Kansas cemetery & homestead visits

While going to and from the Lindsborg workshop, I managed to make a few cemetery and homestead visits. As is always the case, there are fun surprises along the way!

Here’s the rundown:

Gust and Anna Bjorklund, Weskan Cemetery

Anna was a younger sister of my great-grandfather, Gust Rudeen. If you recall, I recently identified some photos of her from the Johnson Family Reunion. Also, Anna was the one who was listed in the Marbäck parish records as being of a “baptist mindset“.

Gust and Anna apparently got land in Wallace County, Kansas and lived there for a number of years. Their kids mostly ended up in Colorado – some in the Greeley/Eaton area. I have much research to do on this branch of the family!

Anna died at the age of about 73, while her husband Gust outlived her and died at the age of about 90.

Here’s a close-up of the headstones in the Weskan Cemetery:

And here’s the view looking over the headstones and to the south. As you can see, the Weskan area is pretty bleak. It’s on the high plains of western Kansas.

Jonas Peter Hultman and Anna Christina Johansdotter, Rose Hill Cemetery

These are my 4x-great-grandparents. They came over from Sweden in 1854, which is quite early relative to most other Swedish emigrants. They lived for many years Henry County, Illinois but finally settled in Riley County, Kansas where they are buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery north of Randolph.

The Rose Hill Cemetery is pretty old and doesn’t appear to have many recent burials, but it is fairly well-tended. Here’s a view of the Hultman tombstone (the tall white one in the center of the photo):

Here are close-ups of the three sides of the stone that have inscriptions (click on images to enlarge):

Louis and Lisa Stena Hanson, Randolph Cemetery

Next stop was to the Randolph Cemetery where Jonas and Anna’s daughter, Lisa Stena, is buried alongside her husband Louis Hanson. At right are Louis and Lisa Stena (center front) and all their children. My great-great-grandfather Edward Hanson is in the center of the back row.

Louis died fairly young at the age of 65. Lisa Stena outlived him but died young as well, only 56. Yet more research to do on their causes of death, I guess.

They were buried in the original Randolph Cemetery. In the 1950’s, a big flood control project was built and the entire town of Randolph (including the cemetery) was going to be under water. So the federal government actually paid to move the entire Randolph cemetery onto high ground. A few weeks ago I met a gentleman who was actually a native of the original town of Randolph. He said that the movement of the cemetery was done respectfully. They made every effort to contact family members, who were allowed to observe the process if they chose. He said that one of his relatives actually did observe the rather gruesome unearthing of the grave sites. He said there was little to nothing left in most of the graves and for most of the deceased, the transfer of bushel-baskets full of soil was more symbolic than anything else.

The “new” Randolph Cemetery is on a treeless hillside. Next to Louis and Lisa Stena’s tombstone are several small metal markers for some of the children who died as infants. An additional inscription on one side of the tombstone is for their son-in-law, Swan Carlson, who was killed in a train accident. Note that Lisa Stena “Americanized” her name to “Eliza C.” – presumably the “C” is for “Christina” (in Sweden, Stena is a shortened version of Christina).

Louis and Lisa Stena Hanson’s Homestead

Louis and Lisa Stena homesteaded near Randolph. I thought I would just drive by and see what was still there. This was a fun surprise – the 80-acre property is nestled into a little valley and is as cute as can be.

It is now mostly government-owned and part of the flood project inundation area, although it appears from ownership maps that a corner of it may still be privately-owned. The road was publicly-accessible but unfortunately the fence was marked “No Trespassing” and I wasn’t up to law-breaking. Too bad because the remnants of an old foundation were pretty clearly visible from the road. A Google Map image also shows it pretty clearly. It’s interesting that it was Lisa Stena’s great-grandfather who owned the old mill in Sweden, and the ruins of that foundation are still evident as well!

Here are the photos of what I was able to see from the road, along with the aerial view from Google Maps.

They have to do research on historical remains whenever federal projects are built, so I’m going to order a book through Interlibrary Loan to see what additional information might be available about this old homestead.