Hi all I received this from another list .....( [email protected] ) and found it interesting Thanks Dick Schweiss (List Admin. for) Brown County, MN Mail List ... [email protected] Researching surnames: SCHWEISS .. MEIER .. SCHMITT/SCHMIDT .. STADTHER(R) .. MEHLTRATER My Genealogy Site: http://www.harbornet.com/folks/dick/SchweissFamilyHistory.htm *************************************** "The following information may be helpful for list members who believe their ancestors are buried at St. George's cemetery in West Newton Township, MN. My great great grandparents are buried at St. George's cemetery near New Ulm, MN. St. George's is one of the oldest German-Bohemian cemeteries in the state. My ancestor's graves date back to 1883. There are no markers on my great great grandparent's graves and I only know where they are because I found them on a cemetery map at the New Ulm Historical Society. I could not understand why there were no markers -- all of my other ancestors in St. George cemetery had markers on their graves. I decided to get markers made and placed there if possible. The grave plot where they are buried is presently owned by Herbert Wenninger. As it turned out, his daughter is on the St. George cemetery board. When I was in New Ulm during the Heritagefest in July I met with her to discuss placing new stones on my grandparents' graves. She told me that she believed there were some old stones that belonged there in a storage shed at the cemetery and she explained what had happened. There was a time when the priest at St. George wanted to maximize the use of the cemetery and he resold some of the plots and some of the land that was reserved for walkways. He allowed removal of markers from the plots that were resold and many of the farmers who purchased "new" plots simply took the stones from them to their farms and stored them there. Herbert Wenninger took the Brigel stones from my ancestor's graves to his farm. Some time later a new priest at St. George's church learned that there were a number of cemetery markers scattered around the parish in various farmyards. He ordered all of them to be returned to the church. A lot of the markers were brought in but some are still missing -- possibly still stored at a farm out in the township. The priest had no plan to reset the stones on the proper graves -- all of them ended up stored in the cemetery shed. Herbert Wendinger returned my Brigel stones to the church at that time and they ended up in the shed with all the others. About a week ago I learned from Wendinger's daughter that my Brigel stones were in the shed but they are damaged. She gave me the number of Bloedel Monument in New Ulm so I could call them to find out whether the stones could be repaired and reset. Since my Brigel graves are now on the Wendinger plot she gave me permission to reset the stones -- she said there is plenty of room for future Wendinger monuments. She also told me that the stones were engraved in German. I called Bloedel Monument (Toll free:1-888-354-6311 FAX 507 354 7588). They will send someone to St. George to look at the stones and then give me an estimate on what it will cost to repair, seal and reset them. Sealing the stones helps to prevent future damage from erosion. They can also restore old monuments -- they have the means to decipher the writing on old limestone monuments and reblast it with sand to bring it out. The monument company knows the members of the cemetery board and the cemetery caretakers. It may be possible to coordinate a search for a missing marker by speaking to them. However, it would be wise to verify that there is an unmarked ancestral grave at St. George first. The New Ulm historical society has an old St. George's cemetery map on microfilm. The map appears to have been made at the time that the plots were resold so it is a good place to start a search for an unmarked grave. The cemetery map shows who is already buried in a plot that is now owned by a family of another name. Find your ancestors on the map and you should be able to learn who purchased the plot and removed the markers. That plot-owner's name will be a clue to where any old grave markers might be found if they are not in the cemetery shed. Find out where the farmer with that name had his farm at the time that the cemetery plots were resold and then find out if the present owner of that farm knows anything about grave markers stored there. With luck the same family will still be on the farm and they will know about the markers. If they still own the plot they may be willing to give permission to reset old markers there. My great great grandparents are just noted as Mr. Brigel and Mrs. Brigel on the cemetery map. Do not pass up any possibility for a surname match when you search the map. If you find an ancestral grave at St. George there should also be a notation about that ancestor in the St. George death register -- it will at least give a date of death. The New Ulm Historical Society will do searches for you for a fee. Their web site is under construction but there may be someone at the New Ulm contact office who can refer you to an Edress for the Historical Society. Here is the Edress from the New Ulm website: <A HREF="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</A>. The St. George cemtery board is considering assigning a corner of the cemetery as an area where all of the old stones can be set up once more -- at least they will show that there is a burial for a certain person even though they may not be right on the gravesite. If the family that owns the plot where your ancestor is buried will not give permission to reset the stones there, you will at least be able to display the stones as a memorial in that dedicated part of the cemetery."