The Wiedmann Pioneer Cemetery
(1/2 mi. west of Venturia)

July 2004

Nov 2004

May 2005

This little burial site lies on the NW corner of the land originally homesteaded by Jakob and Elisabetha Wiedmann, the parents of Elizabeth (Huber), Jacob S., Philipp, John, and Edward. It is a special place for the Wiedmann family because it contains the remains of our family patriarch, JAKOB WIEDMANN, who brought his family—and all of us who are his descendants—from South Russia to America in 1890.

In those early years, professional medical care was unknown, so minor diseases took many lives, including those of young children. It was a rare family indeed that did not bury several babies. Those who are buried here died before Venturia had a community or church cemetery, so they were buried in a corner of the family's land, a practice common to many of the families who lived in this area. Initially, none of the graves were marked because there were no monument suppliers in this area.

ELISABETHA, died in 1929, after the Venturia Baptist Cemetery had been established, so she was buried there, and her grave monument includes the name of her husband.

Ten people are buried here in the Wiedmann Pioneer Cemetery:

For more than 100 years the Wiedmann graves remained unmarked, and for much of that time there was little evidence that this cemetery plot existed. The Wiedmann family maintained a fence around the site until the land was sold, but after that, the area was used as a pasture and the cattle ruined the fence.

Then, when the road was rebuilt a number of years ago, it was found that the cemetery encroached into the ditch area, so a new fence was built around the plot and some members of the Venturia Baptist Church made a gate for this cemetery as well as for the Venturia Baptist Cemetery and the Kassel Baptist Cemetery. Maintenance was done by Delbert and Clarence Bender for many years, and now the Venturia Baptist Church has assumed responsibility for care of the cemetery. A fund has been set up by the church to receive donations. The church purchased a riding mower and trailer and the pastor is paid extra to mow the cemetery as necessary.

During the summer of 2004 I took my son and several of the grandchildren on a trip to show them where the family came from. When we got to the Pioneer Cemetery everyone asked why there were no markers. Weren't these people important? It was obvious that something needed to be done.

I had gotten a list of the people buried in the cemetery from Frieda Bower in 1992. Some information was missing and some things didn't make sense, so it had been set aside for several years. But after my visit to the cemetery in 2004 I began to contact relatives I thought would have the information we needed to design a memorial monument.

The response I got was overwhelming. Many people offered to search for information. Dr. Darrell Strobel found the dates for Daniel Haas and Carol Mehlhaff found Philipp Wiedmann's family Bible that contained the missing information on the infants. Information and financial contributions came in from Wiedmann family members all over the country.

After I had the names and dates we needed, I went to a local monument company to have a stone designed. Several people had told me that the cemetery had been flooded for several years, so a larger base and two sub-bases were added to raise the monument to keep it above the water. As it turned out, the current owner of the land, LeMar Haas, told me the cemetery is high enough so the plot itself was never submerged, but the land around it was. The cemetery monument shown below was installed on November 5, 2004.

The entire cost of the monument was covered by donations from the following list of family members, and an additional $1,100 was received, which was given to the Venturia Baptist Church cemetery maintenance fund.

Cemetery maintenance is an on-going responsibility, so family members are encouraged to contribute annually to ensure that the cemetery will be maintained in the future. Donations can be sent to me or directly to the church.

ELIZABETH WIEDMANN HUBER FAMILY:

JACOB S. WIEDMANN FAMILY:

Claudia (Steen) & Chuck Fiola, Wapato WA

JOHN WIEDMANN FAMILY:

Dr. Darrell & Carol Strobel, Paris, France/Baltimore MD

Millie (Wiedmann) & Ephraim Schrenk, Dallas OR

John Schrenk, Salem OR

Idalia (Wiedmann) Sayler, Bismarck ND

Marilyn (Sayler) & Bob Boyle, Omaha NB

PHILIP WIEDMANN FAMILY: