Title: Evergreen Cemetery Association Records
Inclusive Dates: 1874-2010

Creator:

• Evergreen Cemetery Association (Menomonie, Wis.)

Call Number: Stout Mss 29

Quantity: 1.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes, 1 flat box, 2 volumes, and 1 oversize folder) and 47.5 megabytes

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives and Area Research Center, Library Learning Center, University of Wisconsin-Stout; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-Stout Library Learning Ctr. / Stout Area Research Ctr. (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of the Evergreen Cemetery Association (ECA) in Menomonie, Wisconsin, 1874-2010, founded by the Knapp-Stout and Co. [Lumber] Company and later managed by the ECA. Included in the collection are burial records and research papers documenting the renovation and restoration of the cemetery in the effort to place the burial ground of the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Burial records detail demographic information, 1874-1993. Also included are newspaper clippings, 1874-2009, reporting the cemetery's history and relationship to Menomonie. Chicago landscape architects, William French and Horace Cleveland, landscaped the cemetery in Rural Romantic style.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-stou0029

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Established in 1874, Evergreen Cemetery (originally called Greenwood Cemetery) is a 24-acre town cemetery located in Menomonie, Dunn County, Wisconsin. Evergreen Cemetery was founded by Knapp, Stout and Company, a successful lumber company based in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Evergreen was conceived to fill the need for a well-organized, non-denominational town cemetery. Plans for the cemetery began in 1871, with an informal cemetery association established at the same time. The cemetery was designed by Chicago landscape architects William French and Horace Cleveland, and is considered a good example of the “rural romantic” style. The original cemetery was located on a peninsula of land jutting into Lake Menomin, but the peninsula has since become an island, due to a new dam increasing the water level of the lake.

Between 1874 and 1904, the cemetery was managed by Knapp, Stout and Company. In 1904, the company turned management of the cemetery over to the Evergreen Cemetery Association (ECA). At this point, the ECA received approval from the town government, formed a Board of Trustees, and began meeting regularly.

Evergreen Cemetery had two major expansion projects. One took place between circa 1944-1952, and the other between circa 1995-1998. Beginning in approximately 1996, the ECA began the process to have Evergreen Cemetery recognized as a place of historical importance by the State and National Register of Historic Places. With this goal in mind, the ECA embarked on a series of improvement projects to restore the cemetery. These projects included recovering and resetting fallen grave markers, leveling and reseeding the soil, and clearing some overgrown wooded areas. Landscaping work continued the cemetery's traditional practice of planting only hardy, indigenous plant species.

Carolyn Ohnstad, longtime secretary/treasurer of the ECA, collected historical accounts of the founding and creation of the cemetery, as well as demographic information about the “Single Grave Section,” which is the oldest portion of Evergreen Cemetery. With this information, the ECA was able to get Evergreen listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, and they dedicated several historical markers in 2009. A new entry gate and wall appropriate to the style and historical significance of the cemetery was installed.

This collection contains records of the Evergreen Cemetery, Menomonie, Wisconsin, 1871-2010, which was founded by Knapp, Stout and Company, and later managed by the Evergreen Cemetery Association (ECA), 1904-2009. The Evergreen Cemetery Collection contains three main series: ADMINISTRATIVE, LOT INFORMATION, and NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS AND RESEARCH MATERIALS.

The ADMINISTRATIVE series deals with the founding and administrative functions of the Evergreen Cemetery Association, and the managing body of the cemetery formed by volunteers from the Menomonie community.

The EXECUTIVE AND FINANCIAL sub-series consists of a comprehensive run of meeting minutes and agendas for monthly and annual meetings, 1904-2003, that are organized chronologically. The early minutes include information about the establishment of the cemetery. The series also contains a combination of quarterly and annual financial reports, 1904-2003, intermixed chronologically with meeting minutes and other administrative documents. This sub-series also contains deeds to land additions, 1904, 1913, 1923, 1956, and 1998, and a Rules and Regulations booklet, 1884.

The LAND ADDITIONS sub-series consists of items relating to the occasional land purchases and subsequent development of additions that occurred throughout the cemetery's history up to 2009. These items include maps showing the plans for expansions, land deeds, and applications to vacate and re-plat older plots. One map, entitled “Preliminary, Evergreen Cemetery, 1961” includes lots that are labeled with the surnames of lot owners.

The CEMETERY RESTORATION AND RECLAMATION WORK sub-series includes information about the restoration activities of the ECA, and process of their efforts to get Evergreen Cemetery listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Much of this information is intermixed with meeting minutes and agendas in the EXECUTIVE AND FINANCIAL sub-series, or exists within NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS AND RESEARCH MATERIALS.

