Burr Oak Lutheran Church

written by Amanda Lambert

The history of Burr Oak Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery starts with the formation of the church of the same name. In 1855, a congregation began meeting informally, yet on a regular basis. It was only two years until land was bought and an actual church building erected. Following the building of the church, a cemetery was laid out on the surrounding church land. A land transfer amounting to one acre between Augustus Young (Jung) and the Lutheran Church of the Town of Farmington for $100 was recorded April 10, 1856 [La Crosse County Register of Deeds, volume 14, page 161].

The congregation initially was comprised of "German settlers, without exception, [who] were immigrants from a single village (Kirchdorf) called Wernshausen, in the Province (Herzogtum) of Sachsen-Meiningen, Germany." Reformer Martin Luther's hometown was not too far north from this village. The settlers first landed at the Town of Bloomfield, Walworth County in southern Wisconsin, and then travelled a distance of over 200 miles to Burr Oak by ox or horse.

F. Memminger, the first resident pastor of the congregation, was also one of the first burials at the cemetery. Memminger died on Feb. 28, 1858. Although most of the older stones are difficult to decipher, there are a few people buried with birth dates of 1797.

About 1900, the cemetery was given a face-lift by the congregation. A monument for Pastor Memminger's grave was erected, and a cemetery committee was established to oversee maintenance duties, such as mowing the grass regularly. The first members of this committee were Ernst Tenner, William Kremmer and Edward Young.

The redevelopment of the cemetery land was due, in large part, to a former pastor at Burr Oak, Rev. Martin A. Zimmerman. Ordained in 1921, he served for 38 years at Burr Oak Evangelical Lutheran Church, during which time he enhanced the land by planting various pine and spruce trees. In the old section of the cemetery, individuals were buried in the order in which they died. Later, family plots were sold. This cemetery and church are active today thanks to the vision of Pastor Zimmerman.

Search our online cemetery database

Census List Details: