Fieldtrip Journals-Day 3

Trip #3: St Joseph and Shawnee Cemetery

April 17, 2007
Reported by: Ereka Hunt and Michelle Stuessi

 Our final fieldtrip was to the St. Joseph, Shawnee Cemetery and the Pleasant View Cemetery.  These three cemeteries are attached together. When we got there, we met up with Linda Lewis. She explained the layout of the St. Joseph Cemetery and the cemetery’s history.  When Linda finished up, we all set out on a "gianormous" scavenger hunt to find the biggest family plots.  Some of us took a break from scouring the cemetery for names like “Pflumm” and “Callaghan” by shooting footage of the cemetery, and snapping shots of the different graves with the digital cameras. .

The scavenger hunt took place on the St. Joseph side of the cemetery.  We were all given clip-boards and a list of about 30 family names found in the cemetery.  Most groups walked up and down the rows, tallying the last name on the hand-out.  The St. Joe Cemetery turned out to be very large, and most groups failed to finish finding their large family plots. .  The over-all result showed us that the Pflumm family, and the Ricke family had the largest number of family members “under dirt.”

After we finished with the St. Joe, we went next door to the Shawnee Cemetery. We were given another worksheet, and had to complete another scavenger hunt. This one was about war veterans and different kinds of gravestones. While some people were busy finishing their worksheet, Jordan and Annie made an astonishing discovery. They found someone who was in the War of 1812. There were also people who participated in The Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. See the chart of the information we located.

When we were done exploring the Shawnee Cemetery, we headed back to area by the bus for lunch! Yes, food! was what most people were thinking.  While we were eating Mrs. Bosch asked us about what we learned and what we saw at both of the cemeteries.  People mentioned that they liked all the unique and different gravestones they saw.  One included a block marker, which had a picture engraved on it of the wife and the husband, the wife playing golf, and the husband fishing in the Great-Out-Doors.  One of the most popular stones was the “smurf” stone in the farthest part of the northwest corner of the Prairie View Cemetery.

People finished up with rubbings of interesting gravestones. Many chose to walk all the way across the three cemeteries just to have a memory of the “smurf.” These people included Miranda, Camen, Taylor, Laura, and Michelle. (Ereka also went along on the trek across the cemeteries, but didn’t do a rubbing.) Mac had an interest for the war veterans located in the Shawnee Cemetery, and he decided to do a rubbing of the Civil War veterans. Annie even got a rubbing of the War of 1812 veteran.

 At the end of the day,  we all crowded onto the bus and headed back to Nieman.  Everyone had a good time, and we got to see a lot of old and interesting gravestones.  The whole experience was enjoyable for all.