Much has changed since Iowa opened to settlement in 1833 after the Black Hawk War. Some things seem unchanged. The brief period between 1836, when Iowa became part of the Wisconsin Territory, and the platting of the City of Solon in 1840 was a time when people saw a grove of trees and decided to stake their claim and create a life extracting value from the land. Today’s farmers continue in that vein, although on a much larger scale.

The township where I live was once such a grove of trees. The trees are all gone now, replaced by farm land, scrub vegetative growth, and unincorporated housing developments. We may not recognize it, but these modern things are a natural outgrowth of the same impulse that led early arrivals to settle here.

One of the major works on my writing desk is to capture this sentiment by telling the history of Fackler’s Grove, a place a few miles north of where I am writing.

In a Jan. 31, 2013 post titled Pioneer Cemetery, I wrote about it:

SOLON— The Fackler’s Grove Cemetery falls under the jurisdiction of the Big Grove Township Trustees. If I had not been elected to the board, I may never have known it exists. After our first Tri-township meeting, I took the latitude and longitude and tried to find it. I could not. During our last two meetings, we had general discussions about the cemetery, but drew no conclusions. The question was what to do with a pioneer cemetery that is inactive, and has been long neglected.

In 1838 W. Fackler patented Sec. 3, T 81 N, R 6 W, where the cemetery is located. George Fackler was among the first settlers of Big Grove Township in 1838. He was born about 1822 in Dayton, Ohio, and when he was 10 or 11 his family moved to Elkhart County, Ind. After a couple years they continued west to the area near where the City of Ely, Iowa is located today. He was the first to die here at the age of 17, and was buried in Fackler’s Grove in 1839.

Barb Horak and Robert Hach of the Ely Community Historical Society are currently exploring the possibility of restoring Fackler’s Grove Cemetery. Ancestry.com has a ten-year long discussion thread about the project.

Robert Hach posted this comment,

“I wanted to update everyone. I visited Fackler’s Grove Cemetery this past early summer and have had discussions with the property owner and the last trustee of the cemetery. In talking with the Ely, Iowa historical society we have decided to take the steps towards restoring the cemetery. This will be a big project for us, but I feel there is many in our area that wish to restore it, along with various grants out there and volunteers.”

Kathy Plum described the cemetery,

“I visited this cemetery two years ago. It was in very, very poor condition then so probably even worse now. Very few stones left that are readable as the cows have had run of the area. Not sure how to go about getting it restored as it is on private property although I think belongs to a cousin of mine. Any thoughts on that I’d be interested in hearing.”

She also posted,

“I was there in 2003, I think that’s the year, and it was a mess. I can’t imagine it’s much better now. It is on private property so I’m assuming you’ve gained permission from the owners to go through the corn field to get there. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help from CA.”

The historical society informally inquired about funding from our board for a restoration. Because of that, we’ll likely meet to discuss a potential project.

These things take time, and there is an arc of enthusiasm for cemetery projects like this. As a trustee, I am now involved, and hope to see a formal proposal from the historical society. I also look forward to participating in the process of helping determine what, if anything, happens to Fackler’s Grove Cemetery during my four year term.

The Ely Historical Society did legion work in researching the cemetery itself and bringing a sense of order to the grave markers scattered and piled around the site. My interest is less in that physical place and the restorations done in the 2010s than in the history surrounding it.

I believe this is work worth doing, and a perspective that is not prominent elsewhere. In a way, I will be extracting what I can from the historical record and the places that remain. Not unlike the impulse that led the Facklers to that grove of trees.