Finding Union Cemetery and School

    Since I was young, my parents have always told me stories of our family history and ancestors. I remember them telling me about the research they have done and the courthouses and libraries they have been to to find information. Since then, modern technology has helped them come in contact with more people, and they have discovered more information. Ancestry has been a very useful website, along with Find A Grave. Even finding Facebook groups and connecting with distant family members has been helpful. But none of that is as exciting as finding old journals and letters that your family members have written. That leads me to my story and our search for the unmarked graves of my great-great-great grandfather and great-great aunt.

    It all started with a letter from 1885 that my parents acquired from a distant family member. It was written by my great-great uncle, James McAndulas Monigold, to his wife Maggie. It was in an envelope that still had its original posting and still contained what appeared to be short, pine needles from a tree. Here is the letter with their spelling and grammar:

July the 23 1885

Brownville Neb

Dear wife I take Pleasure in droping you

a few lines to let you no we are all well and geting along

first rate on our Journey and I hope this may find you all well 

I got your letter at Laporte and sent you a card 

we just crossed the Missouri river about 5 oclock

this Evening and we are stoping in brownville neb all night 

we have 2 days to travel yet, about 75 miles 

Well mag I saw something today that I never expected to see 

I saw fathers and mandys graves 

it done me lots of good

and brought my mind back to days that have long past and gone 

it dont seam Pasable that we was all hear all to gather 

and now we are scatered all over

the united states and some of them we no not where they are 

the old union School house looks naturel yet where they are buried

Well something Else 

crops looks Splendid in freemont Co Iowa and in atchinson Co Mo

they have roasting ears here and the

threshing Machines are running rite along

Parts of Iowa the crops are very Poor

I tell you we come through some splendid country to day

Elmer and Em sends their love to you

and the Children kiss the Children and your self for me 

tell Will to be a good boy and take good care of his Pigs 

and I will bring him a Preasent home from neb 

if old John Mc conel comes there

dont you let him stay over night

give my love to hut and Marys folks 

tell hut I have seen lost

of stone work going on since I left there

we are haveing a nice rain here now 

we have had a nice trip so far no rain to amount to any thing

Well Mag here is an Ever green leaf

of our fathers grave that I Planted before I left there 

take good care of it

So I Will Close

I remain your Loveing husband James Monigold

rite as soon as you get this direct to Wymore Neb

    Through the research my parents had done, they knew that James's father was Artis Jacob (A.J.) Monigold, and Mandy (Amanda) was James's sister. We believe that A.J. was traveling west with his wife and kids in 1870 when he and his 10-year-old daughter died. Probably from some type of illness. From the letter, we know that James planted an evergreen tree by their graves. There must have been some type of stone or wooden marker for him to know that it was his father and sister's graves at that time. We also learn from the letter that the cemetery could be located somewhere in Atchinson County in Missouri with a Union School nearby. 

    Now the story takes another turn. My cousin, Thomas A. Monigold, wrote a story about his search for this cemetery where his great-great grandfather was buried. He writes about hearing stories from his grandfather that A.J. was buried in or near Hamburg, Iowa. The letter mentions the old Union School still looking natural. Using the information about the school and contacting historians in the area, Thomas was able to find the Union Cemetery in Rock Port, Missouri. 

    In June of 2000, Thomas made a trip out to Missouri to try and find the Union Cemetery. He includes directions of the streets he took and even a map. He includes photos of what the cemetery and schoolhouse looked like. Even though the markers were no longer there, he believed that he found the cemetery where A.J. and Mandy were buried. Four years later, another cousin traveled there to take some photos as well.

    Flash forward to 2024, my dad has been wanting to travel to southwest Iowa to try and find the cemetery Thomas had found 24 years prior. He is a plumber and uses "wire witching" on some of his jobs to locate sewer lines. Wire (water) witching has been around for centuries. Some people believe it is a myth and doesn't actually work, but I have witnessed my dad use his wires on the job. He will locate sewer lines with his wires and then confirm it with his camera. Wire witching has also been used in cemeteries or places where the ground has been disturbed, and the wires will pick up on it. I'm sure you might be putting together why I'm telling you about all this. Well, that's right, my dad wanted to bring his wires out to the cemetery to see if he could find the unmarked graves of my great-great-great grandfather and great-great aunt. 

    So, we began our journey out to Hamburg, Iowa in my parent's Coachmen camper. We also towed a trailer with our Jeep since we weren't too sure if the camper would make it on some of the gravel roads to the cemetery. Thomas described in his writing that they had to drive through a farmer's field. We wanted to play it safe and not get our camper stuck when we would be so close. Can you imagine that sight?!

    My mom had found a Facebook group called "Union Cemetery - Atchison County Missouri." They posted photos of the work they have been doing to clean up the cemetery. They also had photos of the same schoolhouse and sign that Thomas had included in his story. She started messaging them and that is how we met Leslie. Her family has been fixing up the cemetery, cleaning the stones, and has even been finding stones that are finally working their way up after years of being buried. She agreed to meet us out there to help us use the letter and Thomas's information to hopefully find the evergreen tree James had planted 139 year earlier.

    Sunday, October 13th, 2024, we left Waubonsie State Park in our Jeep to meet Leslie at the Union Cemetery. We weren't sure what we would find, but I can still feel the anticipation as we got closer and closer. We had an address to a farmer's house that we put in our GPS to get us close to the right area. At one point, we got off a paved highway and drove on gravel roads. Then the gravel roads led us to a dirt/sand road. It was clearly only for farmers to use to access their field with their tractors, but our GPS had it listed as a road with a street name. It's a good thing we were in the Jeep because the camper never would have made it down that road! Making our way down this sandy road at 15 mph, our GPS told us we had passed over the state line into Missouri. I couldn't help but think about A.J. and his family traveling on roads like this in a covered wagon. 

    We met up with Leslie and followed her up to the cemetery. The gravel drive ended, and we drove up a grassy path to the cemetery. The closer we got to the top of the hill and seeing the sign for the Union Cemetery, it was a surreal feeling. My parent's and I were silent just taking it in and video taping what we were seeing.

    Once we got out of our dusty Jeep, we started looking for an evergreen tree. There appeared to be three trees in the main part of the cemetery. Unlike Thomas, we had my dad and his wires to help us hopefully narrow down which tree they might be near. My dad started strategically walking around all of the trees in a grid-like pattern to see if his wires detected any disturbed ground.

    Under one evergreen tree, my dad's wires started detecting some disturbed ground. Using bags, sticks, leaves, and turkey vulture feathers, we tried to map out what he was detecting. We were left with a space right next to the tree that would fit the gravesite of a tall person and the gravesite of a shorter person right next to it. We can't be 100% positive, but we have a pretty good feeling that we found the unmarked graves of my great-great-great grandfather and his daughter. 

    Standing under this tree, I took in my surroundings trying to engrain all the details into my mind. The wind blowing. The warm sun. The changing color of the leaves on the ground. The short, evergreen-like needles and seed-like berries in the tree above me. The schoolhouse still standing not to far away. I tried to put myself in my great-great-great grandmother's shoes. Am I standing in the same place where she buried her husband 154 years ago? I can't even imagine what that journey must have been like for them. 

    Arriving back home in southeast Iowa, I wanted to write down all of these memories while they are still so fresh in my mind. Researching my family's history has been on the back burner for me, but I'm starting to realize that maybe it shouldn't be. We should be talking to our grandparents and family members while they are still here with us. We should be hearing their stories and writing them down. The more I learn about my relatives, the more comfort and pride I feel about the brave, adventurous, people that came before me. Their lives deserve to be remembered, too.