Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Reno County, Kansas

Pleasant Hill Cemetery, also known as Burch Cemetery, is the last stop on South Yoder Road before reaching the edge of Cheney Reservoir.

The 3-acre cemetery is up on a hill, just high enough to be spared when the area was flooded in the 1960’s to fill Cheney Reservoir.

Cheney Lake in the background of Pleasant Hill Cemetery. Image via Google Earth Pro.

The cemetery was established on land that was homesteaded by a man named Lorenzo Burch, near the extinct town of Mona. The official date of cemetery’s establishment is March 9, 1895, but there are several graves here that pre-date that.

Lorenzo transferred ownership of the cemetery to the Trustees of Pleasant Hill Cemetery in 1909 with conditions—he wanted only Ninnescah Township residents to be buried here, and he wanted them to have a burial plot free of charge.

The old windmill tower beyond the cemetery fence once helped sustain the Burch farm.

Lorenzo’s wishes have mostly been followed to this day. With just a few exceptions, only Ninnescah Township residents are buried here. And no money was exchanged for any burial plot.

This rural cemetery has just over 250 graves and is currently managed and maintained by Ninnescah Township. The current cemetery sexton has made significant efforts to modernize the cemetery records, and makes sure that every veteran is honored with a flag for Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Lorenzo Newton Burch & Lavina Jane Bussert

Lorenzo Newton Burch (also spelled Burtch and Birch) was born on November 26, 1842 in Whitley, Indiana. When he was 19, he mustered in with the 87th Indiana Infantry. His regiment fought in several major campaigns, like Sherman’s March to the Sea and the Battle of Hoover’s Gap. Lorenzo made it back home, and by 1867 he met and married Lavina Jane Bussert, a widow with a child.

Lorenzo Burch at age 90. Source

Lavina was also born in 1842, but in Allen, Ohio. By the time she was 19, she had married a man named Henry Palmer. She was barely pregnant with her first child when Henry mustered in with the 76th Illinois Infantry. He died from disease in December 1862 during the regiment’s first campaign. Four months later, widowed Lavina gave birth to a son. She named him Henry.

Henry died at age 13 in 1876 and was buried here on his mother and step-father’s land, officially establishing a family burial plot.

Henry Palmer, son of Lavina and her first husband Henry Palmer, step-son of Lorenzo.

Lorenzo and Lavina were in Kansas as early as 1874, but his land patent is dated 1881. The couple accumulated over 340 acres of land on both sides of the original Osage Trust Land line that they developed and farmed. At the time of Lorenzo’s death in 1935, his land was worth around $11,000, or about $32/acre. To put that in perspective, farmland in Kansas now can sell for 100 times that; the land would be worth a million dollars or more today.

Reno county farmers continued the eastern custom of naming their farms, and Valley Stock Farm was the name of Lorenzo’s. Source

Lorenzo and Lavina had at least six known children together, possibly seven. Their youngest, Mabel, may have been a twin. There is a gravestone in the Burch family plot for Infant Son Burch who has the same birthdate as Mabel. Reno county does not have birth records prior to 1890, and unfortunately the initials of this infant’s parents have been chipped away, but we can still tell that one of their first names started with L, which could be Lorenzo or Lavina.

Infant son of L ?? Burch, born and died April 1, 1884. Mabel Burch was also born April 1, 1884.

Not all the Burch children ended up here. Lorenzo and Lavina’s daughter Henrietta died in 1915 and is buried in nearby Kingman county. Their son Joseph died in Rio Grande county, Colorado in 1926 and is buried there, and another son Eddy is buried in nearby Cheney. Lorenzo and Lavina are also buried in Cheney.

The rest of the Burch children are buried here—even though they had become estranged from their parents.

Family Troubles – Battle For A Farm

Late in Lorenzo’s life, there was drama and division in the Burch family that played out in the local newspapers. Lorenzo and Lavina began a public land battle with two of their daughters, Mabel and Nellie, after a violent family dispute.

The trouble must have started long before it became public in 1926. There were executed deeds filed in 1914 gifting land to Mabel and Nellie that were later claimed to be forged, and then a suspicious fire on the family farm in 1920. The land seemed to be the cause of the trouble, but the land wasn’t the story. Mable’s husband attacked Lorenzo and Mabel’s brother Ed with an axe.

The Hutchinson News, Sep 14, 1926 Source

Mabel, her husband George, and daughter Edna were living on Lorenzo’s land (or Mabel’s land, according to the deed), and he wanted them gone. Lorenzo ordered Mabel and her family to leave in 1925. But they wouldn’t leave.

