DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Cross Cut Cemetery, out in Brown County. Now, every place has a story, and some places carry more stories than they let on at first glance. Cross Cut is one of those.
It started after the Civil War, when several families from the southern states came rolling into this part of Brown County and put down roots. They called their little community Cross Out — and that name might've stuck forever, except for one beautiful accident. In 1897, somebody made an error on a post office application.
Cross Out became Cross Cut. Just like that. A clerical slip, and a town had a new name.
Before that rename, before the post office, before most of what we'd call a town, there was already a cemetery. Caroline Pentecost Elsberry was the first person buried there, in July of 1879. The two-acre plot is believed to have been donated by Mark and Sarah Pentecost — given to the community to hold its dead, quietly, for as long as the community might last.
And for a while, Cross Cut looked like it might last a good long while. Oil was discovered in 1923 — in the Cross Cut sand formation — and that changed things fast. The small town swelled to accommodate the surge in population, and several new businesses came along with it.
Boom times have a certain feel to them, and Cross Cut felt it. But here's the detail that'll stay with you. By 1940, the number of people buried in that cemetery had come to exceed the population of the living town around it.
Let that settle in a moment. The dead had outnumbered the living. Then in 1954, the Cross Cut School consolidated with Cross Plains Schools.
And the town declined thereafter. Most of what was Cross Cut is gone now — only a few buildings remain, and the cemetery. But that cemetery is no small thing.
Among those resting there are early settlers and their descendants, and veterans of conflicts stretching all the way from the Civil War through the Vietnam War. Generations of a place, gathered in two acres. In 1976, a cemetery association was formed, and a perpetual care trust was established.
The site continues to serve the area. Cross Out became Cross Cut by mistake. The boom came and went.
The school closed and the town faded. But that two-acre plot — donated, tended, trusted to endure — it's still there. Some places carry their stories in stone, and this one's been doing it since July of 1879.
What the marker says
Settlement began in this area of Brown County after the Civil War when several families from southern states moved here. They formed a community, initially known as Cross Out. It became Cross Cut in 1897 when an error was made on a post office application. Caroline Pentecost Elsberry was the first person buried in this community cemetery in July 1879. The two-acre plot of land dedicated as a graveyard is believed to have been donated by Mark and Sarah Pentecost. Oil was discovered in 1923 in the Cross Cut sand formation. The small town quickly swelled to accommodate the increase in population and several new businesses were added. By 1940 the population of the town was exceeded by the number of burials in the cemetery. In 1954 the Cross Cut School consolidated with Cross Plains Schools, and the town declined thereafter. Only a few buildings and the cemetery remain. Among those buried here are early settlers and their descendants, and veterans of conflicts from the Civil War through the Vietnam War. A cemetery association was formed in 1976, and a perpetual care trust was established. The site continues to serve the area. (1997)