Green Mound

Green Mound Cemetery, located just north of Holmen in the Town of Holland, is a rural cemetery that occupies a grassy mound otherwise surrounded by prairie. Originally the land was a part of the George Travis farm and was known as Travis Cemetery. George's parents, William and Margaret Travis, were buried there in 1859 and 1895 respectively.

At the time when early settlers were coming to the area of Council Bay, near the La Crosse-Trempealeau County border, a cemetery was started about one-fourth of a mile south of Hunter's Bridge. It was later abandoned and the remains from this burial site were reinterred at Green Mound.

The first lot was sold to Taeke Homme on Nov. 8, 1884, although older burials exist. In 1896 a group of women organized the Green Mound Cemetery Society that acted as an auxiliary to the Cemetery Association, also known as the "men's organization" by the women. The auxiliary Society's main cause was to raise money to pay for a caretaker and general upkeep of the cemetery. Clean-up day at the cemetery was often a community effort each spring to get the cemetery in shape for the growing season.

During the first few years of the Society, the membership was made up of women almost entirely from New Amsterdam, Amsterdam Prairie and Council Bay. By the mid 1960's, the community origins of the members was more diverse, including New Amsterdam, La Crosse, Onalaska, Midway, West Salem, Mindoro, Winona, Trempealeau, Galesville and Holmen.

Many Dutch names appear on the stones, such as Van Loon, Westerhouse, Van der Pan, Van Dunk, Lienhouts and Chalsma. The land near the settlement of New Amsterdam is comprised of rich prairie soil and was well suited to agriculture.

Search our online cemetery database

Census List Details: