ISOLATED
GRAVES IN
CUSTER
COUNTY
ISOLATED
GRAVES IN
CUSTER
COUNTY
A. H. Wise Homestead: Section 17, Township 15, Range 22
There are three graves - 2 infants and 1 adult - located on the Wise property east of Callaway, Custer County, Nebraska. There are no markers - just a fence around the area. Those buried there are as follows:
Mrs. Elizabeth Fell - Mrs. A. H. Wise's mother (Lionel Wise's grandmother) - died in 1879, age 69 yrs, 1 mo., 13 days
Infant of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Wise (older than Virgil, their oldest living
Infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Wise (older than Ralph Wise who was born December 1916)
note: One of the above passed away and the ground was so frozen it couldn't be buried right away so the body was kept in an upstairs room - window open and door shut - until the ground thawed enough for burial.
Bob Estergard's pasture: Section 27, Township 15, Range 22
There is one grave here marked by a stone. This is the grave of an infant - child of Bill Lytle. The stone is simply marked "Lytle".
Edwin Estergard Farm: Southeast 1/4 Section 2, Township 14, Range 22
There is one grave here of an infant who was buried on the homestead of James Webster. For years two cedar trees were the marker. Now only one tree remains at the foot of the grave.
Jim Hanson Farm: Section 12, Township 23, Range 12
There is said to be a Mrs. Schneider buried here. It is mentioned in the Redfern Table history. There may be two other graves on another homestead - victims killed at the foot of the table hill when they were thrown from a horse.
Paul Kleinknecht pasture: Section 5 or 6, Township 13 N, Range 23
This is land was formerly the Haunstine homestead and is where Albert E. Haunstine is buried. He was convicted of the murder of Hiram Roten and William Ashley on November 9, 1888 and was hanged in Broken Bow, May 23, 1891. The hanging was the first and only legal execution ever held in Custer County. The body was turned over to a brother who - in the stillness of the night- took the remains to his homestead in the southwest part of the county where they were quietly interred.
J. A. G'Schwind farm: Section 28, Township 16, Range 23
Two infant sons - victims of cholera - of homesteaders, Mr. and Mrs. George T. Ricker are buried here. Two large cedar trees mark their graves.
Schreyer homestead: about 7 miles northwest of Callaway, by the South Loup River
Mr. and Mrs. John Schreyer and Mrs. Frederick (Anna) Schreyer (first wife of the first homesteader in this area) are buried on this land. The exact location is not known. Although Anna Schreyer's name is on a stone at the Kingsbury Cemetery, she is not actually buried there.
An article in the Callaway Courier newspaper in October 1973 told
that a memorial historical monument was to be erected on the Schreyer homestead
northwest of Callaway, Nebraska in honor of the 5 people known to be buried
on that land. Since only the approximate location of the graves was
known, the monument was to be placed close to the road which would be near
the location of the graves. It also told that at one time the 5 graves
were fenced off and flowers were often placed there. During the early
part of the 1890's the families moved to Oklahoma because
of the drought in Nebraska. When they returned to Nebraska
the fences had been destroyed and not replaced. The five people buried
here were listed as follows:
Margarette Schaller Schreyer, wife of Frederick Schreyer. They were the first homesteaders between Callaway and Arnold. She died in October of 1882.
John Schreyer, the brother of Frederick Schreyer. John died in January or February in 1884.
Sophia Schaller Schreyer, wife of John Schreyer. She died sometime before January of 1884.
Walter Schreyer, son of John and Sophia. Walter was a twin brother of Pauline Scheyer Whipple. Walter died shortly after the family came to Nebraska in 1878.
Mabel Whipple, an infant daughter of William and Pauline (Schreyer) Whipple.
Murphy Table: Section 26, Township 16, Range 24
The grave of Verne Murphy - son of Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Murphy is located on this land. They couldn't get off the table with horses and buggy so the child was buried on the homestead. The grave is fenced off.
Charlie Beshaler farm:
Vene Kendal - a homesteader - is buried on this place, near the gravel pit.
Near the railroad tracks south of Callaway, Custer County, Nebraska: Section 13, Township 15, Range 23
There is a fenced, well-kept grave near the railroad tracks south of Callaway, Nebraska. George Davis is buried there. He filed on a homestead a little over one mile southeast of Callaway in the year 1883. That same winter he was stricken with pneumonia and died. He was buried there on Christmas Day. There were no cemeteries at that time, so a grave was staked out on a corner of his homestead. Later, when the railroad came, the tracks ran within a few feet of the grave and the railroad has cared for the grave since that time.
Groff Cemetery: The legal description for this cemetery is as follows: Section 6, Township 19, Range 17, NE quarter.
According to Judy Schoch - a descendant - there are 5 graves here; none have headstones. She says that the family feels that David S. Groff - born about 1820 and died about 1888 - and Catherine M. Kendig Groff - born 1819 and died about 1918 - are buried there. She also believes that Caroline Wishman Groff born 1860 and died 1894; a baby - no dates; and Ira Goff - died about 1878 - are all buried here. A cousin had stated that 'an uncle' is buried there and Judy says that Ira would have been the first family member to die in this area, so she believes he is 'the uncle' her cousin was referring to.
Linstedt cemetery: There is a small rural cemetery in southwestern sections of Custer County, Nebraska, known as "The Linstedt Cemetery". It is on the farm of Aaron Lindstedt, Route 1, north of Gothenburg, in Custer County - in the homestead pasture - burial site for about 13 known deceased persons. The cemetery is not where Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Lindstedt were living in 1983 when they reported its existence in Wayne Township, but was north from their place about 3 miles - south of the Sells Valley Cemetery. In 1904 this was the Gust Lindstedt farm in Section 32, Township 14, Range 24, in northeast area of Wayne Township - a couple of miles south of the Booker School house. This Lindstedt Cemetery is apparently more or less a family cemetery and members of the Lindstedt pioneer family's generations are interred there.
No further information is available at this time.