The Cooksville Cemetery Association
is seeking funds to help maintain and improve the village’s historic cemetery. Some of the proposed cemetery projects
include improvements to the roadway path, removal or maintenance of old trees,
and cleaning and care of old gravestones.
The Cemetery, listed in the National
Register of Historic Places as part of the Cooksville Historic District, was established
on November 11, 1861, when 2.5 acres of land were purchased from the Village of
Waucoma’s founder Dr. John Porter for $25. (Waucoma was platted next to
Cooksville in 1846, and the cemetery was initially named “Waucoma Cemetery.”)
The Cemetery is an important part of
the historic Village of Cooksville. Many of Cooksville’s early settlers and Town
of Porter pioneers, some born in the 18th century, lie at rest in
the old Cemetery beneath weathered marble headstones and granite memorials.
The earliest born person interred
in the cemetery is Charlotte Rose Love (1772-1868). Besides Charlotte Love,
eleven other persons born in the 18
th century are buried there.
After the Civil War, about 1865, an
earthen Memorial Mound was constructed in the southern area of the cemetery to
commemorate those men from the community who had died in the war and were
buried in the south. The mound still remains, with a modern flag pole now
erected there.
These early settlers have been
joined by many later descendants and friends of Cooksville. Together, they
represent several centuries of birth—the 18
th, 19
th, 20
th,
and the 21
st centuries. About a thousand are at rest there now,
lying in the shade of the old pine trees. And there is room for more.
For more information about the
Cooksville Cemetery, contact John Julseth (608-698-6916) or Anne Remley-Haines
(608-201-1996), or email
cooksvillecemetery@gmail.com,
or go to the cemetery’s Facebook site.
You may also donate by mail to the
Cooksville Cemetery Association, Treasurer, 9219 N. Tolles Road, Evansville, WI
53536.
[Posted by Larry Reed, with photos from the Cooksville Archives.]
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