This is a general page for East Lawn Cemetery in Alma Center, Wisconsin. We will post announcements (water shut off, urns emptied, etc.) as well as field requests for photos and information. If you have suggestions, please let us know!
East Lawn Cemetery lies east of Alma Center, just beyond the eastern boundary of the Village and immediately south of St. Mary's Cemetery. Much of the land in this area originally was owned by the pioneer Leander Merrill.
Newspaper records indicate that a "spacious frame school building" was built in about 1870 on land obtained from Mr. and Mrs. Merrill which is now a part of East Lawn Cemetery. This school burned in December of 1873 and was not re-built at that location. The School District later sold a parcel of the land to Mrs. Wes (Eliza) Kenson.
According to a newspaper item, the first interment at East Lawn was for Mary A. Schutt of Alma Center, who died on August 17/18, 1877, "after a lingering illness, at the residence of her son-in-law, Mr. Most. Her life was pure, her prospect for eternity bright, her end peaceful...She was buried in the new cemetery, the first interment."
It is known that the bodies of some persons buried in surrounding cemeteries, such as Stanford Cemetery, were either exhumed and reburied in the new cemetery, or just the tombstones were removed to Alma Center.
In subsequent years, donations of additional land for East Lawn were made by the Kenson family and by Jennie Dunn. It is because of this that references can be found in newspapers of the late 1800s to the "Kenson Cemetery" and to the "Dunn Cemetery." In general, however, East Lawn was referred to as the "Alma Center Cemetery" or the "Village Cemetery."
On June 18, 1921, the cemetery became known as "East Lawn Cemetery" and a cemetery association was organized on that date. The first officers were: President, H.S. Cadby; Treasurer, Ella Helwig; and Secretary, Olive Blencoe. A committee composed of G.M. Breakey, H. Van Gorden, and Olive Blencoe was appointed to draw up a set of by-laws.
Minutes from the earliest meetings of the association show that the first lawn mower was purchased for $16.50, and ice cream socials, dances, and basketball games were held which raised $143.60 for the operating fund. The prices of cemetery lots were listed at that time for $10 and $15.
Subsequent minutes contain these interesting facts:
-- In 1922, the American Legion erected memorial crosses for veterans;
-- The arch for the entryway into the cemetery was purchased in 1932 for $70;
-- In 1939 the cost of opening and closing a grave was $7.50;
-- In 1942 land was purchased from Laverne Adams for $125; the cemetery had 98 lots; the sexton was paid 45 cents an hour; and lots sold for $20; and
-- Land was purchased in May 1965 from Les Staffon for a cemetery addition.
A new tool shed was built in recent years, and the American Legion moved their crosses from the rear of the cemetery to the park in front.
East Lawn Cemetery has served the community well and will continue to do so for many years to come. From a small plot of graves, it has grown to encompass a total of 2,862 individual spaces.
