Markers

reveal

history

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Ironically, New Ulm's rich and historically intriguing past comes alive during a walk among the grave markers that populate the City Cemetery's Tract A "Pioneer" section.

More than 50 visitors toured the site Sunday afternoon with Darla Gebhard, Brown County Historical Society archivist and research librarian, as she pointed out the funerary art and explained the symbolism attached to it on various grave stones, a few of which predated the 1862 Dakota Conflict.

While in many cases, the grave stone itself is of greater interest than the person buried beneath; in others, the opposite is true.

Perhaps the tallest grave stone in the cemetery, the tree stone that marks the graves of brewer August Schell and his family is also one of the more ornate.

The grave marker, which stands about 15 feet tall, is cast in the form of a tree trunk. The trunk represents life, and a broken branch symbolizes the end of life. A dove in the tree symbolizes the soul's flight to heaven. A deer standing at the marker's base represents the beer that Schell brewed.

"He suffered from arthritis and couldn't get around well," Gebhard related, "so he had deer and the peacocks brought in so that he could look at them from his house."

Other tree stones, such as the one marking John Hauenstein's grave, have sawn-off branches on the trunk symbolizing the end of life. The tree stone's popularity was short-lived, however, giving way to what is now the traditional marble head stones.

"You'll note the tree stones have a portion of the bark peeled away, revealing the book of life," Gebhard said. "I really like that."

There's nothing really special about the stone that marks the grave of Jakob Castor, a baker who died Aug. 23, 1862. But the date of his death gives a clue as to the story that surrounds Castor's death.

"New Ulm was under attack, and its defenders had set up barricades around the buildings," Gebhard said. "Castor had baked that morning before joining the defenders behind the barricades. He later decided that he should go to his bakery which was outside the barricade to get food for the defenders.

"He was afraid of being shot by the Indians' rifles so he threw a buffalo robe over his head to disguise himself and left the barricades. He was shot and killed by his own defenders -- the first victim of friendly fire."

Then, there is the grave stone of Richard Fischer, first Captain of the New Ulm Civilian Battery, who was wounded during the conflict. He died in 1890.

"The story is he was picked because he was the only one who had a uniform," Gebhard said.

There are some homemade stones, and some flat stone markers. And then there are some graves that aren't marked at all.

"That's the reason the Junior Pioneers erected the stone at the entrance of Tract A," Gebhard explained. "On the back, everyone buried here is listed with a number. Each grave has a stone plug carrying a number so that relatives, and others, can find the grave even it doesn't have a head stone."

Then, there are the subterranean crypts with their thick marble covers, the grave stones with an urn on top and the flat markers that are the only evidence of a grave below.

Finally, a grave marker carrying a piece of historical trivia:

"First white male child born in Brown County. Fred w. Alwin July 5, 1855-November 8, 1947."