In 1926, Lorenzo took his son Ed to the farm “to cut some hedge from a dangerous corner,” but he wasn’t welcomed, and may not have been there for the hedge at all. He served Mabel with a ten day notice to vacate that day, which apparently enraged her and her family.

The Hutchinson News, Aug 23, 1926 Source

Mabel, George, and Edna reportedly set “two large and vicious dogs” loose on Lorenzo and Ed, and then George attacked them with an axe. Ed suffered a large cut on his back where he was struck with the axe; 83-year-old Lorenzo suffered cuts and bruises.

Charges against the two women were ultimately dropped, and George pleaded guilty to assault and battery.

The Hutchinson News, Sep 30, 1926 Source

Right after the charges were settled, Lovina filed suit against Mabel claiming that the land was not gifted, but that the deed was forged and filed without consent.

That same day, Lorenzo filed the same suit against another daughter, Nellie Caldwell, who also received land via deed at the same time as Mabel. Nellie died almost a decade prior and was here in the family plot when the lawsuit was filed. Lorenzo’s case was refiled against her widower Charles Caldwell later that month.

Nellie G. Caldwell died in 1917; her father filed a lawsuit against her in 1926.

Filing suit against their dead daughter may mean that the deeds actually were forged, and they just wanted to right a wrong. Or maybe it meant that Lorenzo and Lavina wanted it to seem like the deeds were forged, so they attempted to walk back both gifts knowing Nellie couldn’t object.

The case against Nellie was settled about six months later. Lavina agreed to transfer the land to Nellie’s children upon her death, but it’s not clear if this land transfer actually occurred when Lavina died in 1930 or if the land was left to Lorenzo to manage.

The case against Mabel wasn’t handled so easily. She was originally allowed to keep the land, even though the court believed her parents that the deed was filed without their consent.

The Hutchinson News, Jul 9, 1927 Source

The ruling was appealed, and then tried again, three times total over four years. The “bitter court battle for a farm” finally came to an end in favor of Lorenzo and Lavina in March of 1930. The court cancelled the deed for the 157 acres gifted to Mabel, and her parents retained ownership of the land.

The Wichita Eagle, Mar 9, 1930 Source

Lavina died a few months after the court battle ended.

Mabel had relocated to Conway Springs with her husband and daughter not long after the axe attack. They lived there until Mabel’s death in 1964, and even though she was not a resident of Ninnescah Township, she was allowed to be buried here in the family plot. Her second husband George is buried in another Reno county cemetery with his first wife, who died young.

Mabel is buried with her daughter, Edna Baker. Edna was the only child to make it to adulthood from Mabel’s failed first marriage to a man named Justin Earnest Baker at age sixteen. Edna never married and had no known children. She was living in Conway Springs when she died in 1976 and was allowed to be buried next to her mother.

Mabel and Edna share a headstone with the Baker surname, which was probably placed in the 1970’s.

Two other children from Mabel’s first marriage, a daughter named Fleeta and an unnamed infant, are buried here. The babies, who died in 1901 and 1904, are buried next to their mother and the Baker family stone.

The Battle Continues

“Mr. Birch (sp) has been unfortunate in that he has had considerable trouble in the past ten years with his son Eddy who lives at Cheney, his daughter Mabel Burgett (sp) of Conway Springs, and the older son Ira who lives at Greensburg, Kansas.”

Lorenzo’s son Ed lived next door to him in Cheney, but they had an agreement that Ed would not visit, and if Ed adhered to the agreement, Lorenzo promised he’d leave him some land. The newspaper called this an “almost whimsical” agreement, seemingly oblivious to any family trouble.

It seems like the children did want something to do with (or something from) their father. In 1932, Lorenzo’s three living children—Ed, Ira (James), and Mabel—joined forces and petitioned the court for a guardian or administrator to oversee their father’s estate. His children claimed he was incompetent, but their main concern seemed to be Lorenzo’s estate, or his land, not his health or well-being.

Lorenzo’s children accused him of not being able to handle his own affairs and business matters because he was old and nearly blind. Ed emphatically claimed that his father was incompetent and in need of a guardian (Lorenzo did have a nurse/housekeeper), and even though the year prior a doctor said he passed “a very creditable mental examination,” Lorenzo’s pension payments were suspended until the guardianship matter was resolved. Ed also sent his first request to the VA for affidavits from Lorenzo’s pension file about his mental condition, presumably to use against him in court.

The children quickly dropped their legal action after coming to a verbal agreement with their father. If Lorenzo would leave his entire estate to the three of them upon his death, they’d leave him alone.

