County seeks pioneer cemetery commission
By Lori Berglund — Daily Freeman-Journal EditorArticle Photos
Fact Box
By Lori Berglund
Daily Freeman-Journal Editor
Interest is being sought to form a Hamilton County Pioneer Cemetery Committee. As a kick-off, county organizers were very pleased with the turn-out at a cemetery walk at the Homer Cemetery Wednesday night.
Supervisor Doug Bailey noted that a county committee would be eligible to apply for grants that could assist in preserving cemeteries that are often a rich source of genealogical and historical information about a community.
Hamilton County has at least 30 known cemeteries. And perhaps even more small burial plots that are grown over and nearly forgotten. To qualify as a "pioneer cemetery" no more than seven burials were made in the last 50 years at the cemetery. But even those that don't meet this stipulation may be in need of preservation.
For more information about pioneer cemeteries and how to get involved in saving and restoring them, contact Bailey at the Hamilton County Courthouse.
Hamilton County SEED Director Catherine Bergman and Conservation Officer John Laird headed up Wednesday's walk through the Homer Cemetery.
They had floods, but no FEMA to lend a hand.
They had hot summers, but no air conditioning, nor even a window fan.
They had cold winters, but at least they had plentiful wood to chop.
They were hardy souls. Adventurous spirits. They came west and began settling the prairie around the Boone and Des Moines rivers in the 1850s. They built towns, Homer being the first county seat for what is now both Hamilton and Webster counties. Little is left of Homer, of course. Even its church closed this summer. But Homer, nonetheless, holds a place in the hearts of current residents of this prairie heartland. And so it was at the Homer Cemetery that a crowd interested in history and preserving it gathered Wednesday night. They rubbed weathered grave stones, "witched" for unmarked graves, and heard the stories of the people buried there.
The crowd was large enough to line the pavement on both sides of the road outside this quiet cemetery. The four-way stop just outside the cemetery is the only reminder of this former crossroads of the frontier. From west to east, the Crooked Creek Railroad once linked Lehigh to Webster City. And from south to north, a stagecoach route bustled between Boone and Homer.
Pioneer cemeteries are often rich depositories of local history. Even the markings on the stones tell a story. When visiting an old cemetery, look for these signs and know their meanings.
Fern - symbolizes spiritual victory.
Hand with finger pointing upward - look up the soul has gone to heaven.
Clasped hands - two souls united in marriage.
Broken hand or chain - a broken family chain.
Wheat and grapes - the body and blood Christ. May be found on gravestone of a priest.
Doves - the Holy Ghost, peace, purity, humility.
Broken rose bud - death of a child.
Olive wreath or ribbon - a wish of peace for the deceased.
Weeping willow - a message of death and mourning.
Lamb - innocence, most often found on graves of babies and young children.
