Potts  Cemetery  -  Viborg,  SD.
 
Section 19 - Turner Township - Turner County - South Dakota

Just East of the intersection of Turner County Roadways 288th Street and 458th Avenue

 An Aerial View of the Potts Cemetery

     The Potts Cemetery was a rural farm family cemetery and one which has survived over years and years of not being used and general neglect.  The available list of burials is not official, but it appears to have only been used by members of the Potts family and first used as a family burial ground in at least 1886.  Its last use was in 1906 or possibly some years later.

     This private cemetery has been spoken of as "a small record of pioneer history - - a husband, wife, small children and babies."  A special plot of ground that is overgrown with foliage, but has a few trees that provide a quiet shaded spot of rest.  How many other similar cemeteries mark the lives of of early settlers in this community, graves required by disease and the rigors of pioneer times for old and young alike.  Some of these early cemeteries are no longer visible or hardly remembered by local folks, the churches are gone, the family members have passed on, only the wind and the sun preserve their memories.
 

       View  of  Potts  Cemetery  From  the  Northwest

The Potts Family Cemetery information database consists of 3 parts.

This information was prepared by Ken Tiahrt in 2010, with the generous assistance of Sherree Schmiedt who provided unofficial burial records, and may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. 

1.  A Cemetery Map

An approximate map of the cemetery showing the individual lots in relationship to the adjacent Turner County Roadway, 288 Street, gives the user a physical setting.   The cemetery is 2 miles East of Viborg, 3 miles North, and just to the East on the South side of 288th Street.

2.  A List of Burials

A listing of the burials at Potts Cemetery – Section 19 – Turner Township – Turner County, gives the individual names in alphabetic order.  This listing also gives the date of birth and date of death when available.  While specific grave sites are given, no official cemetery record book is known. 

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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Potts  Cemetery  Burial  Record
Section 19 - Turner Township - Turner County - SD
 

Last Name First Name Birth Year Death Year Grave # Lot #
Potts Baby 1 1
Potts Ida L 1886 1887 3 1
Potts John 1849 1906 5 1
Potts Mrs John (Henrietta) 1861 1950 6 1
Potts Wibbe M 1821 1893 7 2
Potts Martha  (Mrs Wibbe) 1822 1900 8 2
Potts William D 1883 1962


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This listing of burials is likely incomplete.
It should be noted that the spelling on the 2 original monuments spell the name as "POTT".
In 1997 only 3 grave markers remained, they are still standing in 2010.

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POTT  Land Ownership by Homestead in Turner County
NAME                    MERIDIAN    TWP     RANGE   SECTION  ACREAGE   TYPE   CT      DATE
POTT, GERRITT      05                     097 N   052 W      020              160                251101 PA      04/30/1883
POTT, JOHN           05                     097 N   052 W      030              160                261000 PA      03/30/1881
POTT, JOHN           05                     097 N   052 W      019              160                251105 PA      05/21/1890
POTT, WIBBE         05                     097 N   052 W      019                80                251101 PA      06/30/1884
POTT, WIBBE         05                     097 N   052 W      019                36.15           251101 PA      06/30/1884
POTT, WIBBE         05                     097 N   052 W      019                36.17           251101 PA      06/30/1884

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 POTT Children Born in Turner County (there may have been others)
 Name                               Sex         DOBirth              City/County         Father          Mother
 POTTS, WILBUR            M           06/18/1890           TURNER              Gerritt            Ida
 POTTS, JENNIE               F           12/31/1887           TURNER              John              Henrietta
 POTTS, JOHN                 M           02/11/1892          TURNER              Gerritt            Ida
 POTTS, GROVER           M           09/14/1889           TURNER               John             Henrietta  
 POTTS, MINNIE              F            05/06/1902          TURNER              Gerritt           Ida
 POTTS, OLIVER             M           10/10/1894           TURNER               John             Henrietta  
 POTTS, MATTIE             F            09/07/1884           TURNER              Gerritt           Ida
 POTTS, LETTIE               F            07/01/1884          TURNER               John              Henrietta
 POTTS, WILLIAM          M           02/26/1883           TURNER              John              Henrietta
 POTTS, MATTIE             F            11/04/1881           TURNER               John              Henrietta