Carlson Cemetery
 
Section 26 - Salem Township - Turner County - South Dakota 

   
Carlson Cemetery,  West of Viborg, SD

The Carlson Cemetery was clearly used by Scandinavian families that lived in the area as is evidenced by the sur-names of those buried in the cemetery.  The earliest death recorded for a person buried was Maria Carlson in 1889.  There were 5 other burials before 1900, in the Levy, Lokken, and Larsen families and the cemetery has been continually used by members of the community since that time.  There were no close by prairie towns but several rural "stores" were in the area, Pearsons Corner, Morning Star, Center Point, Turkey Ridge, Meridian Corner, and Midway all existed for a while at one time.

At this point we do not have any information about the cemetery orgin however the first recorded death and a major grave monument is for a Carlson family just inside the southwest corner of the cemetery.  A logical assumption would be that the Carlson's likely donated the land.   There is also no information giving any particular relationship to any of the local churches in this region.

Carlson  Cemetery  Gate and  Sign 

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The Carlson Cemetery information database consists of 3 parts.

This information was prepared by Ken Tiahrt in 2011 with the generous assistance of several other community members and may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use.  Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires written approval.

1.  A Cemetery Map

An approximate map of the cemetery showing the lots in relationship to the adjacent Turner County Roadways, 290th Street and 444th Avenue gives the user a physical setting.   Very specific location for a given burial plot can not be found using this information source.

2.  A List of Burials

A listing of the burials at the Carlson Cemetery – Section 26 – Salem Township – Turner County, gives the individual names in order of lot numbers.  This listing also gives the date of birth and date of death when available.  The accuracy available with the records in this document is acceptable for most genealogical purposes.

Photos of Grave Monuments
**UPDATE NOTE - October 2018 -- The cemetery list does not contain any tombstone photographs. Thankyou for understanding. Anyone wanting to donate personal tombstone pics is encouraged to do so on the following dedicated site for that purpose: South Dakota Gravestones Project.

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