Cemetery tour reflects

outcome of 1862 conflict

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Approximately 100 history buffs learned about gravestone symbolism and related stories of New Ulm defenders Sunday afternoon during a tour of New Ulm City Cemetery.

Brown County Research Librarian Darla Gebhard guided the tour that traced the steps of New Ulm's founding and its defense during the U.S.-Dakota Conflict on the 140th anniversary of the first attack.

Among the graves visited was that of Jakob Castor, who owned a bakery that was outside the three-block barricaded area that defenders protected during the Indian attacks. Castor was killed by friendly fire when he transported baked goods from his bakery to hungry defenders within the barricade.

Some pioneer gravestones had German poetry inscribed on them. Others had drapery and shrouds, symbolizing mourning; torches with flames meant a soul going to heaven.

Another gravestone featured a ship carrying the soul over the river of death underneath a winged angel.

Shoes and socks on top of a grave meant that the person died so quickly that there was no time to remove them. Some graves had two people buried together because the dead had to be buried without delay.

A soon-to-be-refurbished child statue stood over the grave of Allie Peterson, who died at age 8 after suffering from heart trouble. Several pennies were found on or near the statue after youth were dared to visit and touch the grave at night, Gebhard said.

The 52 settlers who died in Milford Township on Aug. 18, 1862, are honored on a mass marker.

In the past, vandals stole urns from graves at night after touring the cemetery during the daytime, looking for the most desirable items. The urns were later sold at Twin Cities art galleries.

A tall tree gravestone for John Hauenstein included his title as a Second Lieutenant Colonel in the First Minnesota Regiment in 1863. Hauenstein served in the Civil War just after the U.S.-Dakota conflict.

Several subterranean crypts included that of Caroline and Carl Pauli and their young daughter Emily who became the first defender casualty of the attacks when she was hit crossing Minnesota Street while carrying a small child. That child-- Ida Behke -- survived and later married Brigadier General Joseph Bobleter who fought in the Spanish-American War. He is also buried in the cemetery.

Historical marker re-dedications took place later Sunday afternoon at the Roebbecke Mill site at State and Center streets; at the Second Battle of New Ulm marker at 27 N. Broadway (the former museum location, now housing the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame); and the Upper Minnesota River Transportation marker at Front and Center (north of Riverside Arts Center).

The historical markers were refurbished with the efforts of several benefactors.