TRANSCRIPTION

The Pleasant Township Cemetery was started after land was purchased from R. G. Mackrill and wife Lillian on January 25, 1912 for one dollar. On July 12, 1915, Bishop James Davis, formerly Bishop of Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, purchased for the Catholic Church additional land from the Mackrills along the south side adjacent to the existing cemetery, also for one dollar. The cemetery is divided into 3 sections with the south section is reserved for Catholic burials, and also known as St. Mary's section. It is just south of Griswold about 1 ½ mile on the left side of the road, in the southwestern ¼ of Section 17 containing about 2 acres of land. It was first known as the Mackrill Cemetery, and later then the Pleasant Township Cemetery. The cemetery is maintained by taxes and contains about 500 burials.

In the early 1920's the American Legion purchased the first two rows of the north part of the cemetery for War Veterans. In 1921 a well and tool house were added to the cemetery. Neither of these now remain. On May 4, 1925, Uncle Charles Dutcher od Arispe came back to Griswold and planted two ash trees in the section designated for soldiers and their families gravesites. This was done in memory of World War I Veterans.

In January, 1926, the cemetery plat book was destroyed by fire. Pleasant Township clerk, Zene Wright called a meeting and the entire cemetery was re-platted. Additional trees were planted in 1938. Since then flagpoles have been added to be used when designated for special days and holidays. Information for the above has been obtained from the "History of Cass County, Iowa, 1884," "Cass County Iowa, 1906," and "100 Year History of Griswold, Iowa."

The cemetery was walked and recorded by the Cass County Genealogical Society in 1981. It was walked again in 1986 by Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Christensen, Mrs. Odessa Drake, and Mrs. Bernice Ihrkein the summer of 1986. After a long period of time, the cemetery was walked, documented, and photographed again in 2016 by Carolyn DeLay and is up to date as of December 31. The arrangement of the graves have been altered, so that they are put into rows for easier finding of the graves. As mentioned before the cemetery is laid out in three sections. The rows are arranged going from the front of the cemetery, going west to east. There may of course be those that have been buried there that do not have any markers for one reason or another.

Contributed by Carolyn DeLay and the Cass County Genealogical Society, Jan. 1, 2017.