St. John's United Church of Christ Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of the official marker for St. John's United Church of Christ Cemetery, out in Washington County. Now, every cemetery has a story.

Most of them start with land, a little money, and a community deciding that the people they love deserve a proper place to rest. This one starts that way too, but once you look closer, you find the kind of details that stay with you long after you've driven past the hill. In June of 1894, a Christian congregation called Evangelical St.

John's Church of Burton organized. Five years in, the congregation was growin, and with growth comes a long-felt need the marker names plainly: a cemetery. In October of 1899, the church met that need.

Two acres of land, a mile east of Burton, purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Michael Wolff. The price was fifty-seven dollars.

Now, the very first marked grave in that ground belongs to Hulda Arndt, buried September 12, 1899. The first recorded burial, though, is of Martin Rogas, on March 30, 1900. Two different distinctions, two different names.

This cemetery keeps its records carefully, and that care tells you something about the people who tended it. There is a children's section, established early on. According to the records, fifty-three children were buried there from 1899 to 1909.

Ten years. Fifty-three children. You let that land where it needs to land.

At the center of the cemetery, the church set aside a resting place for its ministers. One grave there belongs to Reverend Hermann Schulz, who died January 13, 1941, and who had served as minister of St. John's from 1898 to 1921.

He was with that congregation through some of the hardest years this story holds. Because in another section of this cemetery on a hill, there are seven graves, all in a row, all marked by identical monuments. Five confirmands and two young men from the church.

They died in action, or of disease, in France during World War I. Seven identical stones. Not one of them set apart from the others.

That's a quiet kind of statement, and it speaks loud. The veteran burials don't stop with the First World War. Others who served in the Second World War, in Korea, in Vietnam, they are here too.

And the land itself kept growing to hold them. On January 25, 1976, the church purchased an additional 1.448 acres adjacent to the original cemetery, from F. R. and Annie Maud Avis, because the congregation had always expected the need for more.

That might be the most honest thing about this place. They planned for it. They knew the community would keep coming, generation after generation, to this hill a mile east of Burton.

And it has been, since its creation, the last resting place of those who in life were part of the church. That's what the marker says. Simple, and exactly right.

What the marker says

IN JUNE 1894, A CHRISTIAN CONGREGATION CALLED EVANGELICAL ST. JOHN'S CHURCH OF BURTON ORGANIZED. IN OCTOBER 1899, A LONG-FELT NEED FOR A CEMETERY FOR THE CHURCH WAS MET WHEN TWO ACRES OF LAND, A MILE EAST OF BURTON, WERE PURCHASED FROM MR. AND MRS. MICHAEL WOLFF FOR $57. THE FIRST RECORDED BURIAL IS OF MARTIN ROGAS (MARCH 30, 1900). THE FIRST MARKED GRAVE BELONGS TO HULDA ARNDT, BURIED SEPTEMBER 12, 1899. EXPECTING THE NEED FOR MORE CEMETERY LAND, THE CHURCH PURCHASED AN ADDITIONAL 1.448 ACRES ADJACENT TO THE ORIGINAL CEMETERY FROM F. R. AND ANNIE MAUD AVIS ON JANUARY 25, 1976. THE CEMETERY HAS CERTAIN DISTINCT AREAS WORTH MENTIONING. THERE IS A SEPARATE CHILDREN'S SECTION WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED EARLY ON, AND ACCORDING TO THE RECORDS, SOME 53 CHILDREN WERE BURIED THERE FROM 1899 TO 1909. IN THE CENTER OF THE CEMETERY THERE IS A FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR MINISTERS THAT INCLUDES THE GRAVE OF REV. HERMANN SCHULZ (d. JANUARY 13, 1941), WHO WAS THE MINISTER OF ST. JOHN'S FROM 1898 TO 1921. IN ANOTHER SECTION ARE SEVEN GRAVES, ALL IN A ROW AND MARKED BY IDENTICAL MONUMENTS. THESE BELONG TO FIVE CONFIRMANDS AND TWO YOUNG MEN FROM THE CHURCH WHO DIED IN ACTION OR OF DISEASE IN FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR I. OTHER VETERAN BURIALS BELONG NOT ONLY TO THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE WORLD WARS BUT ALSO THE KOREAN AND VIETNAM WARS. SINCE ITS CREATION, THIS CEMETERY ON A HILL HAS BEEN THE LAST RESTING PLACE OF THOSE WHO IN LIFE WERE PART OF THE CHURCH.