Area man revitalizing abandoned cemetery
Keith Edison pointed out foundation stones for the Evangelical Lutheran Kongsberg Church of Burnside that, apparently, was never built as a cemetery near the site has been abandoned for more than 140 years. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
Independence resident Keith Edison is cleaning off grave markers from Kongsberg Cemetery, which is believed to have been abandoned for approximately 140 years. Pictured above is the tombstone for John Herman Johnson, one photo was taken when Edison removed the marker from the cemetery and the other after he began cleaning it. (Submitted photos)
To the untrained eye or regular passerby, it looks like a portion of woods, not unlike much of Trempealeau County’s wooded areas. Until recently, there was little separating the area from its surrounding Borst Valley Wildlife Area. But Independence man and retired funeral home director Keith Edison knows better.
Having grown up in the Chimney Rock area, Edison had heard for years about a cemetery that had been abandoned. There are at least six graves in the cemetery, all of them belonging to children who were buried between 1879 and 1885. The gravestones sat on the property, but there are no markings indicating the property is a cemetery. As trees and weeds have overtaken the area, the gravestones were buried in the ground and became illegible.
Edison doesn’t think that’s right, so he is fixing it.
At his own expense, Edison has already constructed a driveway with a culvert in the area. The project has continued with the removal of brush and weeds that overtook the cemetery. Edison has removed the gravestones, taking them to his home to clean them — a timely and tedious task, but one he believes is worth doing. When he is done, he will use GPS coordinates to put them in the proper place.
Everything was going smoothly, until one day when he returned to the property and saw a sign he posted had been vandalized. Edison’s sign simply said that he had removed the gravestones, was working on revitalizing them and would replace them when he was done. If one were to stumble upon the cemetery and had questions, his phone number was listed.
He returned to see that somebody had spray-painted a circle with a line through it on the sign.
But, why?
Edison’s best guess was that the person believed the property belonged to someone else. The truth, though, appears to be that while it is private, the property doesn’t belong to anyone.
Edison researched the property in the Trempealeau County Register of Deeds office. He found that the original deed was conveyed in 1881 from Halvor and Johane Halverson to the Evangelical Lutheran Kongsberg Church of Burnside and Dover — Chimney Rock did not exist until 1882. All of the deeds thereafter contain an exception for the parcel deeded to the church.
It is widely believed that the property belongs to the state Department of Natural Resources as part of the Borst Valley Wildlife Area. However, when surrounding properties were sold by Larry and Margaret Bautch to the DNR in 1969, it specifically exempts the church and cemetery parcel. Edison spoke to Regis Bautch, son of Larry and Margaret, and he recalled plowing fields, but leaving the section around the foundation and the monuments.
The church that owns the property, however, doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
The book “History of Trempealeau County” makes reference to Kongsberg Congregation being established in 1879 with 157 members, but does not have the date in which it dissolved. The book says the membership grew to 168 in 1883 and lists pastors H.A. Heyer (1879-1884) and A.E. Hauge (1884). That information was taken from another book titled “Norsk Lutherske Menigheder I America, 1843-1915”, written by O.M. Norlie.
Edison located the foundation for the church and found evidence that lumber was purchased to construct the building, but it very likely was never actually built. Edison found that two years after the supposed construction of the church, the lumber was sold to build a nearby barn.
The history of the Chimney Rock Church — http://www.chimneyrockchurch.org/our-history.html — references Kongsberg as belonging to that parish in 1888. It says that the church was absorbed by neighboring congregations in 1888. It is believed that the Kongsberg congregation became a part of the Chimney Rock Church, but the land the cemetery is on was never transferred over.
The cemetery has, by all records, been abandoned. So, out of respect for those buried in the cemetery and to help identify them, Edison decided to take action.
Edison offered to clear the area where the monuments are located at no expense to the township. He has received offers from several individuals to help with the project, including one from Eric Lawton who is willing to donate time and machinery to clear the area.
The headstones are at Edison’s house where he has purchased cleaning supplies and constructed tools to clean them and make them legible. Those that he knows of who are buried there include:
• Anna Solfest, Dec. 30, 1872-March 1, 1879, daughter of Peder and Christine Solfest
• Albert Arneson Hoff, Feb. 24, 1875-Sept. 30, 1879; Maria Hoff, Nov. 12, 1873-Oct. 7, 1879; Peder Arneson Hoff, Dec. 25, 1877-Oct. 16,1879; Amanda Arnesdatter Hoff, Nov. 12, 1875-Oct. 7, 1879; all children of Arne Arneson Hoff and Betsy Amundson Hoff
• John Herman Johnson, Dec. 14-Dec. 27, 1885; son of Iver Jensen Veum Johnson and Emma Johnson.
Diphtheria is listed as a cause of death for the children.
Perhaps adding the mystery of the cemetery is the death certificate of Amanda Arnesdatter Hoff, which lists her burial grounds as Little Elk Creek, a church referenced in the history of Chimney Rock as being in Independence before consolidating with Whitehall in 1888. Edison thinks it’s possible that Little Elk Creek and Kongsberg are one in the same.
There are believed to be others buried in the cemetery, but wooden grave markers would be disintegrated by now. Edison has not been able to locate any records related to the cemetery, but has been told of ancestors who are thought to have been buried there.
None of the parents or other family members of the children were buried on the site. Betsy Amundson Hoff was buried in Osseo. According to online records, she had two other children, Albert passed away in 1954 and was also buried in Osseo and Amanda (Hoff) Wrahlstad died 1976, and is buried in South Dakota.
Peder and Christine Solfest are both buried in the Lookout Lutheran Church Cemetery. That’s also where their other child, Samuel, was buried in 1929.
Iver and Emma Johnson are in the Thompson Valley Cemetery in Mondovi. A half-sister, Olga (Johnson) Larson passed in 1924 and is buried in Riverside Lutheran Cemetery in Mondovi.
As he continues to clear the cemetery and make the tombstones legible, Edison is left with many questions. While the mystery of who vandalized the sign will likely never be solved, Edison hopes that somewhere he can find answers regarding how the cemetery became abandoned and who else might be resting there.
Edison hopes that someone with more information will be willing to call him at 715-530-0615.
