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Copyright © 2004-2009 Paula Vaughan PIONEER CEMETERY – HERE REST IN PEACE In keeping with the bicentennial observance of the birthday of our nation, we were prompted to write this history of our Fremont Pioneers focusing our attention on those souls whose bodies were interned in the "Pioneer Cemetery". This account was researched and written by the Rev. Raymond Barz, pastor of Hope United Church of Christ at Fremont in the summer of 1976. We are indebted to Mr. Richard Tellock, Rt. #1 Fremont, WI for all the photography and to Rev. Raymond Barz for the script that make up the slide-tape account of this cemetery - available upon request. Whatever funds are derived from the sale of this book and from the slide-tape presentation will be given to the treasurer of this cemetery, Mr. Chris Burgener. This fund is used for the maintenance of this "Pioneer Cemetery" - the final resting place of our forerunners. WHAT MEAN THESE STONES? Near the east boundary line of the Village of Fremont, Wisconsin on the south side of Highways 10 and 110, at the approach of the new bridge that spans the Wolf River - the traveler is greeted by a sign reading "PIONEER CEMETERY". His attention is drawn to a small knoll studded with about 30 to 40 white stones marking the resting place of pioneers who lived and wrote the first chapter of the history of Fremont. We now invite you to come to us on a visit to this sacred knoll which was designed to have four conveniently spaced rows of markers; we will stop for a moment at each gravesite and try to uncover a bit of the very early history of the Village and Township of Fremont. We want to share with you what our research has unveiled, based primarily on a study of the inscriptions on the stones, and upon interviews and correspondence with those who were either kinfolk of the first pioneers or who were close associates of these early immigrants. "BERGSTRESSER", "SUMNER", "MAYO", "LIVERMORE", "SCHROEDER" In this bicentennial (1976) year of our nation, we are prompted to review and retell the feats of our national heroes and patriots. It is very fitting for us in the Fremont community to be reminded of those who played a very important roll in our early history when the first immigrants came to this area. Names such as "Bergstresser", "Schroeder", "Mayo", "Sumner", and "Livermore" were widely known among our forefathers, for they were the members of our township boards, they were our first business people, the postmasters, the county surveyors, and the Justice of the Peace. THE MENOMINEE INDIAN CHIEF - "WAU-KE-JOHN" This area of Waupaca and Winnebago Counties through which the Wolf River flows was, until 1850 occupied exclusively by several Indian tribes. The woods, abounding in wild game, and the Wolf River, alive with fish, supplied these Native Americans with their basic necessities. It is easy for us to assume that all Indians were barbaric, cruel, and war-like, and if their activities had been recorded - some records would verify that attitude. But these same records would also reveal that some Indians, especially "Wau-Ke-John", a Menominee Indian warrior, were highly respected by the white pioneers. This great chief was held in high esteem by his tribe and by the immigrants of the Fremont area. When "Wau - Ke - John" was buried near Gill's Landing, the exact spot being unknown, several pioneer families, including the Sumner family members, were present at this Menominee Indian internment service honoring their Indian friend and neighbor. PIONEERS COME - 1849 According to the "History of Waupaca County" by J. Wakefield, the first white settler in the Town of Fremont came in the Spring of 1849. A few built their cabins on the west bank of the Wolf River near the mouth of Partridge Lake, but most of the early pioneers established their homes on the east bank near the present Wolf River crossing. Ferry service was inaugurated about 1855 to link the west and east settlements together. Among these early settlers were the "Mayos", Schroeders","Sumners", "Ratzburgs", and "Menks" - all names inscribed on stones of the "Pioneer Cemetery". SQUIRE SUMNER Of all the white settlers who pioneered on the banks of the Wolf River, no one received more commendable publicity than Mr. Ira Sumner. His name appears again and again in the early Waupaca County records. He built the first frame house on the east bank of the Wolf about 1850. In the same year he built the first hotel on the same site where the Fremont Lumber yard now stands. He was the first postmaster, when postal service came to this settlement in 1853. He was elected as the surveyor of Waupaca County in 1851. In judicial circles, he was known as "Squire Sumner", and as Justice of the Peace, he was called upon to settle many of the problems of the Indians and of his white neighbors. The Masonic order insignia engraved on his tombstone attests to his affiliation and great respect for this organization. We are indebted to several of Mr. Sumner's kinfolk for our historical data, including Mrs. Edwin Sherburne, who's maiden name was Myrtle Smith, the great-granddaughter of "Squire Sumner", Mrs. Bert Ford of Weyauwega, who died in 1975, was Harriet Sumner, daughter of Franklin Sumner and granddaughter of Ira Sumner,. In 1965 when the Pioneer Cemetery was being restored, Mrs. Ford expressed her gratitude for this work and shared valuable information in the following letter to the editor: Nov. 15, 1965 - "In regard to the old pioneer cemetery, I think I am able to help you out on who gave the land for the cemetery, also the land for the schoolhouse. My grandfather, Ira Sumner, owned the large farm of 100 acres which I think the Hartfield's now own. He gave an acre for a schoolhouse and an acre for the cemetery. He and his wife Margaret, a young son, Henry, and a