Evergreen Cemetery: A Sanctuary for the Past and Present
Evergreen Cemetery is a municipal cemetery consisting of ~65 acres of plotted burial spaces and an additional ~20 acres for future development. The cemetery has burial records of 13,000+ individuals, with numerous additional unmarked graves and open grave spaces. The cemetery currently operates with 2 full-time employees and 4+ seasonal summer employees. The staff is responsible for procedural needs, the maintenance on-site, walking trail areas and additional ‘outside the fences’ areas on the north side of Red Oak. The cemetery is proud to be a partner with Live Well Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital and is host site for their Community Garden and Orchard. Live Well has been providing on site grown produce to the local food pantries and low income housing communities since 2014. Other proud partnerships are with the Red Oak Chapter of Questers and Friends of the Red Oak Trails. The Questers have an annual Cemetery Walk and Stories in the Stones event – where actors recreate the past life and persona of selected individuals and enlighten the walking audience of special events of the past. Friends of the Trail are constantly striving to improve off road options for biking and walking and host events like Trick or Treat on the Trail.
Red Oak Junction: The Roots of Evergreen Cemetery
The original part of the cemetery coincided with the name of the community Red Oak Junction. The Cleaver and Shank families are believed to have been involved in the original donation of the land. The Cleaver family is thought to have buried a baby in 1853/4 and Shank family either buried or reburied a mom and daughter that passed away 11 days apart in October 1854. The Shanks have 2 monuments in 2 different areas of the cemetery. It is believed that the one containing the original family burials is in Red Oak Junction 4 and is near the south road of 4, in a coping section (an area or plot/lot that was outlined by rock, pipes or concrete and the family personally maintained this area). Additional areas of marked burial spaces/sections were added by the City; Evergreen, A, B, Calvary, NE Junction and the Memorial Garden sections. The City has purchased an additional 24+ acres to ensure growth and development into the future.
A Tapestry of History, Heroism, and Hidden Histories
Evergreen Cemetery has numerous historical and military burials, as well as final resting places of many of Red Oak’s early cornerstone family names.
William Wallace Merritt, Sr. is buried here (Red Oak Junction 4), a captain/leader for Montgomery County in the Underground Railroad. His burial here has the cemetery recognized as a designation by the National Park Service. Also of significance, his son, Darwin is buried a few feet away. He was a Naval Academy graduate who was stationed on the USS Maine when an explosion occurred in the Havana, Cuba harbor. The ship was destroyed and sank. Several years later his body was recovered and returned to Red Oak for burial. His headstone is an official piece of the USS Maine as is the cornerstone of the Red Oak Post Office.
Evergreen is home to more than a dozen ‘Prohibition Markers’. These upright, 4-sided markers were meant to represent multiple family names, the name plates could be removed. Once removed, the void inside was alleged to have been the transfer place for illegal alcohol. Put your money in and the next day upon your return there was your alcohol order. Not designed for this purpose, but used for that. A look through the cemetery shows many upright sandstone tree monuments, and even one sandstone chair. The majority of these were made or commissioned by the insurance group Woodmen of America. Some tied to their burial insurance policy, while some were commissioned by families. Often the branches on the tree represented living children, while smaller logs at base or in the burial lot represented children that had died.
From Civil War to Modern Day: Evergreen's Tribute to Veterans
The Montgomery County/Red Oak history of military service also extends to many of those heroes being interred in Evergreen. In the Civil War the area provided a high number of Union troops, considerably more than most other places in Iowa. WWI showed a monumental loss of life, with the county and Red Oak showing the highest per capita death rate in the country. WW II would not deter our brave military families, as the men and women of Red Oak and Montgomery County stepped forward to action. Every military event/action since then has seen members of service from our area. Evergreen is currently working on a true military reflection count and to update older information. Past records show over 1,500 Veterans buried here, including at least 114 Civil War soldiers, 2 being Confederate. The Montgomery County Court of Honor proudly displays over 1600 flags on Memorial Day, throughout the cemetery; and the annual Memorial Day Service is held on the south lawn of the shelter house. Our local Scouts proudly place flags for the service in each Veteran’s individual flag holder. Evergreen is home to at least 2 recognized Real Daughters of the American Revolution (Pamela Sykes Worsley and Sarah Fletcher Whitcomb).
Headstones can be a window to the past. Many of our Veteran’s are shown their due tribute with a government/military marker. These markers are rich in information regarding period of service, branch, and even rank. Other non-military markers prove the same; some list information on family, some list the untimely causes/circumstances of death; while all of the markers show the most important part – the family name and usually the dash between birth and death. The dash is so very symbolic of a life lived. Looking at many of the dashes at Evergreen one has to remember the contributions and sacrifices that were made to push Red Oak and the surrounding areas forward. The dashes of the Merritts, McPhersons, Clarks, Murphys, Cochranes, Hyshams, Houghtons, Deemers, Faunces, and Wilsons; but also, the Smiths, Jones, Mahers, Kellys and thousands of other names that this community was built by. While you are driving/walking through the cemetery, check out the Unknown Soldier in the center circle that was dedicated in 1907. Newspaper articles state the circus was in town and the elephants were used as power to move that monument from the tracks to cemetery. Also be sure to see the Diederik’s soldier monument, the Culver angel, the large spheres on top of some of the monuments, and look at the coping sections, the Welpton marker (by Culver Angel) has an in-ground crypt for twenty plus burials and the many more interesting markers . Keep in mind the dashes, and even more thought provoking, figure out the transportation and assembly of the markers for the time period when they arrived here. True craftsmen.
