MANY JONDLES

Pam Warner, a cousin had told me that the Jondles were buried in the Graceland Cemetery in Elkhhorn Township south of Fort Dodge. She had said it was just down the road from the Bohemian Hall.

I thought it would be easy to spot from the road so I drove to where the Bohemian Hall had stood on the westside of County Road P151 until it  burned down in August 2012.  I kept going but saw no cemetery.  When I got to the end of the paved road I turned around and drove back north.  I stopped at a couple of farm houses to ask for directions but nobody answered the door.  At the third house the gentleman there told me the cemetery was very close.  He said there was the Elkhorn Cemetery 1/4 mile to the west of the paved road and the Graceland Cemetery 1/4 mile to the east. Apparently there was some sort of feud amongst the farmers in the area that caused for the creation of a second cemetery. He said the rich farmers were buried in the eastern cemetery.  He also showed me a 1909 plat map that showed the owners of all of the farm land.  There were many farms owned by the Jondles, including Michael, his mother Mary and his many brothers.

Here is a picture of the plat map.  Michael owned farms in sections number 6 and 8. His mother Mary owned farms in section 23 and 24. Michael later inherited the farm on the east side of section 23.  That was the farm on the west side of Highway 169 that Ed and Helen farmed until Betty was 5 years old.  The two cemeteries are marked with crosses on the south sides of section 15 and 16.  The Bohemian Hall is in the northeast corner of section 28.