Kaeckell Family Cemetery
by Lynn Sprowl
Title
Kaeckell Family Cemetery
Artist
Lynn Sprowl
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
I found this on a hot Kansas day. I maybe could have gotten a better view if I had walked down there, but the bugs and possibility of snakes stopped me. I don't think I would have made a very good homesteader.
The cemetery located on the north side of the dam at Lake Wabaunsee was cleaned up this spring and any person wanting to get a closer view will find that the two large stone still show the names of two that were buried there. The engraving, very weathered, and not all information legible, reads Henriette Wilhelmina, wife of G. Wilke - Died March 26, 1884 - 32 yrs 5 months; the other stone is that of Ludewig Kaeckell - Aug 30, 1878. Also buried there are two infants.Information shows Henriette Wilhelmina was married to Ludewig Kaeckell and after he died in 1878 she married G. Wilke. Henriette died 10 days after the birth of Mary (Wilke) Schutter in 1884. In a letter from Sylvia (Kaeckell) Buster, she remembered her folks telling her there was a Grandpa Kaeckell buried in the cemetery and he was married to Henriette Meyer and to this union were four living children, Lena Hensel, Gertie Bingham Sutter, Gustie Kirkpatrick and Sylvia’s dad, Louis Kaeckell. When Grandpa Kaeckell died, Henriette married Wilke and they had two children, Alec Wilke and Mary Wilke Schutter. Louis Kaeckell, being orphaned when his mother died, was pushed around from one place to another. At the age of nine he went to live with a relative at Paxico.The following information pertaining to the history of the early homesteaders and the cemetery was received from Harold and Flora Mae Schutter, Topeka.The Lake Wabaunsee site was homesteaded by two families, Frank Kraus and ? Meier. Mrs Meiers name was Ida. Meier and Kraus, who was a casket maker as well as a farmer, drove a team of oxen to Kansas City for supplies. The round trip would take up to three weeks. During the mens absence the women and children were often forced to hide in the hills for days, when they were visited by the Indians. They lived on berries and drank creek water. Their fear was that the small children would be carried off by the Indians.
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August 6th, 2023
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Comments (3)
Catherine Sherman
Thanks for the history of the graveyard, too, Lynn! The pioneer life was a hard one -- and often sad.
Catherine Sherman
Great capture of an historic cemetery, Lynn! You're braver than I am. I've only seen this plot passing by in a car from the road. F
Lynn Sprowl replied:
Thank you, Catherine. I really didn't get that close. It was very hot and I knew that the bugs would get me.
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