[pic 008]

 

(l-r)Lonnie Thurneau, Gene Squire, Bud Counsell [pic 007]

 

 

A well deserved "ATTA-BOY/GIRL" goes to the individuals who volunteered to assist with the restoration of the Beaver Creek Cemetery, outside the Ghost Town of Brownville, Iowa, in Mitchell County today. (7/23/05).

Much was accomplished despite high temperatures and humidity to match. Jo Ann Squier explained that this is the first step in the total restoration here. Talk of a metal arch entrance was discussed by one person and they volunteered to build it.

    Neal Du Shane

 

 

Loren Meyer -- [pic 013]

 

Loren Meyer Left, Lonnie Thurneau Right -- [pic 035]

 

Tombstone for Mary Linda -- [pic unt-5]

 

Nice "over-all" picture of Beaver Creek -- [pic unt-6]

 

Jo Ann Squire & Cheryl Jahnel -- [pic squijahn]

 

Gene Squire, Bud Counsell, Loren Meyer and Lonnie Thurneau -- [pic genesqui]

 

Kathy Pike, Jessi Erwin, Vivian Du Shane, Tommy Pike and Loren Meyer -- [pic kathypik]

 

Vivian Du Shane, Cheryl Jahnel, Jo Ann Squire, Gene Squire -- [pic vividuss]

 

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Commentary by Neal Du Shane

Saturday July 23, 2005 found a group of some ten individuals, that have an interest in Mitchell County Pioneer Cemeteries, gathered at Beaver Creek Cemetery ¼ mile east of the ghost town of Brownville, Iowa, in Mitchell County. Hot and humid seemed to sum up the forecast, weather wise.

While Beaver Creek Cemetery doesn’t officially qualify as a Pioneer Cemetery, as defined by the State of Iowa (6 or less burials in the past 50 years), but it is approaching this designation.

The restoration is needed to keep the honor of those buried there in the lime light of the area. In one short year this location would be over run with weeds, trees, grass, potentially becoming derelict -- if not maintained and cared for.

The former town of Brownville, for which this cemetery was established, has all but disappeared with the passage of time; only a few people have memories of its existence. A few pictures still exist of the store and a few other points of interest in Brownville. The original Brownville Bridge which spanned the river, for the dam and mill, is now being used on the bike/nature trail between McIntire and Riceville. The Park and Shelter House are still there and maintained at Brownville. But little else remains of this former bustling community.

For several weeks coordination of this restoration event has been underway -- spearheaded by Jo Ann and Gene Squier. Jo Ann and Gene Squier have been maintaining the cemetery for years; mowing, trimming and generally keeping a watchful eye on its remote and hidden location. Once located, this is one of the more beautiful locations of all the cemeteries in Mitchell County.

Those assisting today were: Tommy Pike, Kathy Pike, Jessi Erwin, Cheryl Jahnel, Gene Squire, Monte Kloberdanz, Lonnie Thurneau, Bud Counsell, Loren Meyer, Jo Ann Squier and Vivian Du Shane.

Appreciation and gratitude go out to all who participated, from the Mitchell County Pioneer Cemetery Restoration Project (MCPCRP).

      Neal Du Shane

 

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Some Relevant Emails

 

7/23/05 from Jo Ann Squier: Monte and the Pike's trimmed shrubs, bushes, and trees for over 4 hours. They are good workers to say the least. Loren Meyer stayed and helped a lot. Gave us good pointers, and methods. We were able to straighten, and reset over 12 stones. Some of them were sizeable. It took the tractor and loader to get them lifted. I guess I spent about 7 hours there myself, and Gene just came crawling home (almost literally) after 9 hours. The last two headstones, he worked alone, ran into trouble with roots, and had to reset a large stone by himself as it got rolled out with the roots! Anyway, it was a big day, got lots done. Much more than I had hoped for. Then, of course, Vivian came to the rescue with some much appreciated lunch. She gave me the interesting details about the David McLaughlin (actually from David, and the town was named for him). I had no idea that we had someone famous buried in Brownville. I shall try and get Kersh to do a little follow up story about our day. Other than the ones I have mentioned the others who came were - Bud Counsell, Lonnie Newhouse, and Cheryl Jahnel. They also put in several hours each, and worked just as hard as the rest. Hope all is well with you out there in the sunny west.

 

7/23/05 from Cheryl Jahnel Neal, Loren really helped with the leveling of a huge marker as well as placing several headstones back on the base with the epoxy. He has a good heart and willing hands to help. JoAnn mentioned setting another work day.

 

From: Jo Ann Squier Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 Subject: Beaver Creek Hi Neal,     Just to update you with the progress we have made at Beaver Creek Cemetery.    I think Gene is shutting down for this year. He sure has spent a lot of time up there. All the broken stones with the exception of the one that is still a mystery are glued and back on bases. All the tipped stones are upright on either their own bases or new ones. Part of the small stones that are really sunk down are raised and have cement poured around them. So all that is left in that category is to still work at raising any of the sunken stones. Figure out where the two pieces of stones go-- I think I have one figured out as the top part of one that is still standing on it's base. Not sure how it will get fit back where it belongs as it has weathered quite badly. Possibly will have to grind it smooth, and then glue it.     The other on-going project is that I have about two thirds of the stones scrubbed and looking much better. Some of the big ones have taken over two hours each to get them done, but they look so nice now. I will keep working on them until the weather gets too cold. Hope to get them done this year, but will finish next year for sure.     The driveway is cleared out. Still needs some hand work grubbing the small roots, but that looks better also. There is a huge pile to burn, but we will have to wait until winter so as not to start a fire in the neighbors pasture.     We are still waiting for loads of dirt if the County crew gets a chance to get it there. It is badly needed. There was a little pile in the driveway area so Gene was able to fix up a couple of the burials that had sunk somewhat. They will need grass seed, and will get that done in the spring.        Jo Ann Squier

 

 

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Copyright 2005 - all rights reserved - MCPCRP
Updated July 29, 2005
Updated Oct. 13, 2005