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Little WDM cemetery watched by relatives |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Wednesday, 14 June 2006 |
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MATT HAUGE
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
June 5, 2006
IOWA-An unidentified driver plowed through the south end of the Huston Cemetery last November, mangling the old wrought iron gate, destroying part of the south fence, side-swiping a tree, and fracturing several headstones.
Months later, it seems the incident may have had another effect: to galvanize support for the tiny plot, known locally as the cemetery in the middle of the Dallas County road.
Originally the site of the 1847 burial of, according to one account, "two small daughters of the Harper family going by wagon train to California," the cemetery is also the final resting place of James B. Huston, his wife, Nancy, and five of their children.
Huston was Dallas County's first county attorney and ran a stagecoach station and post office near the site.
After the November incident, Geraldine Wilson, one of Huston's descendants, decided to hold an old-fashioned Decoration Day picnic on the site. Monday's gathering was a chance for more than 70 of her fellow descendants, area residents, and members of the nearby Maple Grove United Methodist Church to swap stories about the cemetery's past and predictions for its future.
"Everybody's contributing to make it work and it's just been wonderful," Wilson, who lives nearby in Clive, said at the event, which she hoped would demonstrate community support for the cemetery. The site, true to its nickname, lies at - or in - the crossroads of 88th Street and Mills Civic Parkway and is targeted for annexation into West Des Moines later this year.
"The biggest threat to it now is progress," Wilson said. With the Jordan Creek Town Center complex just over the rise to the northeast, the gravel road and two-lane rural highway that intersect at the cemetery could soon become major suburban thoroughfares - threatening access to the site, which Wilson considers a community landmark.
Stephanie Watson, who lives in a former Huston house west of the cemetery, first met Wilson eight years ago after she found porcelain doll heads, tools and old calling cards that bore the name Huston in the walls of her house while renovating.
Watson said the whole area is in an uncertain position as development approaches.
"We've seen surveyors come every couple of days and spray paint and put new flags in our yard," she said.
Watson said writing off the cemetery as abandoned would be a mistake. "So many people think there's no family around," she said. "But there are, and they're coming out of the woodwork today."
Huston descendants used the afternoon as a chance to share in their family's history. Mark Main, his wife, Amy, and their two daughters, Elise, 2, and Isabella, 4, were among those on hand for the picnic. From their home in Booneville, the Mains frequently pass their relative's graves on the way to shopping at Jordan Creek.
Already, the Main daughters know their family's history connects to the cemetery.
"They talk about it when we drive by," said Amy Main.
Dick Nesselroad, 91, grew up to the southwest of the cemetery and now lives in Waukee. He recalled taking a horse-and-buggy from his home to Valley Junction past the cemetery when he was young. Now, as his old route faces further development, Nesselroad has mixed feelings about the changes he's seen.
"We thought they were being a little piggish, coming out that far, but that's progress, I guess," he said.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060605/NEWS08/606060354/1001/NEWS |
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