IRELAND CEMETERY

The Ireland Cemetery was located in the Northwest Quarter of Sec 31, Twp 14, Range 13. It was another of the many family cemeteries started by someone on his farm. Members of the Ireland family and later other neighbors or friends were buried there. The last burial was probably in the late 1800's. The cemetery was forgotten. The graves were probably marked at one time, but the markers had disappeared by the middle 1960's.

In 1966 construction was beginning for a new housing development called Highland Estates east of Papillion, north of Hwy 370 and east of 72nd St. The bulldozer, starting to lay out a street, dug into the unmarked graves in the forgotten cemetery. The sheriff was summoned and determined theat the remains were those of people who were long deceased, not victims of some more recent criminal activity. The remains were moved to Anderson Grove Cemetery on 25 May 1966 and construction went forth on the new housing development.

A memorial fund was established and the proceeds were used to purchase a monument marking the new graves in the Anderson Grove Cemetery (Sec 03 02) and engraved :
"Remains of Nebraska pioneers
Jesse Ireland
Mrs. Jesse Ireland
Abner Keyes
Landora Moats Moore
Harley Moore
Theodore Cordes
Adolph Cordes
Also others unknown, as moved
in 1966 from unmarked graves
know as Ireland Cemetery in
Sarpy County."

There were supposedly 35 or more graves in the cemetery. Other names of possible burials there include the grandparents of Abner Keyes, three children of William Ireland, the mother of John Sautter Sr. and the parents of Major Reimers [Remer] " are thought to be there" according to a 1936 letter from Charles Schwenck, who had lived on the former Ireland farm.

Gary Iske, Sarpy County Genealogical Society, 1995.

View Pioneer TombstonePhoto by Darlene Lutz Foged.

A forgotten cemetery with at least 15 graves was turned up Tuesday morning by earth moving activity at Highland estates located on the north side of highway 370 about a mile east of Papillion.

County Sheriff Richard Whitted and County Attorney Dixon Adams were alerted after several coffins and skeletons had been uncovered by heavy equipment. No markers were evident at the old burial place.

Mrs. Steinberg said a letter written by Mrs. Grace Carpenter to H.D. Patterson on July 21, 1936 reveals the names of some of those interred there.

According to Mrs. Carpenter, Jesse Ireland and his wife have graves there. Mr. Ireland was deeded the land by the government in 1857. He sold it to Enos Lowe in 1858 and the Lowes in turn sold the land. (rest of the article was cut off).

Papillion Times, Thursday, 26 May 1966

Papillion Times, 30 July 1936

Former Sarpy Resident Writes Interesting Letter

H.D. Patterson, president of the Sarpy county Historical Society recently recieved the following interesting letter from Grace Carpenter, formerly residing a few miles southeast of Papillion and for the past number of years at Fairview, Montana.

The letter was elicited through an article which appeared in the Times relative to Sarpy county cemeteries, which had been prepared by W.D. Stambaugh, superintendent of the W.P.A. writers project. Herewith the letter:

Regarding the enclosed clipping, I thought perhaps you did not know that a number of people were buried on the farm where Sam Miller lives, then owned by "Pappy" and "Mammy" Ireland, parents of the late Wm. and Lemuel Ireland. I believe Mr. Ireland's name was Jesse and he and she are buried there. I recall going to funerals there when I was small over 60 years ago.

Also a few of the old Saling family lie on the West side of the road that went from the Lemuel Ireland house to where the old Rum Saling house stood 35 years ago.

Three small children lie (a 6 mo old brother of mine included) along the road north of the old Maple Grove on my father's farm, now owned by John Leaders. They are there over 70 years. It was a mound but I'm told that Leaders plowed and leveled it off.

The groves on the Sam Miller farm are northeast of the buildings not far from them and not very far to the north.

I believe old Mr and Mrs. Key, parents of the late Charles W. Key, lie there. Also a grandson, Abner Key, who was about the age of R. L. Carpenter and Jed Gates and who died under 10 years of age. Also the three children of Wm. Ireland and a few others who died within a few days of each other, all of 60 years ago. At the time the diptheria took so many and Dr. Klingeman was just a very young doctor.

Note- "old Mr. and Mrs Key" were James and Susannah Key (for some reason, the surname was spelled KEYES in many records later on), gggrandparents of Darlene Lutz Foged, and parents of Charles Ward Key. They were one of the original land owners in Sarpy County. (The children of James and Susannah Key were Charles Ward Key and Matilda Key Thompson.)

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