52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks: Good Deeds

31 August 1900 Bloomington, Osborne County, Kansas

Dearest Father and Mother,
In just a few days, Wash and I are going to do something we have been considering for some time. We feel our little community needs this. The people here need resting places for their beloved departed. We are selling 5 acres of our farmland to the Bloomington Cemetery Association. We will receive $15.

Even though it has not been an official burial grounds, several have been placed at rest. One soul, that breaks my mother-heart, is young Byon Prentess. He was only 11 years old who was laid to rest here almost 30 years ago. Another is Delbert Tunison who was murdered by his brother-in-law over two horses. His grave is unmarked. There is a Civil War veteran who lies here in another unmarked grave…his name is Amos Howell Boultinghouse.

My husband Wash and I are not sure how this started with this acreage becoming a burial ground. None of our kin are buried here. We feel that selling it to the Cemetery Association is fitting and right. We have placed a fence around part of the grounds and graves.

May the souls entrusted to this earth rise in peace and see the face of God.

Lovingly,
Your daughter Almina

Note: My great grandparents, Washington I and Sarah Almina (Nickel) Storer, sold the land on 1 September 1900 to the Bloomington Cemetery Association. Ironically, they are not buried there as they are at rest in the Osborne City Cemetery. There is a historic marker at the cemetery.