Farm Horizons
ened his statements by indicating the
points on the map.”
[Note: The Reverend’s last name
is spelled both “Philps” and “Phelps”
in this article].
The “Eastern Question” here was
a reference to the waning throes of
the Turkish Empire, and the worldchanging events that followed its
eventual breakup (which, ultimately,
was a contributing factor to World
War I). The Seventh Day Adventist
Church at the time, led by prophetess Ellen White among others, were
convinced that the Eastern Question events were a fulfillment of the
Biblical verses from Dan. 11:40-45,
Revelation 9, and Rev. 16:12, among
others.
In any event, after the church’s
elders moved to California around
1898, the SDA church was no more.
During their time in Dassel, however, they buried their dead at the
graveyard just west of town.
The cemetery holds an estimated
25-35 bodies, though it’s tough to
tell exactly as the conditions of the
•
Feb. 8, 2016
•
tombstones and markers have deteriorated.
It is believed, said Servin, that a
mixture of both SDA members and
non-SDA members are buried there.
The markers have dates from as
early as 1868, and as late as 1891.
The graves also give a glance into
the tougher times in the late 1800s.
Of the 23 archived graves, seven died
under the age of five, and another
seven died under the age of 25.
The cemetery passed through the
Clay family until Karl Nelson, a later
owner, willed the land to the Lake
Jennie Covenant Church.
Lake Jennie Covenant Church, in
turn, sold the land to Karl’s nephew
Gordon, who owns the land today.
Names, dates, and ages of burials
at the Seventh Day Adventist cemetery:
• Elizabeth S. Brickey, d. 1875 (25
yrs old)
• Mary V. Brickey d. 1872, (3 days
old)
• Nelson Burk, d. 1884 (64)
Page 26
Abandoned cemeteries
in the Dassel area
Along with the Clay/Adventist
Church cemetery, the following
is a list of cemeteries considered
“abandoned” (no longer active) in the
Dassel Area.
• Boo Cemetery, east of Dassel, near
Boo Farm
• Cates Cemetery, Kingston
• Chaney or Pigeon Lake Cemetery,
southwest of Dassel, a Baptist
cemetery
• Dahlhman / Skog Cemetery,
southeast
of
Dassel
(many
Gethsemane Lutheran members
buried here)
• Pioneer Cemetery – First Swedish
Independent Baptist, south of Dassel
• Little Swan Lake or Cunningham
Cemetery, near Little Swan Lake four
miles north of Dassel
• Quick Cemetery – named after
the local Quick family, south of Dassel
near the Bergquist farm
– Information provided courtesy
of Jeanette Servin, researcher at the
Dassel Area Historical Society