Strabala CemeteryLink to location & contact information for  Cline/Strabala Cemetery


The Cline cemetery is in the North 1/2 of Section 34 in Liberty Township east of Harry's Road. It is sometimes referred to the Strabala Cemetery. Go east on Highway 22 past Old Highway 218 (now called Vine Avenue) and around two curves.  At the second curve turn left on a gravel road. You will see a sign "Blue Top Farm" and some For Sale signs. Take this gravel road 1.5 to 2 miles.  The cemetery is back in a field in this area.

These directions were provided by Susan Schott the wife of Larry Schott, a Liberty Township Trustee.

Jon Dodder of Muscatine, Iowa walked the cemetery and took the digital photos that are shown below. 

As shown in the picture above, the cemetery was overrun with weeds. Jon walked through a bean field to get to the cemetery. It is on Walnut Avenue on the east side of the road. There is an address marker 5716 on the lane that leads to the cemetery.

Now this old cemetery has been restored. 

Link to Gazette News Restoration Article

Site Location Map
(click image to enlarge)

Courtesy of Architect Robert Burns who for a time lived near the Cline Cemetery







Restoring An Overgrown Cemetery

When River Products Company, Inc., purchased property near Riverside from Charles Strabala, the company made an unusual promise: "We will restore a small cemetery on the property east of Harry’s Road." The cemetery was overgrown with vines, grasses, trees, and poison ivy. Only a few of the headstones were visible.

Company employees started work on the cemetery in fall 2006. When they had located the headstones, footstones, and markers they matched them with a WPA Grave Records listing and realized they hadn’t begun to find all the stones that were originally there. By probing the cemetery in sections, they found all but two of the headstones on the list—and four that weren’t on the list.

Some whole stones were buried four to six inches. Some broken pieces were found next to each other buried in the dirt.

Bases were dug up and matched to their headstones. Then the employees fixed and cleaned all stones that could be repaired. For burial sites where names could not be identified, sandstone markers were replaced with more durable Wisconsin limestone marked “Rest in Peace.”

When the work began, the cemetery was known locally as the Strabala Cemetery. When researched, it was found to be the Cline Cemetery, dating back to the 1840s when the Cline family owned the land where the cemetery is located and adjacent farmland.

To reach the cemetery from Iowa City, take Hwy. 218/27 south to Hills exit and turn east. At a four-way stop, turn right onto Oak Crest Hill Road W64 and go south 2.3 miles to Harry’s  Road S.E. Turn left and follow to River Products Sand Plant. Turn left into the drive and drive east to the cemetery which is surrounded by a new white fence. (Source: Iowa City Genealogical Society Newsletter, August 2010)


Some Restored Stones

(click images to enlarge)

Elizabeth, wife of W. H. Carpenter
died Apr 11, 1849
aged 22 yrs 8 mo

Michael B. Cline
born Sep 2, 1826
died Dec 14, 1897

Elizabeth Emmons
Wife of Joshua Emmons
died Apr 14, 1880
aged 75 yrs, 1 mo, 6 ds

Joshua Emmons
died Nov 19, 1883
aged 83 yrs 9 mo 23 ds
(shared stone with Elizabeth)
Lawrence Emmons
Clarence Emmons
sons of Elizabeth and Joshua Emmons
(stones are leaning on Elizabeth and Joshua's stone.
unable to read stones. No photo)
Irene O. J. Cline
died Sep 15, 1826
daughter of M. B. and N. C. Cline
(stone is leaning on Michael's)

Isaac W. Emmons
son of Isaac M. & Anna Emmons
(stone is leaning on Elizabeth and Joshua's stone)

Justus H. Secor
born May 13, 1827
died June 10, 1907
(shared stone)

Luvina Secor
born Mar 5, 1829
died Apr 2, 1876
(shared stone)
Harriet Ager?
wife of Richard Hankins
no photo
William H. Loan
died Nov 6, 1835
44 yrs 11 mo 6 ds
shared stone, no photo
Mary J. Loan
born Sep 4, 1835
died Feb 8, 1898

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Page Updated 26 Feb 2023