Wiebesiek  Family  Cemetery
 
Section 27 - Middleton  Township - Turner County - South Dakota

       Wiebesiek  Family  Cemetery

The Wiebesiek Family Cemetery is somewhat of a mystery, the 4 graves are identified as belonging to 2 families, Wiebesiek and VanGerpen, who lived close by but not likely on the immediate land.  This is not uncommon for rural family cemeteries, but leads to the question of who started the cemetery? and might there be other unknown persons having different last names buried there? although this is quite unlikely.

It is known that Christoffer Wiebesiek homesteaded the northwest quarter of section 27 in 1879 and that VanGerpen homesteaded a quarter of section 22 in 1882, which is just across the road.  It is also known that the Bunger family bought the northeast quarter of section 27, where the graves are located, in 1881 or 1882 from VanGerpen, who must have acquired the property from one of the other original homesteaders, Jacob Mammenga, Jacob Rowland, or Ubbe Iwwerks.

Apparently, as is the case for nearly every rural farm cemetery no permanent records were made of cemetery plots.  If  any steps to preserve this site were taken they are lost to history.

This Cemetery is not visible from the roadway and was only used for the four burials indicated.  It has now reverted to grassland and is regularly pastured.  The farm is now owned by a great great grandson of Chris Wiebesiek, the father of two of the infants buried here, and also a descendent of the Bunger's. 


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 1.  A Cemetery Map
 
There is no map for this cemetery other than the photos which show its approximate location in Turner County, which is within the pasture shown on the right.

The grave site was fenced for many years and carefully protected, but eventually livestock destroyed the fence.  However, since there were no monuments present the remains of the fence served to designate the site to those who knew of its existence.  Even these remnants have now vanished.

This information was prepared by Ken Tiahrt <tiahrt@montana.edu> with the generous assistance of Chet Whitney and may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for private use.  Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires written approval.

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2.  A List of Burials

A listing of the burials at the Wiebesiek Family Cemetery – Section 27 – Northwest Quarter – Middleton Township – Turner County, is only available from the WPA work that was done in the mid 1900's.  This document is available from the South Dakota State Historical records.

Wiebesiek     -- 2 infant children of Chris Wiebesiek. 
                                             Christoffer Wiebesiek was the homestead owner of neighboring land.
 

Van Gerpen   -- 2 infant children of Frank Van Gerpen. 
                                             Frank Van Gerpen, may have been a friend, a renter, a neighbor, or an early temporary owner.

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3.  Grave Monuments

There are no grave markers on this cemetery. 

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