Elmira Cemetery
Report made in 1985, Somerset
twp
by Ron Houghtelin, Owatonna, Minnesota
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This old cemetery was located near the
old village of Elmira which was located in Somerset twp near the NW
corner of
the NW quarter of section 18 in Steele County on what has been called
the old
Miller place.
The original cemetery is now gone and
no markers are visible or evident at this reporting and this area is
now meadow
and farm crops.
The location was identified by persons
that had lived in this area when the markers were still in place
several years
ago. The former cemetery site was located a mile south of the old
village of
Saco and then over the railroad tracks about a half mile on the south
side of
the twp road on the hill.
Most of the burials were most probably
some of the old pioneer settlers mentioned in " The History of Steele
and
Waseca Counties", who settled near by. This cemetery was also
located in
the same section and was near the village of Elmira.(1857) Laid out by
Dr
Thomas Twilford who platted about 80 acres for the village.
The village failed when the railroad
located further east to its present location which now runs thru The
present
village of Hope, Minnesota.
No names of any burials are known for
this report, but it is likely persons associated with the Elmira
venture and
with Dr Twilford and the settler's children, would be among those
buried in
this cemetery. This
report was
written in memory of the early pioneer settlers who found their way to
Steele
County Minnesota, who braved this early settlement and are buried in
unmarked
graves.
This report was written in Sept 1985 by
Ron Houghtelin, Owatonna, Minnesota.