daughter, Clarissa (who married Jake Bergstresser) were buried on the knoll facing the old homestead. My grandmother died December 17, 1888 and my father, Franklin B. Sumner died June 6, 1889. So maybe he is the last one to have been buried in the little cemetery. Both my grandfather and grandmother had monuments, the daughter a white slab, and the youngest son - a child's small slab. We also have an Uncle S. K. Wylie and a daughter buried there. My father had a monument. After my mother's death in 1919, her request to be buried was to be buried in Lakeside Cemetery, which we did. And we had our father's body removed from the old cemetery and put beside our mother's in the spring of 1919". Signed Mrs. Harriet Ford. FREMONT GROWS! By 1857 this pioneer village had progressed to that stage where it merited the publication of a weekly newspaper called The Fremont Pioneer. In a copy of this paper, dated November 4, 1857, there were eight business establishments that had submitted ads, including: The Fremont House – by A. J. Mayo; The General Store – by Benjamin Brickley and Samuel Bergstresser; and Livermore’s Variety Store. We have listed here only three of the eight business firms whose ads appeared in The Fremont Pioneer for the proprietors of these firms were laid to rest in the Pioneer Cemetery. FRENCH-IRISH-ENGLISH VS GERMAN After looking over the list of names inscribed on the stones of this cemetery, one is led to conclude that this must have been predominately an English, French, and Irish settlement. German names like ‘Ratzburg’ and ‘Schroeder’ are very much in the minority among the ‘Roberts’, ‘Wylie’s, ‘McLaughlin’s, ‘McClellan’s, and ‘Finley’s’. Some of the folks who shared with us the tales of the past told of the bitter hatred and nationalistic feelings that separated the English and the French and Irish who lived on the east bank from the German immigrants who occupied the west bank of the Wolf River. Mr. Charles Menk said that his father often told him of the bitter fights that occurred on the first wooden bridge that spanned the river. At night the young braves who made up the armies of opposite settlements would meet on the bridge, armed with ‘neck yokes’ and ‘whipple trees’ (parts of horse-drawn vehicles) and other hardwood clubs. He related that the ‘visitors’ changed from week to week in those combats and it was not uncommon for the combatants to be knocked from the bridge into the raging Wolf River below. But this clash of nationalities did not influence the thinking of Mr. Ira Sumner who was everybody’s friend and who was looked upon as an impartial judge. As Justice of the Peace he held court for the Indian-White controversies and for those cases which found the English and the German families on opposite sides. When tragedy struck a German family, with names like ‘Schafer’ and ‘Schroeder’ and ‘Ratzburg’, their English neighbor, a true friend, offered them plots on this knoll which he had set aside as a final resting place, not only for his own family, but for all of his fellow pioneers. FIRST BURIAL – HENRY SUMNER (AUGUST 1, 1850) Ira and Margaret Sumner owned and operated the 100-acre farm, now in 1976, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Hartfield. On August 1, 1850, after the Sumner family had been here less than two years, they suffered the loss of their young son, Henry, an infant of 10 months and 5 days. It is believed that at this time the Sumner’s set aside the small knoll as a cemetery where their son, Henry, was the first to be laid to rest. Legally, the title to this knoll will always be a mystery; in reality it belongs to those whose bodies are interred here. We have found no records of any organization, or any church which holds legal title to this portion of God’s earth. It lies in Waupaca County, Section 30, Range 14, and Township 21. Although ‘Squire Sumner’ was a recognized authority in legal matters, his mind was not occupied with an appropriate title; rather he had a heart-felt concern that his pioneer neighbors who endured innumerable hardships, might rightfully after, their earthly pilgrimage, have a place where they might REST IN PEACE. His German neighbors echoed the same sentiment for they inscribed on their stones: ‘Hier Ruhet in Frieden’, when translated reads: ‘Here Rest in Peace’. LAST BURIAL – CONRAD SCHAFER3 (NOVEMBER 4, 1895) Since no organization had legal title, there was no one assigned to keep a record of all burials. If there were such a record, it is evidently lost. According to the inscriptions on the stones, the last internment was that of Conrad Shafer who died on November 4, 1895. According to information that the kinfolk of Mr. Schafer have shared with us, Conrad was a young man of 31 years who had gone north in the fall of 1895 to work in the logging camps. He became suddenly ill and died shortly after returning to his home in Fremont. Conrad Shafer was a brother to Jacob Schafer who died in 1958. The family of Jacob: his widow (Mrs. Clara Schafer) and her children: Richard, Velda, Ella and Adelaide provided much information about this cemetery. It was Mrs. Clara Schafer who died in 1966, who in the early 1960’s often expressed her anguish over the neglect of this Pioneer Cemetery which she had often visited in previous years when placing flowers on Conrad’s grave. It was she who touched the consciences of a few in the community, that the residents of Fremont owed these pioneers more respect than to have their resting place abandoned and forgotten. PIONEER CEMETERY ABANDONED 1900 The story of the Pioneer Cemetery from the turn of the century to the early 1960’s is a sad tale. Most of the descendents of these early immigrants, following the days of the Civil War, were caught up in the fervor to go further west. Disease epidemics and drought conditions may have prompted some to move on. There were few left to