Union Mills Cemetery

Site updated August 25, 2012  - Thank you to Robert Ponda Sr. who helped me with updating this site with the newer burials and sent us these great photos to honor our loved ones Memorial Day weekend 2012.

History : Union Mills Cemetery location - Twp 35 N R3-W and in Section 9 of Noble Township. This cemetery was established in 1838. Some of the oldest known burials located are: John Ripple died 10 July 1836 at age 39 yrs, Carlton R. Mills died 1 Sept. 1835 age 1 mo. 15 day who was the son of Ed & N. A. Mills and also Sarah Byrant who's dates show 18 Nov 1839 to 29 Jan 1841, the daughter of Benjamin and Alfa (Benedict) Bryant.

Oldest Section - Several years back, the Pioneer Cemetery Commission met with the sexton at Union Mills. Notes and listings were compared and the old DAR listing incorporated the known burials of the day for an updated list. The original rows were observed and listings up to the 1980's incorporated into what appears on this site as "Old Time Burials".  Being Genealogy based, older burials and evidence there of  is always our largest concern in the Research and Cemetery Association of La Porte County.  However as a courtesy to those in the area and living out of town, we have placed the newer 1st and 2nd Addition listings on line.

1st Addition - In trying to determine when the 1st addition was puchased, it probaby was close to around 1887, when the first grave can be found in that area. Also in calculating this approximate date, we refer to the property of L & J. Deets who in the 1870's owned 131 acres in section 9 where the cemetery is located. And by 1892 their property has shrunk to 108.8 acres. Also, Mr. George W Zinn, who lived in section 30 of the same township, had his son's body shipped home from a Union POW camp, at which he had died. With sentiment riding high, the people did not want his son , also named George W. Zinn, interred within the cemetery grounds. So Mr. Zinn first buried him in the dooryard at his homestead. Later he purchased a small plot of ground adjoining the cemetery where he would bury his deceased family members and move his son remains to. You can still see the demarkation in the cemetery with the stepping stones placed around the Zinn burial plot. Eventually when the cemetery was added on to, this plot became a portion of the cemetery.

Fritz A Stuck, Sexton for Union Mills Cemetery Born 1 Apr 1842 and killed 17 Jan 1910. Ref: Indianapolis Star, January 18, 1910 - Speaks of Mr. Stuck, who was the Sexton for the Union Mills Cemetery. On his way home after working at the cemetery, he was struck and killed by the Piere Marquette train on January 17, 1910. Mr. Stuck was born in Germany and had immigrated in about 1883. He left a widow and one son behind.

Fire! The same story is told through out the county and in many other counties and states. The problem with the wood buildings, was they dry out and become a tinderbox and accidental fires occur. This has happened with some of the other cemetery records in our county and unfortunately, several decades ago, this was the fate of Union Mills Cemetery records. The present keepers of the records and Sexton have done their best to list the known older burials and of course keep an accurate burial listing and location of same, of the 20th and 21st century. We are hoping that families with burial information, i.e. old bibles etc., will let us know if they have family burials here, if not already on our listing.

Some of the family names of older burials in this cemetery are: Allison, Aker, Anderson, Andrews, Ash, Backus, Bailey, Baker, Beahm, Bellmore, Bennett, Berridge, Billington, Bishop, Block, Blodget, Booth, Bose, Bowes, Brandy, Brough, Brown, Bryant, Burch, Callison, Campbell, Canfield, Carroll, Case, Chambers, Clark, Crance, Croup, Dahll, Davis, Decker, Deets, Denison, Dunham, Dunn, Eaton, Edmison, Eliott, Ellis, English, Ewing, Fenner, Fessenden, Fox, Fredrickson, Garman, Garton, Geisler, Glassman, Goff, Goldsmith, Gotwalt, Graw, Grover, Gruver, Hall, Harding, Harsen, Hart, Harvey, Havlin, Hawkins, Hockney, Hoffman, Hotchkiss, Houseman, Howell, Hyatt, Hyde, Ireland, Keith, Kelley, Kimmel, Knight, Koontz, Lawrence, Lawson, Learn, Lewis, Linard, Lindsey, Lock, Logan, Looker, Loomis, Lybarger, Mandeville, Markham, Martin, McLane, Mc Clung, McPherson, Mecum, Merriam, Miller, Mitchell, Mock, Moore, Moulton, Mulloy, Mun, Myers, Nickell, Noland, Northam, Norton, O'Donnel, O'Hara, Palmer, Pash, Patrick, Patrie, Petsch, Petty , Pike, Powell, Pratt, Ragle, Rambo, Rank, Reich, Richardson, Richman, Ripple, Robbins, Robinson, Rogers, Ruple, Russell , Scarborough, Selby, Sellers, Shaw, Simpson, Spaeth, Spaulding, Starrett, Steinberger, Stephenson, Stevenson, Swett, Swift, Taylor, Terrey, Terry, Tilbury, Titus, Toyne, Truax, Turner, Underwood, Unger, Wakeman, Way, Wells, Wendt, West, Wheaton, Williams, Willis, Wilson, Windle, Wooley, Worden, Wynant, Zarr, Ziegler, Zigler.

2nd Addition - Not sure when the second addtion was purchased or came into being. If we go by the oldest date of a stone, I found one as early as 1942.