History Lost: The 1998 Clean-UpThe Highland Cemetery is owned by St. Joseph Catholic Church in Rosemount, Minnesota. According to cemetery caretaker Scott Kaufman, the routine maintenance of mowing down the prairie plants three times a year is a financial burden for the parish. Native prairie plants cover the Highland Cemetery including seasonal wildflowers as well as alien plantings such as dwarf purple iris which blanket the back of the cemetery in spring. Funds reserved for Highland Cemetery maintenance were embezzled by a parish employee some years ago. Top, the front fence, gate and cemetery message board were demolished September 1998. Below, the plant growth at the Sheridan family plot stands in contrast to the freshly mowed open area beyond. The Sheridan monument obelisk is on the ground broken into three sections. The obelisk and footstones were later removed and the plot leveled. The paling, a small fence hidden by the overgrowth, was demolished in September 1998.
In September 1998, St. Joseph's parish commenced a major cemetery clean-up. Issues for the parish were ease of mowing and a reduction in liability. Major changes included removal of plot fences or palings; removal of front perimeter fence and gate; installing a road for heavy equipment over the grave of a child; removal of loose and broken markers; and regrading the cemetery ground to create a more level surface. Removal of Footstones, Headstones and Larger Monument Pieces
Above, headstones and footstones piled in a hollow at the cemetery rear, August 1998. Below, the ground where the pile of stones had been is leveled and scraped clear and extra dirt is piled to the south. In the past, Highland Cemetery gravestones were repaired and left on the graves. During the 1980's, parish volunteers generously volunteered a day a year to reposition and repair the markers. Separated monuments were sometimes rejoined using adhesives. Badly damaged markers were laid flat, flush with the ground, in a bed of concrete, to protect the marker from further damage.
Plot Fences Marking family plots with a small fence, a paling, was fashionable in the last century. When the Highland Cemetery was established in 1868, one of the governing rules set forth by the parish priest Father Oster was:
No Notice Given to Descendent Families
One descendent not notified was Ms. Maureen Bouchard, a parishioner of St. Joseph's and President of the Rosemount Area Historical Society. She serves on the Historical Society board of directors with Mr. Gerald Mattson, also a parishioner, and author of the history of St. Joseph's parish and the Highland Cemetery, Church on the Seven Mile Prairie. Mr. Mattson's research brought him into direct contact with many descendents. A third member of the Rosemount Area Historical Society board of directors is Kevin Geraghty, an Irish-American historian and a descendent. Mr. Geraghty is in contact with genealogists/descendents seeking information about the families buried at the Highland. Many descendent families could have been reached had the church notified the parishioners, known descendents, and local historical societies. Notice to descendent families was not posted on the cemetery message board (also demolished in the 1998 clean-up). Below, the cemetery sign, removed when the front fence and gate were demolished, was returned to the cemetery. The rest of the 1902 arch was missing.
UPDATE: The paling shown above with built-in urns for flower pots reappeared in the cemetery in March 1999! We welcome its return but where are the stones from the pile? Three other palings and the front fence and gate have not been replaced. 3/30/99 The 1902 arch with the cemetery name has been re-erected on two metal posts though it no longer serves as a gateway to the cemetery. Prairie plants have been sheared off much of the ground and paper has been sprayed over bare dirt and tombstones. Noxious weeds protrude through the paper covering. A sinkhole at the rear of the cemetery denotes where the tombstones are buried. Tombstones, three palings, front fence and gate are still missing. 7/7/99 A headstone at the Bambery family plot is knocked flat - and is showing a fresh white scratch across its marble face. The historic fence on the southside is damaged - evidently from mowing and tree removal. June 2000 GREAT NEWS! - the Friends of the Highland Cemetery was organized on June 15, 2000 to preserve the Lakeville pioneer cemetery. No dues yet (though we'll probably ask for money one of these days). Follow the link and join the Friends e-mail list.
TO PROTEST!!
Write or phone: Father Tom Hill,
St.
Joseph's Catholic Church, 14375 South Robert Trail, Rosemount, MN 55068 E-mail Archbishop Flynn at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Next: The Highland Cemetery Registry
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Footstones, loose and broken
headstones and monument pieces were removed from the Highland Cemetery as
part of the September 1998 clean-up. Smaller stones were taken by hand. Bobcats
were brought in to remove larger stones. By November 1, 1998, a few stones
were scattered, not embedded, at family plots, a few were in a shed and most
had disappeared.
In
1998, the parish cemetery committee determined that St. Joseph Catholic Church
would no longer be responsible for conserving cemetery markers and monuments
- this was to be the responsibility of the descendent families. The decision
was not announced to parishioners. No attempt to notify the descendents was
made. According to Jeff Pedersen at
