Short History About The Churchyard of St. Peter’s Ev.
Lutheran Congregation, Logan 1858 - 1930
In the 11 years from 1858 to 1869, the still young
congregation that had neither a church building nor a church yard used
the school yard of # 4 School Section, Logan as a burial ground.
The first person to be buried was Mrs. Anna Margarete Kaiser
who died on March 5, 1859.
In total 58 persons ( 19 adults and 39 children) were buried
in the school yard. The last one was a child of Joseph and Anna
Lenz.
When the Lutherans of Logan and McKillop re-organized to
become St. Peter’s Ev. Lutheran congregation in Logan Township in 1867,
they immediately bought an acre of land for a church yard from Carl
Rock for $50.00. This place is on the 8th concession, the
east corner of Lot 28. Here they built in the same year a
beautiful church, and it was dedicated on August 25, 1867.
However, burials were still made in the school yard until
Sunday the 14th of March, 1869 when the place beside the church was
dedicated as God’s Acre during a great snowstorm. Very many
people took part in this event. Pastor Gerndt preached the sermon
based on 1 Peter, verse 3. On the same day the little child of
Friederich August Bennewies, son of Ernst Bennewies and his wife
Juliane nee Schrader of McKillop Township was buried in the newly
dedicated God’s Acre.
The mother of this child is still a member of our
congregation and is most probably among us to-day. That child
would now be over 61 years old.
The first adult person that was buried on this first cemetery
was Adolf Morenz , age 74. He was buried one week after the
dedication of the cemetery on March 21, 1869.
On this first cemetery which we now call the Old Cemetery, 417
persons were buried in 47 years from 1869 - 1916.
The last adult person was Friederich Cordts and the last child
was Catherine Dorothy Diegel.
Already on April 25th, 1909, the congregation decided to
enlarge the church yard and bought 1 1\2 acres of land from Mrs. Carl
Rock at $300.00 for the acre. This land was prepared for the new
church yard and was later dedicated as God’s Acre. The first
burial took place on the 22nd of August, 1916 when Mrs. Christine
Heckmann was laid to rest. The first child to be committed
to the earth was Martin Ahrens in May 1923, son of Edward and
Lizzie Ahrens.
Since 1916, there have been 95 persons buried in the new
cemetery.
We believe that up to this day all the deceased since the
founding of the congregation 72 years ago total 569 buried
in aforementioned three places.
In the course of these last years much work has been done in
many times and ways to make this God’s Acre attractive and
worthy. A great deal of work by members of the congregation
was done free of charge. In the spring of 1927, after the
decision was made by the congregation, the old and flat gravestones of
the old cemetery were set up in a large cement cross. In the
spring of 1930, the Sunday School staff took over the care of flower
beds on the east side of the church.
The congregation wishes that the place where their dead
slumber toward the Resurrection be kept worthy and beautiful. May
this first and all future grave decoration days also serve to do this.
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