Ira W. Peavy Traditional Cache

Driving along and came upon this lone tombstone along the side of the road.  Read further for more information about the tombstone.

Local librarian and historian, Molly Schweinfurter, provided the following newspaper articles about the grave.

Morton Enterprise, Thursday, September 7, 1933

Although there are still many facts missing, the mystery of the pasture grave with the broken tombstone has been partly cleared up. According to J. J. Revier the Lloyd Greenslit farm was owned by Harvey Jule who died some years ago. Ira W. Peavy apparently had no living relatives and was working for Mr. Jule as a farm hand. He died of from pneumonia and was buried in the pasture which was the most convenient place at that time. Mr. Jule erected the stone to mark the spot of the grave.

(Note- Mr. Jule's name should be Mr. Jewell)

Morton Enterprise, August 31, 1933

NEGLECTED GRAVES IN PASTURE RAISES QUESTION "WHO WAS IRA W. PEAVY?"

With its thin weather beaten tombstone lying broken in two, and a small marble foot stone cropping above the burned grass, the the neglected grave of a certain Ira W. Peavey can be found in the extreme northwest part of the pasture now owned by Lloyd Greenslit in Birch Cooley Township. Who was Ira J. Peavey and who thought enough of his after death to erect a stone, and then later, leave the grave neglected and abandoned are questions that remain a mystery to this community. Although the grave has been there for 62 years no one seems to remember who dug it or any of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Peavey. Most of the old timers say "It was there when I came".

Evidently those who laid the dead man to rest moved farther west in pioneer days or have also died. Except for the broken tombstone and foot stone there are no other evidences that a grave had been dug. Cows and horses long since have trampled the earth flat and it is now just a part of the pasture. At one time the three foot stone stood erect, but cattle probably knocked it down.

When the two parts of the stone are pieced together the following inscription can be read: Gone Home - How We Miss Thee. Ira W. Peavey, died December 26, 1871, age 29 years, 1 month and 22 days. While the crew of workmen are preparing to widen state aid road No. 2 to within six feet of the silent grave, those who are interested in the mystery feel a tragic note to think that below the sod lies what remains of a young pioneer who died a day after Christmas and no one knows who he was and where he came from. The grave is located on the south side of the highway, two miles east from the north entrance of Birch Coulee State Park.

The Morton Enterprise, Thursday, September 14, 1933

NEGLECTED GRAVE AROUSES INTEREST

Letters to the Enterprise Help Explain Circumstances Surrounding Death of Peavey.

With the mystery of the abandoned grave in Birch Cooley township partly cleared up the last week, interest in the feature continues to grow, being climaxed Sunday by the publication of the story in the Minneapolis Tribune.

Subscribers from different parts of the United States have written to this office with explanations.

The most authentiv story comes from Mrs. G. W. Jewell of Pine City, a decendent of W. H. Jewell, pioneer Renville County sheriff and original owner of the land where the grave is no located. In her letter she writes:

"Ira W. Peavey came west with another young man in the early days and was a friend of a Dr. Richardson, a veterinarian. The farm where the grave is located was the property of W. H. Jewell one of the pioneers of Birch Cooley township.

In those days Mr. Jewell kept a tavern or country inn for they were on a well traveled road and many farmers stopped on their long trips hauling wheat to New Ulm.

Mr. Peavey became acquainted with the Jewell family and in fact was a sweetheart of one of the girls, Arbelle. While hauling wheat he contracted a severe cold and was sick for several months before his death. At that time his sickness was called consumption. He was a worthy young man, loved and respected by all who knew him. He had a team of oxen and a few other things which he told Mr. Jewell to sell in order to pay for his funeral. He also had a homestead up near Montevideo or Willmar as near as can be remembered.

Mr. Jewell kept a fence around the grave while he owned the place and no doubt put the stone there to mark the grave of a friend.

It seems Mr. Peavey's parents lived in Ohio. In those days there were not many cemeteries and although they had a Wesleyan Minister for the funeral, we could not get his name. My mother was only 16 then and told me the story later.

Another interesting version of the mystery is written by Mrs. Caroline Smith, a former resident now living in Washington, D. C. She states that she is 86 years old and it is hard for her to write well, but her script was clearly legible. The information that she gives was gained from her sister Mrs. Henton, the mother of the present R. B. Henton, Sr. of Morton. She in turn secured her facts from the early pioneer family Greenslit. Her story substantiates the one told by Mrs. Jewell. She says that Peavey was a young pioneer of the west and became ill while passing through this territory. As death seemed certain he requested his friends to sell his ox team and other property to pay for the burial expenses and if any should be left to put up a small stone so that if anyone came to look for him they could find the grave. Mrs. Smith writes that she often passed the grave in her youth when going to their farm in Martinsburg. At that time she wondered who the man was that had a marble stone to mark the grave because it was difficult to secure grave stones. Mrs. Smith will be remembered as the the wife of Postmaster Joseph Smith. There residence here while having charge of the postoffice dates back to the the 90's in the first years after the turn of the century. Mr. Smiith died while postmaster being succeeded by his wife.