Founders Park Cemetery
contributed by Carol Boettcher
February, 2006

Located on the east side of Evergreen Blvd. north of Western Ave. and south of Center St. in Cedarburg, Ozaukee cty., WI. First burial ground for Trinity Lutheran church members.

Original information from handwritten notes from unknown source. Items in italics are additional information gleaned from booklet “Founders Park - Cedarburg, Wisconsin” and from church records.

Name	Age	Birth	Death
DOBBERPUHL, Christian Emigrated 1843 with wife, Caoline Fredericka nee KLUG, sons Carl & Christian, and daughter Wilhelmine Juliane. Baby died enroute & buried at sea.	64	1784	10 Oct 1848
SPUHL, Mrs. Aug. Wm, nee GRUHL Helene Friederike; dies giving birth to twins - Auguste died buried with mom, August survived. Husband remarried 1850 to Dorothea Kressin	21	1827	4 Dec 1848
GROTH, Ludwig donated half his property to Trinity congregation for first church & cemetery. One of founding Groth bros.	38	6 Dec 1812	18 Apr 1850
HACKBARTH, Johann Friederich Died at the home of his son-in-law Joh. Radloff. “He served the congregation in good standing as hymn leader.”	61	1789	18 Aug 1850
GROTH, Dorothea Wilh Auguste, D. of Lud. Groth Dorothea Wilhelmine AUGUSTE, daughter of Ludwig and Caroline, died of quinsy, 4 yrs. 5 mos.	4	23 Mar 1846	15 Sep 1850
DOBBERPUHL, Carl F. A deacon of the church, donated half of property for original church and cemetery.	37	1816	16 Jan 1850
ENGEL, Mrs., nee SÜLFLOW, mother-in-law of Fred Groth Died of stroke (My Transcriber Note: Surnames reversed - should be Mrs. Sülflow nee Engel)	77	(1776)	14 May 1853
PANTZLAFF, Mrs. Fred, nee ZIELESCH Dorothea Sophia Fredrike, mother of twins who died. Five kids from prior marriage to man named Burmeister, three children survived her.	29	18 Jun 1827	8 Apr 1856
VOGNITZ, Mrs. Wm, nee Christiana SCHÜLER Mother of: Caroline, d. 5 Nov 1850 (1 mo.); Therese Katherina Frederike, d. 30 Aug 1856 (4-1/2 yrs. old); John, d. 9 Sep 1856 (9 yrs, 8 mos.); Clara Johanna Wilhelmine, d. 6 Apr 1857 (2 yrs. 3 mos.)	33 (34)	1823 (1822)	1856
TRAUTWEIN, Johann Wm., son of Wm TRAUTWEIN Son of Wilhelm and Wilhelmine nee KNOLL; died of “teething convulsions”.	6m	1856 (1 Mar)	1856 (31 Aug)
VOGNITZ, Johannes, son of Wm. VOGNITZ Died from “nervous fever"	10	10 Dec 1846	9 Sep 1856
GROTH, Christian Friedrich Emigrated in 1843 one year after sons Ludwig, Martin, Ferdinand and Wilhelm.	66	26 Dec 1790	23 Mar 1857
GROTH, Mrs. C. (name not in book)	67	1790	1857
GROTH, Mrs. Ferd., nee Wilh. DOBBERPUHL Wilhelmine Juliane; daughter of Christian; wife of Ferdinand 13 yrs.; mother of 11 children; died 2 hrs. after giving birth	39	18 Jan 1818	16 Aug 1857
GROTH, Mrs. Ferd, nee Caroline HABECK Married Ferdinand Groth 16 Feb 1858; died after birth of only child Gottlieb John Ferdinand	21	21 Feb 1837	6 Dec 1858
KÜHN, Mrs. Karoline Nee HEUER, wife of John (Johannes) Kühn, he was organist of Trinity; mother of Martha Josephine Emilie, d. 3 Feb 1860 (less than 3 yrs. old) of scarlet fever	?	?	20 Aug 1860
KLUG, Herman Gotthilf, son of Aug KLUG Cause of death listed as “died of cramps' & “convulsions”. Buried 10 Oct	5	13 Dec 1856	8 Oct 1861
LIESENBERG, Mrs. Justine, nee BUBLITZ Wife of Wm., survived by husband & two children; Anna Maria, b. 13 Jun 1862; maiden name in booklet listed as Butzlaff	22	20 Jan 1840	18 Jun 1862
GROTH, Caroline Daughter of Friedrich and Dorothea nee Sülflow, age 4 yrs. 4 mos. Brother, Carl Martin, d. 22 Aug 1852 age 2 yrs.	14	1848 9 Aug	1862 24 Dec 1852
VOIGT, Carl Georg Emigrated 1846 from BellBurk, Treptow, Rega province, settled in Freistadt, wife Dorothea Block	63	20 Jun 1800	13 Apr 1863
STEGER, Heinrich Emigrated from Stettin, Greifhagen; tailor; wife Dorothea Hilges, no children but took in foster children.	72	23 Aug 1791	23 Apr 1863
DOBBERPUHL, Wm., son of Carl D. Wilhelm Friedrich, son of Carl F. and Wilhelmine nee Neumann.	14	9 Jan 1850	15 Jul 1864
KRESSIN, Peter Farmer in Hamilton; wife Caroline nee Voigt	44	1821	16 May 1865
KLUG, Mrs. Aug, nee BUBLITZ Caroline Bublitz, wife of August. 7 children survived her; Martin Franz Ludwig, d. 9 Sep 1865 (1 yr., 1 mo.); Herman Gotthilf, d. 8 Oct 1861 (4 ys., 3 mos.)	38	9 Sep 1827	17 May 1865
PEUL, Maria, D. of Carl PEUL Daughter of Karl and Caroline nee Heuer. Sister, Anna Elisabeth, died from “accidental death at meal time” about four and half years later	2	2 Nov 1863	17 Oct 1865
ZIEMER, Wilhelm, son of Aug. ZIEMER Son of August and Bertha nee Groth.	6 m	26 Jun 1868	2 Jan 1869

