This history was prepared and delivered by Rev. John Alberti on the occasion of the first cemetery decoration service held at St. Peter’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Brodhagen on August 31, 1930.
The original address was written in German and translated into English by Luise Campbell in October 1998 for the church archives and glory to God.
In the 11 years from 1858 to 1869, the still young congregation that had neither a church building nor a church yard used the school yard of # 4 School Section, Logan as a burial ground.
The first person to be buried was Mrs. Anna Margarete Kaiser who died on March 5, 1859.
In total 58 persons ( 19 adults and 39 children) were buried in the school yard. The last one was a child of Joseph and Anna Lenz.
When the Lutherans of Logan and McKillop re-organized to become St. Peter's Ev. Lutheran congregation in Logan Township in 1867, they immediately bought an acre of land for a church yard from Carl Rock for $50.00. This place is on the 8th concession, the east corner of Lot 28. Here they built in the same year a beautiful church, and it was dedicated on August 25, 1867.
However, burials were still made in the school yard until Sunday the 14th of March, 1869 when the place beside the church was dedicated as God's Acre during a great snowstorm. Very many people took part in this event. Pastor Gerndt preached the sermon based on 1 Peter, verse 3. On the same day the little child of Friederich August Bennewies, son of Ernst Bennewies and his wife Juliane nee Schrader of McKillop Township was buried in the newly dedicated God's Acre.
The mother of this child is still a member of our congregation and is most probably among us to-day. That child would now be over 61 years old.
The first adult person that was buried on this first cemetery was Adolf Morenz , age 74. He was buried one week after the dedication of the cemetery on March 21, 1869.
On this first cemetery which we now call the Old Cemetery, 417 persons were buried in 47 years from 1869-1916.
The last adult person was Friederich Cordts and the last child was Catherine Dorothy Diegel.
Already on April 25th, 1909, the congregation decided to enlarge the church yard and bought 1 1\2 acres of land from Mrs. Carl Rock at $300.00 for the acre. This land was prepared for the new church yard and was later dedicated as God's Acre. The first burial took place on the 22nd of August, 1916 when Mrs. Christine Heckmann was laid to rest. The first child to be committed to the earth was Martin Ahrens in May 1923, son of Edward and Lizzie Ahrens.
Since 1916, there have been 95 persons buried in the new cemetery.
We believe that up to this day all the deceased since the founding of the congregation 72 years ago total 569 buried in aforementioned three places.
In the course of these last years much work has been done in many times and ways to make this God's Acre attractive and worthy. A great deal of work by members of the congregation was done free of charge. In the spring of 1927, after the decision was made by the congregation, the old and flat gravestones of the old cemetery were set up in a large cement cross. In the spring of 1930, the Sunday School staff took over the care of flower beds on the east side of the church.
The congregation wishes that the place where their dead slumber toward the Resurrection be kept worthy and beautiful. May this first and all future grave decoration days also serve to do this.