care for the graves of ancestors. Since there was no authorized owner, no one was legally obligated to care for it. Year after year it increasingly became a veritable jungle of sprouting bushes, trees, wild grape vines, spreading lilac bushes, fallen trees, and heavy underbrush. A fence that once surrounded this knoll was buried beneath this underbrush. Many residents, born in the early 1900’s, unaware that in the fenced-in jungle were the graves of our pioneers, used it as a dumping ground for empty oil drums, rusted out watering tanks, worn out farm implements, rusty wire and fencing, broken glass and other debris. It became a haven for animals and an ideal place for Beaver Dam school children to play hide-and-seek. When it was quite evident that no one cared for this spot, one party excavated part of the hill, and used the dirt as ‘fill’. This practice was stopped only when he dug too close to the graves and tombstones began tumbling into that excavation. PIONEER CEMETERY FORGOTTEN – WHY? Mrs. Jacob (Clara) Schafer, the sister-in-law of Conrad Schafer interred on the Pioneer Cemetery, aroused the consciences of several who began to investigate as to why no one cared for the cemetery and it was found there were a number of contributing factors: a) There were no ‘perpetual care’ provisions and
most of the kinfolk of these early settlers moved away from here in
the early 1900’s. YOU START – WE’LL HELP The parishioners of Hope United Church of Christ, determined to correct a disgraceful scene, felt morally bound to act because this congregation was once a neighbor to those mute occupants of the Pioneer Cemetery. Fortunately there were others, "neighbors" who were also troubled; residents of the Town of Fremont, of the Village of Fremont, distant relatives of those departed souls, and many others in the community. When they were approached about the problem and their assistance was sought, a common reaction was: ‘It’s a big job! If you get it started, we’ll help." One Saturday morning, late in September of 1965, between 20 and 30 men invaded that jungle – armed with axes and saws to clear away the tangled grape vines, the fallen trees, and brush. Some came with trucks to haul away the debris; some came with tractors and bulldozers to remove stumps. The senior citizens who were too feeble to assist were seeing a dream fulfilled. They watched, and their presence was an added inspiration. Many despaired when they visualized the task before them. They found only a few stones standing; most of the markers had fallen over, were broken and the pieces scattered. Some stones lay in the bottom of the hole from which fill had been taken. To get all markers back to their original spot seemed impossible, but from interviews with a few senior citizens, we were able to fashion a pattern depicting the manner in which these markers were originally arranged. The work continued throughout the summer of 1966 whenever help was available. There were volunteers from many organizations – Boy Scouts, Youth Groups, 4-H Club members and neighbors. Throughout that summer, more debris was discovered and more broken parts of markers were found as a spring tooth harrow was drawn over the area again and again. That fall the stones were set again according to the pattern that was drawn. Some markers, broken in many pieces were laid horizontal. WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE? Some, being very practical, have remarked: ‘Your work will all be for naught; in a few years it will be nothing but brush again’. This is a possibility, for we know of no organization which is legally responsible. This plot belongs to no church, no civic group, no family. Legal title could be obtained at great expense. But this project was undertaken by folks convinced that these pioneers who founded Fremont, Wisconsin, deserve more recognition than to have their final resting place used as a dumping ground for the communities debris. We believe the residents of Fremont care enough to now maintain it. At present (1976) the Township of Fremont is underwriting the care of this Pioneer Cemetery. MANY HANDS MAKE LOADS LIGHT The practice of giving credit to volunteer laborers is dangerous, for there is always the possibility of unintentionally omitting some names. Yet, conscious of the possibility, we believe some parties deserve special recognition. We will not list each person’s contribution; we hope sufficient credit is given by stating that their help was either in the form of historical information which they shared, or equipment, tools, or labor that they supplied. Historical information given by the
following: A TOUR OF ALL STONES When you visit this cemetery today you will find many empty spaces between markers. We are told that at the turn of the century almost every lot was occupied, every grave had a marker. The explanation for the vacant places – is that when this place was being neglected, many families moved the bodies of loved ones to Lakeside Cemetery in Fremont. Furthermore, many of the stones were broken and the pieces on which names were inscribed were never found. An interesting feature about these markers is that many are engraved with inscriptions of favorite poems, hymns, or Bible passages. Some of the lines were covered over when the stones were reset. Some are hardly legible after being exposed to the elements for over 100 years. Many of the inscriptions are written in German. We’ll share with you what we have been able to decipher. On the last page of this booklet is a map showing
the general location of the grave markers. These are numbered so that you
may find the corresponding account of each marker given on pages 6 through
9 in this account. NOTE: For brevity we have assigned a row-position
number from the map to help clarify grave locations.
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