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The Des Moines County Pioneer Cemetery Commission

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The Des Moines County Pioneer Cemetery Commission

The Des Moines County Pioneer Cemetery Commission preserves 43 pioneer cemeteries. Donations are appreciated. We don't have 5013C status.

Donations to the DMCPCC can be sent c/o Mike Bloomer, Aspen Grove Cemetery, 2043 Sunnyside, Burlington, IA 52601.

11/02/2026

We had a fantastic day yesterday cleaning stones and doing repairs at Linn Grove Cemetery. In a little more than 4 hours we cleaned 20 stones and repaired and/or straightened 13. This may be the last cemetery for the year that we will have a work session in. Looking back in 2026:

We've had work sessions at Old Middletown (April 26th), Flint River Township (April 20th & July 11th), Butcher (June 25th), Welsh Chapel (Aug. 22nd) and Linn Grove (Nov. 1st). Members did additional restoration work in Freitag, Franklin Mills and Schilb-Bolick and visited Hunt Woods, Driskell and Sourwine Cemeteries.

Colin Betts, a researcher at Luther College, surveyed Pegtown and Mathis for burials in July with GPR.

We made the decision to stop mowing Old Middletown Cemetery and allow it to become a cemetery prairie preserve. Dan Sears with another member of the Iowa Prairie Network surveyed Old Middletown Aug. 23rd. A number of emerging prairie plants were identified.

Ray W. visited and did work at Elliott and Mormon cemeteries inside the IAAP.

We had our Fall Training on October 10th at Franklin Mills Cemetery. 8 people participated and received certificates.

We restored one stone in N. 6th Cemetery.

3 Members participated in the National Day of Service at Keokuk National Cemetery in September.

Extensive research has been done by members on families and our cemeteries. We did presentations in October for the Des Moines County Genealogical Society and Henderson County history groups.

10/31/2026

The Jane Mary Burrus gravestone is standing. I had to use stainless steel brackets to hold the pieces together. A final application of infill material will complete it and even out the color. You won't see the gray infill.
Birth
1 Jan 1855
Death
22 Aug 1855 (aged 7 months)
Burial
Franklin Mills Cemetery

10/30/2026

Happy Halloween from a "lost" pioneer cemetery that appears to have some spooky activity...

10/30/2026

After our workday and training day in Franklin Mills Cemetery I was curious about the Rev. J. Schmeiser headstone. It lists the Rev., his wife, and two of his children. I found the family photos on Ancestry and his obituary in the Thursday, May 24, 1906, Burlington Evening Gazette.

" Rev. Jacob Schmeiser, the venerable minister, passed away yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock at his home nine miles north of this city. He is one of the oldest ministers of the county in age and in point of residence and is known and loved by almost every resident of the county. Since 1853 he has been in the ministry, and during the intervening years, his service in the good cause has been faithful and to some purpose. He has earned his reward.
The deceased was 79 years of age, being born March 6, 1827 in Germany. He was educated at the Missionary Institute at Basel, Switzerland, from which he graduated in 1853, at which time he was ordained as a minister in the Lutheran church. He was sent to St. Louis where he spent three months as the pastor of the Fifteenth street church. In September of the same year he came to Burlington. At first he was assigned to the Franklin Mills church, and also served as pastor at Latty and at Pleasant Grove. Later he was assigned exclusively to Latty where he remained for eight years, then going to Mendota, Ill. After six months he returned to Iowa and was at Danville until 1882, when he purchased a farm in Benton township and had since been pastor of St. Paul's church. He managed his farm with his ministerial duties and was constantly employed at one or the other. While on the farm, he strived to get the best out of his land and while in the pulpit he followed the same rule, delivering excellent addresses and turning many to the light through his pleading in the Savior's cause. He was always on hand when wanted, kind in sickness and sympathetic in death.
In May, 1856, he was united in marriage with Miss Magdaline Reis, of St. Clair county, Illinois. Ten children were born to the union: Henry, Lydia, Charles, Theophilus, Thobitha, Mrs. Adam Miller, Talitha, Emanuel, Joseph and Benjamin. The funeral will be held from the family home tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. Interment will be in Franklin Mills cemetery."

Here is a listing of the children of Jacob and Mary Schmeiser from Family History Books found on Ancestry:

1. Henry Jacob 1857-1928
2. Karl (Charles) Fredrick 1858-1922
3. Lydia 1860-1935
4. Theophilus 1862-1931
5. Tabitha Riepe 1864-1945
6. Emma Miller 1866-1933
7. Mary Magdeline 1868-1869
8. Talitha 1870-1942
9. Emanuel 1872-1942
10. Joseph 1876-1940
11. Benjamin 1878-1941
12. John 1879-(4 hrs.)

Research by Cheryl Lotz

10/28/2026

This abolitionist's grave is in Old City Cemetery in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

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In 1894, the son of abolitionists and underground railroad operatives Samuel Luke and Charlotte Perrin Howe, wrote “At the very early period his [Samuel’s] house was a station on the “underground railroad” and many a poor colored man, woman and child did he help on their way from slavery to freedom”.

Today, the Old City Cemetery in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is the final resting place of Samuel Luke Howe (1808-1877) and Charlotte Perrin Howe (1811-1896). Records show they both became operatives on the underground railroad in southeast Iowa beginning in 1841 when they arrived in Iowa Territory.

Charlotte’s obituary ended with the line, “She was ever in sympathy with her husband’s advanced views and sheltered under her roof many fugitives feeling from bondage”. Samuel and Charlotte were continuing the tradition of Howe’s family members who were underground railroad operatives in Granville, Ohio.

Samuel was a man of intense convictions and striking courage. His accomplishments were numerous despite the harsh opposition and persecution he experienced. He founded and ran a highly respected academy, he published the first antislavery newspaper west of the Mississippi in spite of tremendous financial challenges and he was tireless in his support of the political opposition to slavery, as a leader first in the Liberty Party, and later in the Free Soil party.

Image: Marker for Samuel Luke Howe

10/28/2026

At the Ottumwa Cemetery, an old brick vault was once used to store bodies in the winter, until the ground ...

Address

2043 Sunnyside Avenue
Burlington, IA
52601

Telephone

+13197523619

Website

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