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 First Lutheran (Frame Church) Cemetery

this page was last updated on Monday, 05 April 2021

First Lutheran Cemetery - photo by Bill Waters


Welcome to the Cemetery Page. This document summarizes data for 530 graves and is mainly based on a 100% Photo survey of the cemetery conducted by Bill Waters on August 19, 2014. This photo survey resulted in 520 IGPP records. The photo survey information was enhanced with 114 WPA records and 6 IAGenWeb obituary records. Note: This cemetery was called "Stavanger" in the WPA survey. This table was further enhanced by information submitted by Tove D Johansen from Norway and with information taken from a comprehensive tabulation of Stavanger cemetery information compiled by Beverly Saboe in November 2014.This table contains 17 pointers to photos of the deceased. The left columns of the tabulation indicate the source of the summary data GPP (G), WPA (W) and Obits (O). A camera Icon indicates that either an obit or a GPP record or both display a photo of the deceased. Note that some records have more than one source; this is because in many cases the information is redundant. If there is a disagreement, your county coordinator has used his best judgment about which information to include in the compilation. This summary contains a wealth of information that was made available by volunteers taking pictures and transcribing data. Those volunteers are to be applauded, keep up the good work!

Some information in these tables is shown in blue. This information came from the First Lutheran (Frame Church) cemetery table Provided by Beverly Saboe Nov. 23, 2014

In April, 2018 Connie Ellis Submitted a list of additions and corrections based on an article that she found in the FAYETTE COUNTY UNION, West Union, Iowa newspaper, "UNMARKED GRAVES AT FIRST LUTHERAN CEMETERY RECOGNIZED ON PLAQUE", Wednesday, March 6, 2013, page A-4

This information has been incorporated into the First Lutheran cemetery pages

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Surnames Starting With: A-FG-J-K- L-N,O-R,S-Z, Cemetery Index

First Lutheran Cemetery unmarked grave plaque- photo by Bill Waters



A Brief History of First Lutheran Church

The original church structure, built in 1850, was a log building measuring 18’ X 28’ and 10 feet high to the eaves, located at this cemetery. The first congregation did not have a full time pastor. What they had was a traveling pastor, Rev. Eielson, who promised to visit them as often as possible. The congregation nevertheless met for services weekly and a lay person would read a sermon. The first resident pastor was Rev. Peter Thompson in 1863. In 1870, a second building, a frame structure was erected on the site of the present church, one mile south of this cemetery. Due to the shape of the church, it was nicknamed “The Frame Church” for many years. It was later destroyed by a storm and rebuilt. The present church was built in 1924. At its height in 1884, there were 538 baptized souls. In 1939 came Bethany Lutheran, a mile south of First Lutheran. The church was originally named “Stavanger Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation.” That name was often confused with a neighbor church to north, so in 1942 the name was changed to First Lutheran Church. The First Lutheran congregation chose its name because it was the first Lutheran church in Fayette County, the first Lutheran church of Norwegian decent in the State of Iowa, and quite possibly the first Norwegian Lutheran church west of the Mississippi. The records for the first 20 years of the First Lutheran 1850-1870 were lost, therefore there is a probability that more people are buried here in addition to those listed, but there is no way of knowing names.

The Following People Are Believed to Be Buried at This Cemetery But have No Grave Marker. These names are listed alphabetically along with the marked graves in the cemetery tables. In the cemetery the names that came from this list are identified with an "UM" under the heading "PL".

Sexton photo contributed by Connie Ellis
Contributed by Connie Ellis - 2018

Please, contact the County Coordinator to submit additions or corrections.

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this page was last updated on Monday, 05 April 2021