The Wichita Eagle, Dec 25, 1932 Source

Some twenty-eight years ago I rode on a train through Hanitoba Saskatchewan and Alberta Provinces just as one of the worst blizzards that country has ever known was subsiding. Thousands of cattle perished and buzzards and vultures were feasting on the carcasses. Here or there could be observed a steer with a still feeble evidence of life in him and hovering in a short of circle, waiting for the end, were these carrion birds. Probably it was not respect for the living that kept them at distance, but at any rate – they decently waited.

-Letter from Dr. L.C. Bishop to Lorenzo’s attorney about a medical exam and Lorenzo’s children

Lorenzo’s Death and Will

Lorezno did not quite keep the agreement he made with the children, though each of them did get something. When he died in 1934, the details of his will were published in the paper.

Lorenzo left half of his estate to one son, James Ira Burch. James was a party in the guardianship case, but apparently did not betray Lorenzo to the extent that Ed and Mabel did, thus earning him half of his parents wealth. Lorenzo did complain that James never repaid loans, but that must have been forgiven.

Grave of James Ira Burch and his wife Gertrude. Henry Palmer is to the right, and Nellie, Mabel, Edna and Mabel’s two infants are in the background.

Ed was left just seventeen percent of the estate, which would have been worth about $2,200 (about $50k in 2024, if cash), significantly less than the third he may have expected to receive. Lorenzo’s military file shows that Ed tried to obtain affidavits related to his father’s health issues after his death, presumably in an attempt to fight the will. He may have later transferred his gifted land share to James.

Just one of Ed’s letters to the VA attempting to obtain affidavits from Lorenzo’s pension file that stated he was unable to attend to his own business matters.

Mabel was clearly not forgiven for the turmoil, the land grab, and axe attack. She was given a specific bequest of just $100. Lorenzo’s will also included a provision stating that if she protested, the bequest would be cancelled, ensuring Mabel’s compliance and preventing her from fighting her brothers for any additional part of the estate.

The remainder of Lorenzo’s estate was split among close friends, his housekeeper, and just a handful of his living grandchildren (but not Edna).

Grandson Lester Cook (son of Henrietta) received the same share of the estate as Ed did.

Other Burials at Pleasant Hill Cemetery

Lavina’s parents, Samuel and Sarah (nee Young), may have already been in Kansas when the Burch’s arrived. I couldn’t find a record of their land grant on the BLM website, but there is another record of Samuel receiving his land grant in 1879, three years before Lorenzo. Samuel and his wife Sarah have an elaborately decorated gravestone next to the flagpole, a focal point in the cemetery.

Samuel may have been a war veteran. His descendants claim he was a member of the 6th Ohio Light Infantry, but I found no record of his service with that regiment.

Margaret and William Hamilton were twins born to Edward and Sophronia (nee Strong). William died at birth in 1882, and Margaret died a year and a week later. The gravestone bears a Kimmerle & Adams maker’s mark. German native Christian Kimmerle was Wichita’s first stonemason, and gravestones with the K&A mark can be found all over the Midwest.

Lucinda (nee Rogers) married into the Ayres family in 1865. Lucinda bore at least fifteen children with her husband John, who had three children from a previous marriage. There are at least fifteen members of the Ayres family buried here probably more. If you run into an Ayres in Reno county, it may be a descendant of Lucinda. Her gravestone bears a J. Kimmerle mark, which stands for John Kimmerle (thank you Mike Maxton for the tip), another German-born stonemason in Wichita, and a relative of Christian Kimmerle.

Not every gravestone here is professionally carved. Pleasant Hill Cemetery has some beautifully and lovingly carved homemade gravestones. Agnes Rebecca Eaton was the daughter of Talbert and Cary or Carrey (nee Northcutt), a family that lived in the area for three years (a Northcutt was the executor of Lorenzo’s will). Agnes was just under a year old when she died, and whoever carved her gravestone artfully and skillfully mimicked popular design styles. It was likely carved or commissioned by her father, a well-known general goods merchant who died a widower in Dighton from an “unbalanced mind.”

Leorn and Esther Pieplow were children of Hugo and Myrtle (nee Hendrixson). Leorn died in 1914 when he was just a month old, and Esther was just barely a year old when she died in 1916 after a short illness. Hugo advertised his “concrete silos, cement, or mason work of all kinds” in Reno county, and his mother also had a homemade gravestone, so he may have made these. And Hugo’s middle name was Thrasher (his mother’s maiden name), which is pretty cool.