The LOT INFORMATION series deals with bookkeeping surrounding the sale and use of grave lots within the cemetery. The information in this series is contained in a variety of bound volumes and booklets that record the dates, locations, and people associated with each lot. Two volumes of Burial Record Books, 1874-1920 and 1921-1993, record the names of recently deceased persons, along with their date of death, age at death, reason for death, date of burial and burial lot number. These records also note the person's marital status and place of birth, along with the names and nationalities of their parents, if known. Entries are organized by date. These books contain indexes in the front, and a separate bound index volume, 1874 - circa 1995, that refers only to the Single Grave Section of the cemetery.

Information about burials in the Single Grave section, 1874-1966, was documented in a book and tablet and organized by cemetery row number. Three volumes of Lot Books contain information about grave lots situated throughout the rest of the cemetery. They record the names and burial dates of individuals, and are arranged according to lot number, though dates overlap between books, and some entries are duplicated. This organization allows a researcher to notice the expansion of the cemetery over the years, as more and more lots were added. It also highlights the practice of multiple intermittent family burials within a single lot. Lot Book 1 contains lots 2-234, mostly even numbers. Lot Book 2 contains lots 2-1840, also mostly even numbers. Lot Book 3 contains lots 1-125, 589-613, 865-1025, and 1075-1197, numbers are intermittent, and mostly odd.

This series includes some information about actions and maintenance associated with grave lots. There is information on which graves were associated with veterans (names and accompanying wars listed), number of lots sold, and which lots qualified for up-keeping or perpetual care.

The final series of this collection contains many NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS AND RESEARCH MATERIALS. The newspaper clippings, circa 1874-2009, include originals, photocopies, and transcripts. They review information surrounding the creation and history of the cemetery, the introduction of new rules and regulations, land purchases or negotiations, events, and the cemetery's efforts to renovate and become listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Some articles give historical information about the town of Menomonie and the lives and business ventures of several of the prominent Menomonie families who helped found the cemetery, including the Knapp and Tainter families. These historical articles seem to be especially concentrated in the 2000s, when cemetery staff were working to prepare for restoration and the NRHP classification, though they also occur sporadically throughout earlier years.

In conjunction with the ECA's restoration goal, this series also contains some historical and demographic research concerning the Single Grave Section of the cemetery. The secretary/executive director of the ECA aggregated demographic information from the Burial Record books, including the gender, age, cause of death, burial date, and nationalities of the deceased buried within this section. Since this is the earliest established section of the cemetery, this information especially highlights the demographics of the people who inhabited Menomonie during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It also, through the tallying of factors like age and cause of death, gives insight into daily life during this period.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Carolyn Ohnstad. Accession Number: M2013-067

Stout Mss 29	Administrative, 1874-2009
	Executive and financial, 1874-2009
Box   1 Folder   1	Founding documents, circa 1904
Box   1 Folder   1	Rules and regulations, 1884
Box   1 Folder   1-3	Meeting minutes, agendas, financial reports, 1874-2009
Box   2 Folder   1	Vacate and re-plat, 1891, 1949-1956
Box   2 Folder   2	Lot sales, circa 1883-1937
	Land additions to cemetery, 1904-2001
Box   2 Folder   3	Legal documents, 1904, 1913, 1923, 1956, 1998
	Maps, 1944-2001
Oversize Folder	Cemetery plan, sections 1-9, undated
Oversize Folder	City of Menomonie, cemetery first addition, 1944
Oversize Folder	Cemetery, east and south line, 1949
Oversize Folder	Blueprint, Section 5, 1951
Oversize Folder	Order vacating streets, 1952
Oversize Folder	City of Menomonie, 1959
Oversize Folder	Preliminary, cemetery, 1961
Oversize Folder	Section 4, original plat, 1964
Oversize Folder	Sections 1-7, 1995
Oversize Folder	Cemetery, 1995 Note: Includes planned expansion.
Oversize Folder	Cemetery, 2001 Note: Includes planned expansion.
	Cemetery restoration and reclamation work, circa 2000s
Box   2 Folder   3	Procedure for reclamation, undated
Box   2 Folder   4	Photos and audio of Memorial Day and historical marker dedication (CD), 2009
	Lot information, circa 1874-circa 2010
Box   2 Folder   5	Lot sales and burials, 1994-2008
	Burial record books, 1874-1995
Volume   1	Burial record, 1874-1920
Volume   2	Burial record, 1921-1993
Box   2 Folder   6	Index, “Burial Record: Single Graves,” 1874-1995
	Lot books, circa 1874-2010
Box   2 Folder   7	Single grave record book, 1874-1966
Box   2 Folder   8	Single grave record tablet, 1874-1966
Box   3	Book One, Lots 2-2234, circa 1876-circa 2008
Box   3	Book Two, Lots 2-1840, circa 1874-circa 2010
Box   3	Book Three, Lots 1-125, 589-613, 865-1025, 1075-1197, circa 1913-circa 2010
Box   2 Folder   9	Lot information: for sale, maintenance, veterans, 1964-1969
Box   2 Folder   10-11	Newspaper clippings and research materials, 1874-2009