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History of Woodlawn Cemetery

The first Stewartville Cemetery was located in a beautiful spot, directly north of the dam. There are no records to show how the land was procured because it was incorporated. The ground was too low and endangered the mourners many times when fording the river to reach the burial ground. There were instances when a casket was taken by boat across the river.

When the Presbyterian Church was built in 1870 and a cemetery was laid out south of their church, the twenty or more caskets were removed from the former spot and placed there. This continued to be the town burial ground until it was decided that this land would be ideal for the new two-story frame schoolhouse. The school was built in 1894, which is the present site of Central Intermediate School. Woodlawn Cemetery was then established in 1894 and the bodies were again moved to the new location. In 1924 according to the terms of the will of A. Orlando Anderson, Woodlawn Cemetery was bequeathed a $10,000.00 trust fund to be held by the Stewartville National Bank. The income from this fund was to be used for the upkeep of Woodlawn.

The civic minded action of Mrs. Mary J. Anderson in fulfilling the precept of her husband’s will was one of the first instances in the history of Stewartville where the cemetery has been bequeathed a sum of money this size. In 1966 the village of Stewartville turned the property over to a newly formed association. The association was headed by P.P. Henning as its president. Mr. Henning then asked for one member from each of the five churches in Stewartville at that time, to volunteer for the original board.

Contact Woodlawn Cemetery

Dick Koenigs
(507)269-1901
rpkoenigs@aol.com

Buck Fredrickson
507-951-4220