Nearly Forgotten – Finding My 4x Great Grandmother, Anny Maria Wintermute

My ancestors immigrated to Kansas in 1869, settling in Osage Mission, KS. (Now St. Paul, KS.) Born on Dec 13 1794 in New Jersey was my 4x great grandmother Anny Maria. Her grandfather, Johann George Windemuth, was the emigrator who came to the US from Germany in 1736 with his father. Landing in Philadelphia they would eventually make home in New Jersey. In 1813 Anny married John Ogden Shackelton in New Jersey and together they had 9 children. In 1852 John Ogden died, leaving Anny a widow. After his death Anny went to live with her son Benjamin (my 3x great grandfather) in Illinois in about 1863. Benjamin was the oldest of the siblings so its assumed this is why he carried out this task. Anny’s youngest child, John O. JR died Jan 23, 1862 from typhoid fever which he had been battling for 6 weeks while serving in the civil war. He would have been around 24 years of age at the time of his death. We believe that John’s death while serving in the civil war is why our family was offered land in Kansas. Benjamin’s 11 year old son, Fremont, moved with Anny and his father to Kansas from Illinois along with his other siblings, Wilmont, Della and John. They all came in a covered wagon pulled by oxen, which could only travel about 15 miles a day. Shortly after their arrival Anny died at Osage Mission, KS on February 1st of 1870 after sustaining injuries from falling off the wagon during their journey. She was 76 when she died, and until recently the location of her burial has remained a mystery.

I would like to thank the Osage Mission Museum in St. Paul, KS for all their help and research in finding Anny’s resting place.

In Osage Mission one of the first locations of burial was Graceland Cemetery. The first burial took place there in 1868. After a few years of being an active cemetery burials stopped in 1874 because the ground was too rocky and difficult to dig graves. About half of those who were at Graceland were eventually reinterred to what is now Hope Cemetery in St. Paul, KS, but the other half (from what we know) still possibly remain at that original location. Its hard to know for sure if those interred there ever had a marker, or if they have always remained unmarked. Thankfully no active farming seems to have taken place on the land, lest they disturb those who still rest there.

I did some of my own research to find out more than just the names of who had been buried at Graceland. There were a handful of children buried there, which wouldn’t be uncommon during this time period. Many people buried there who were never reinterred seemed to be people who had no one left to take care of their means or perhaps the family had already moved and relocated to a different town. Ultimately those details will remain unknown.

Below is those who are still at rest at Graceland Cemetery. Today, the land is on private and is not accessible to the public.

You can also view this cemetery on findagrave with the ID# 2769768