The Holt County Historical Society’s annual meeting will be held on Sunday November 6, 2016 at 2 pm in the Society’s Methodist Church Museum in Fortescue. Election of 2017 officers, annual reports and suggested by-law changes will be on the agenda during a brief business session.
The afternoon program “Preserving Holt County Cemeteries” will highlight the history of three historic burial sites in the county. A complete list of cemeteries, public and private, located in Holt County totals 151 and is noted in Gone Home II. Anyone interested is welcome to attend.
Going to the utmost top of Holt County, near the Atchison County line and on private property in Lincoln Township, is the German Lutheran Cemetery owned by St. John’s Lutheran Church of Corning. Nancy Peters, Corning historian, will share the history of the cemetery and the early day burials there.
Carolyn Fansher, Forbes, who lives not far from Highland Cemetery, is the historian for this well kept cemetery located in Forbes Township. Constantly watching for early day news clippings and obituaries she records burials there. Sometimes referred to as the Poynter or Huiatt Cemetery it is one of the oldest in the county with burials noted in the 1840s.
Sauer Cemetery, in Bigelow Township, was used mostly by the Catholic families of the Bigelow parish of St. Agnes Church. The one acre plot is 2 ½ miles west and ¾ mile south of Bigelow and is the only Catholic burial site in Holt County. Francis Xavier Sauer, a member of the Bigelow Parish, settled the area in 1879 and on the northeast corner of his farm he set aside an acre for burials. A marker, noting this, is the only stone now standing. Norma McCurry, Society historian, has researched the history of burials recorded there.
Sharing details of how Missouri cemeteries are protected along with a map that is underway by the Holt County Historical Society to note all burials in Holt County will be of interest to many. “Celebrating 175 Years of Holt County Cooking 1841-2016” the cookbook published by the Society to commemorate the county’s beginning will be available for sale.