Lee County Pioneer Cemetery Association
Pioneer Cemeteries
2002
by Terry Altheide
It's a shame they had to get this
way/ someone should do something about it/ our pioneers deserve better than
this With those and other thoughts in mind, 38 Lee County
residents gathered in Donnellson on
September 30,2002, and formed the Lee County Pioneer Cemetery Association.
2003
by Terry Altheide
Pioneer Cemetery Group Completes Successful First Year
Our association has been responsible for cleaning
five cemeteries in Lee County. They include Oiler on the Valley Road near
Keokuk, Conlee farm near Montrose, Pitman Chapel, which is located a couple
miles east of West Point, Locus Grove, two miles north of Ft Madison and
Beeler, which can be found east of Primrose a few miles.
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October 9,2004
Note from Terry Altheide
In the past two years, Van Buren trustees, led by Bill Batten, have bought a new
fence for the graveyard and have hired landowners Bill and Cindy White as
cemetery caretakers. The site has been mowed four times this year. Robert
Holtkamp cut down many trees two years ago and was instrumental in guiding the
cemetery group's recent setting of 32 stones one Saturday morning
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September 18,2005
Note From Terry Altheide
Don't know what cemeteries I've let you know we've cleaned, but these are the
ones we have done or are doing: Oilar (notice it's spelled with an a, I've seen
an e in many listings,) Hyde, Locust Grove, Hoffmeister, Johnson, Old Pilot
Grove, Blacksmith, Pitman Chapel, Pitman Family & Beeler. These sites have been
cleaned. Stones have not been reset in most of them. We did reset almost all
stones in Locust Grove with the help of Leyda, Burrus & Metz Monument Company.
Much rock has been emptied at Beeler to help stop the erosion by a crick. Signs
with names of a site, date established & name of our group has been erected at
all of these places plus some others we haven't gotten to yet.
A new site was discovered recently which we call the Payne Family Cemetery. Two
burials are on it and I have some info on them.
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Pioneer Cemeteries
By: Terry Althedie
April 27, 2006
This information is taken from a Newspaper article written
by Terry Altheide. It appeared in the Daily Gate City on April 27, 2006.
1. Pitman Family Site is located a few miles east
of West Point. Within this quaint burying ground is a memorial stone honoring
Archibald Gooley. Gooley was killed at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 and
is buried at the National Cemetery in Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. This
cemetery was cleaned in 2003 by the Lee County Pioneer Cemetery Association.
2.
Blacksmith Cemetery is located a few miles west of West Point.
Buried at this site is Charles Postlethwait , a soldier who served in Co.
H of the 21st Missouri Infantry. As of yet very little is known
about this man other than what is mentioned on the military stone of his wife
buried next to him.
3.
Hoffmeister Cemetery is located a few blocks west of the Ft
Madison Penitentiary on private property, holds the remains of Augustus
Hoffmeister, a Civil War surgeon who later practiced medicine in the
prison. Augustus established this cemetery in 1860 with the death of his two
year old daughter, Minna. Augustus joined the Iowa Eighth Volunteer Infantry
in 1862 and was promoted to surgeon in 1863. He was honorably
discharged in 1864 due to extreme illness the result of being overworked and
exposed for long periods to extreme weather conditions.
Pioneer cemeteries bearing such names as Johnson, Judy,
Locust Grove, Wilson, Dudley and scores of others in the Tri-States Area hold
the remains of veteran’s from all of America’s earliest conflicts.