The Des Moines County Pioneer Cemetery Commission

06/23/2026

We still have some openings for a small group training session at Butcher Cemetery Thursday, June 25th starting at 4pm. It will last about two hours. Please message me if you would like to participate or if you have questions.

You will be asked to sign a waiver when you arrive at the cemetery. We will provide what you will need to get started. You should bring work gloves, heat and bug protection, personal water or hydration (and a snack) and a pocket notebook, pen or pencil.

There are no bathrooms at the cemetery. The address is 18993 170th Ave., Yarmouth, IA 52660. It is located near USA coordinates 40.95790, -91.25700. The following directions are based on leaving from Burlington.

North on US Highway 61
Turn left (West) onto Dodgeville Road
Follow Dodgeville Road until 170th Ave
Turn right (North) onto 170th Ave (X37)
You will come to an intersection of Olympic Road and 170th Ave (X37)
Stay slight left on 170th Ave (X37)
Keep traveling north a short distance
Butcher Cemetery is off the road to your left.

Please see the links below.

https://iowagravestones.org/gs_view.php?id=710004
https://share.google/QeK4rCFHD9oFzdg4S
https://iagenweb.org/desmoines/Cemeteries/~Cemeteries.htm

06/23/2026

One of our Commission members, John Bl**er, has been very active restoring Blue Grass Cemetery, Blue Grass, Iowa. He recently started a page to show his work and provide some history of those buried there. The page he created is impressive. Please take a look and consider Following the page.

This is a link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590393575292&__cft__[0]=AZZhMJrdJ4iMXDDiLTtwfKvzXIRqDDBmshRHREz_Rzh4tB-WxVZ12dHfymoHYf45AvrCMXtSHLBiGPslVMhNAOBmggqfbfJOyEKy9wnnX40N_HUWFugRp2wmgB9F9-cGjFVTiBNLEF7CXCGbAU_IqaCO&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R

06/22/2026

Interesting facts.

06/22/2026

06/21/2026

Some of you have indicated you would like to help us with our pioneer cemeteries. We discussed doing another spring training but time has gotten away from us. We have decided to wait until the fall to do another training. That said, we would like to offer the opportunity now to train a small group to clean headstones at one of our upcoming work sessions. We are looking for volunteers that want to work in our pioneer cemeteries. After some initial training, you can work independently or participate in scheduled work or maintenance sessions with other Commission members.

Our next work session will be at Butcher or Old German Cemetery this Thursday, June 25th, 2026. If you want to be part of a small group (up to ten persons) to learn how to clean stones, please message me. I'll need your email and phone number. If we get more than 10 interested persons, you'll be put on a waiting list for the next chance to do this training.

The training will start at 4 pm at Butcher Cemetery. It will last about two hours. You will be asked to sign a waiver when you arrive. We will provide what you will need to get started. You should bring work gloves, heat and bug protection, personal water or hydration (and a snack) and a pocket notebook, pen or pencil.

There are no bathrooms at the cemetery.

Getting to Butcher is a little challenging. The address is 18993 170th Ave., Yarmouth, IA 52660. It is located near USA coordinates 40.95790, -91.25700. The following directions are based on leaving from Burlington.

North on US Highway 61
Turn left (West) onto Dodgeville Road
Follow Dodgeville Road until 170th Ave
Turn right (North) onto 170th Ave (X37)
You will come to an intersection of Olympic Road and 170th Ave (X37)
Stay slight left on 170th Ave (X37)
Keep traveling north a short distance
Butcher Cemetery is off the road to your left.

Please see the links below. If you have any questions, please message me.

https://iowagravestones.org/gs_view.php?id=710004

https://share.google/QeK4rCFHD9oFzdg4S

https://iagenweb.org/desmoines/Cemeteries/~Cemeteries.htm

06/21/2026

Holy smokes what a crowd!!

06/18/2026

Recognizing the Military of Des Moines County.

06/18/2026

New Episode🪦Happy belated Flag Day! On this week’s Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, Dianne and Jennie are honoring the women behind the American flag. You know Betsy Ross, but do you know Mary Pickersgill and Grace Wisher? Did Betsy Ross really make the first flag? And why does she have three possible burial sites in Philadelphia? And how did Mary Pickersgill, a widowed business owner, and Grace Wisher, a free young woman of color indentured to Mary, inspire Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our National Anthem?

Jennie and Dianne weave together the myths, historical facts, and the graves that hold their stories while celebrating how these women, and so many others like them, literally stitched our country together!

Listen on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts or simply follow this link: https://www.theordinaryextraordinarycemetery.com/the-seamstresses-of-liberty/

View this episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/Ee3p2aSOjOc