Welcome to the Ely Community History Society! ... Our mission is to collect and preserve the history of Ely, Western, Shueyville, and nearby rural areas in both Linn & Johnson Counties.
7/15/2013
6/24/2013
Progress Report and Upcoming Meeting
June 1, 2013
Boy Scout, Sam Wertz, members & supporting adults of the Red Cedar District, Hawkeye Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, volunteers and Ely Community History Committee members gathered at Fackler's Grove Cemetery on June 1st to begin the long-needed clean-up of the grounds. Sam Wertz has chosen this to be his Eagle Scout Project.
The scouts and their families and friends did an outstanding job. They were well organized, prepared for the work that needed to be done, and there was lot of work! There may have been some moments of "What did we get ourselves into," when the workers pulled up and saw the chest high grass!
Below are some photos of the work in progress.
- Identify unmarked grave locations
- Locate markers or bases buried under the sod
Ely Community History Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 191
Ely, IA 52227
The ECHS is a not-for-profit organization.
Boy Scout, Sam Wertz, members & supporting adults of the Red Cedar District, Hawkeye Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, volunteers and Ely Community History Committee members gathered at Fackler's Grove Cemetery on June 1st to begin the long-needed clean-up of the grounds. Sam Wertz has chosen this to be his Eagle Scout Project.
The scouts and their families and friends did an outstanding job. They were well organized, prepared for the work that needed to be done, and there was lot of work! There may have been some moments of "What did we get ourselves into," when the workers pulled up and saw the chest high grass!
Below are some photos of the work in progress.
Click the images to enlarge them.
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| A rather daunting look at the lush growth of weeds and ditch lilies before work started. |
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| Work in progress |
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| Lots of foliage to remove! |
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| Above and below: photos of the "after" |
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| They also removed a lot of brush and felled one dead tree. |
June 15, 2013
The second Eagle Scout
work day on June 15th at the cemetery also went very well and a lot of work was accomplished. The scouts and volunteers continued clearing grass and brush and mowed the part they had done June 1st again. They
also hauled all the wood from the felled tree to a nearby ravine.
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
The Ely Community History Society will be meeting with an expert on ground penetrating radar to learn about the technology and decide if it will be worthwhile to use his services to do a survey of the grounds. GPR is non-invasive so no graves or stones would be disturbed. A survey could help us with the following:- Identify unmarked grave locations
- Locate markers or bases buried under the sod
- Result in a "map' of his findings
Upcoming Informational Meeting
ECHS will hold an informational meeting in the lower level of the Ely Community Center on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. The Center is located at 1570 Rowley Street in Ely. All interested parties are invited to attend to learn about the Fackler's Grove Cemetery Project. For information call Clary Illian at (319) 848-4963 or Barb Horak, 848-4074.
If you wish to donate toward this worthy project, please send your check with "Fackler's Grove Cemetery Project" in the memo line to:
Ely Community History Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 191
Ely, IA 52227
The ECHS is a not-for-profit organization.
5/29/2013
Cemetery Clean-Up
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| Photo taken during a visit to the cemetery in spring, 2013. |
Sam Wertz, a member of Red Cedar District, Hawkeye Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, has taken on the initial cleanup of the cemetery as an Eagle Scout project. We have met several times with Sam and his father David to thoroughly agree on how to proceed.
A party of six Scouts accompanied by seven adults will begin working on removal of brush, mowing and weed-eating weeds, spot killing of invasive species such as multiflora rose, removal of small saplings and small dead trees, and making the gate/ entrance fencing more accessible. This will all be done taking into careful consideration the grave markers that are present, so as not to disturb or harm them.
Removal of large trees will be undertaken at a later date.
In other news ....
Cheri Franke of Ely, who has expertise in prairie plant identification, and Clary Illian visited the cemetery and identified prairie plants that are present. They also identified invasive species that need to be spot-killed and relayed that information to the Scouts.
Clary Illian and Barb Horak of the Ely Community History Society (ECHS) met with the Big Grove Board of Trustees on May 21, to present a plan of action and discuss the project.
The Big Grove Trustees intend to budget monies toward the project. They will be responsible for long-term upkeep and maintenance.
ECHS has committed $500 as “seed money” to help with the project, and $500 to go toward later phases of the project, such as repair/restoration of grave markers and signage.
ECHS has received $275 in donations from Fackler descendants so far, with indications of more support to come from other descendants and interested parties.
We are now in Phase 1 of the project. Phase II will address fencing, and Phase III will involve restoration of grave markers and signage.
We have been unsuccessful in obtaining a plot map of the cemetery. There may not be one. If anyone knows of one, please contact us!
If you wish to donate toward this worthy project, please send your check with "Fackler's Grove Cemetery Project" in the memo line to:
Ely Community History Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 191
Ely, IA 52227
The ECHS is a not-for-profit organization.
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| Photo taken during a visit to the cemetery in spring, 2013. |
4/29/2013
Cemetery Project
UPDATE for Fackler's Grove Cemetery Project
The committee has visited the cemetery and received permission from the Big Grove Trustees to begin clearing the brush and debris from the grounds. We will be making plans for work days. We will also meet with the Trustees to present a more formal plan of action.
The committee has visited the cemetery and received permission from the Big Grove Trustees to begin clearing the brush and debris from the grounds. We will be making plans for work days. We will also meet with the Trustees to present a more formal plan of action.
1860 Tornado
Taken from Cedar Rapids paper, "The Cedar Valley Times", June 7, 1860.
Iowa experienced terrible loss from tornados on Sunday, June 3, 1860. Below is the portion that tells of the tornado in the Ely area. It was located at the Cedar Rapids Library newspaper archives.
"The cloud to the southward passed over the town of Shueyville, about 9 miles south of this city [Cedar Rapids], destroying 2 dwellings; and then passed on through Banner Valley, unroofing the Lutheran church. No lives were lost at either of the above places.
It then took a southeasterly [should be northeasterly] direction towards the Cedar River, passing through the Roger's settlement, seven miles from Cedar Rapids, on the west side of the river, destroying the dwellings of Mr. Thompson and Mr. Carns. Mr. Carns' son was instantly killed. A child 7 years old was carried by the storm a distance of 2 miles over the Cedar River. The destroying fiend then took a jump, and the next we noticed of its work was at St. Marys, a small hamlet 2 miles south of Mt. Vernon.
If you wish to read the full article, click here to download the .pdf file.
Iowa experienced terrible loss from tornados on Sunday, June 3, 1860. Below is the portion that tells of the tornado in the Ely area. It was located at the Cedar Rapids Library newspaper archives.
"The cloud to the southward passed over the town of Shueyville, about 9 miles south of this city [Cedar Rapids], destroying 2 dwellings; and then passed on through Banner Valley, unroofing the Lutheran church. No lives were lost at either of the above places.
It then took a southeasterly [should be northeasterly] direction towards the Cedar River, passing through the Roger's settlement, seven miles from Cedar Rapids, on the west side of the river, destroying the dwellings of Mr. Thompson and Mr. Carns. Mr. Carns' son was instantly killed. A child 7 years old was carried by the storm a distance of 2 miles over the Cedar River. The destroying fiend then took a jump, and the next we noticed of its work was at St. Marys, a small hamlet 2 miles south of Mt. Vernon.
If you wish to read the full article, click here to download the .pdf file.
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