The following information came from an undated news clipping (probably from Nov 1966) which contains pertinent cemetery information (this has been typed verbatim - the original contained name spelling and date errors, these are noted with an asterisk):

In the November 23 issue of the News-Graphic, was an editorial regarding an old cemetery on the west side of Cedarburg. To most of the citizens of this area, this little plot of ground, now overgrown with trees and underbrush, has no significant meaning, but to the older members of Trinity Lutheran church here in Cedarburg, it is almost hallowed ground.

In the 1830's Lutherans in Prussia, because of their opposition to the state church, met with bitter scorn, persecution and often imprisonment. In order to escape this oppression and to assure themselves and their children the freedom to worship and serve God as true Lutherans many of these people emigrated to America. It was a group such as this, under the leadership of Rev. Adolph Kindermann*, who came to this land in the fall of 1843, settled the area along Cedar Creek and founded the city of Cedarburg. Soon after their arrival, they built the first log church on the plot of ground where the old cemetery now is. This was the beginning of Trinity Lutheran church. The cemetery was a part of the churchyard as was the custom in those early years. This piece of land was donated to the church by two of the members, Ludwig Groth and his brother-in-law Friederich Dobberpuhl.
In 1853 the log church was found to be too small and too primitive so a new church of stone was built near the intersection of what is now Washington and Western avenues, just north of the present Immanuel Lutheran church. Burial in the old cemetery continued until 1868. As was stated in the News-Graphic article, it was very difficult to dig a grave in the rocky soil. It often took two men several days to complete a grave. The use of blasting powder was common in this work but this was both dangerous and expensive. The question of a new location for the cemetery was often brought up at the congregational meetings but no action was taken. In 1868, the schoolteacher and organist, Johannes Kuehn, donated a parcel of land on what is now Bridge Street to be used as the new burial ground. It was the beginning of the present “Zur Ruhe” cemetery.

In order to preserve the names of the members who were buried in the old cemetery, the congregation, in 1877, erected the present stone monument. Engraved on the monument are the following names and dates:

Christ Groth, 1780-1856; Maria Peul, 1863-1865; Christian Dobberpuhl, 1781-1848; Johannes Vogenitz, 1849-1856; Ludwig Groth, 1812-1850; Wilhelm Ziemer, 186801969; Johann Hackbarth, 1789-1850; Caroline Groth, 1848-1852; Carl Dobberpuhl, 1776-1853; Frau A. W. Spuhl, 1821-1846; Carl Voigt, 1790-1863; Frau J. Suelflow, - ; Heinrich Steger, 1791-1863; Frau F. Portzlaff, 1872-1856*; Peter Kressin, 1821-1865; Frau F. Groth, 1818-1857; Auguste Groth, 1816-1850; Frau J. Kuehn, - 1860; Johann Trautwein, 1856-1856; Frau W. Liesenberg, 1840-1862; Herman Klug, 1856-1861; Frau A. Klug, 1827-1865; Wilhelm Dobberpuhl, 1850-1861; Frau G. Groth, 1790-1857; and Frau W. Vogenitz, 1823-1856.

Some of these present members of Trinity are direct descendants of these pioneers who are buried on this old cemetery and until a few years ago at least one day a year was set aside to clean up the cemetery. In the hustle and rush of our present day life, this old custom has been neglected, with the result that the cemetery now has an abandoned look. To many of us at Trinity, it is with a feeling of thankfulness that the city has shown an interest in securing this bit of ground and setting it aside as a reminder of days gone by.

And as I have made the recording of the history of Trinity Lutheran church one of my hobbies, I am personally grateful for the City Council's action in the preservation of this cemetery as a park.

Very truly yours, Theodore Borleske

* Rev. Adolph Kindermann - church booklets refer to him as Rev. Johann Kindermann; Frau F. Portzlaff, 1872-1856, this is the way it was written in the article.