Waukesha County
Online Genealogyand
Family History Library
Location
This active cemetery is located between Prairie Avenue and West Avenue at Luke Avenue, Waukesha City, Section 10, Waukesha Township.
There are two maps available online. The better one (because it gives more information) is a link off the Prairie Home Cemetery website.
The other site is located as a link from the city website. This site interment dates, but not birth and death dates. From this site you can get the funeral home information and any special notes that may have been made about the burial. The link is here at the bottom of the page:Prairie Home Cemetery City Link.
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History
It was established officially in 1849, although there were much earlier burials on this site. On December 3, 1849, a three acre parcel was purchased from Nathaniel Walton for $50. On April 13, 1864, an additional five acres was acquired from S.S. Sawyer for $500.
It is a self-supporting municipal cemetery with a five member cemetery commission. Some of the small cemeteries in the county have been relocated to Prairie Home: Prairieville Cemetery, the College and East Avenues cemetery, Muskego Village Cemetery, The Benecke Family Cemetery and the Bidwell or South Pewaukee Cemetery.
Prairie Home also has a Potter's field. There are no stones in Potter's Field area, but the names of the people might be in the records. Some of the burials are unknowns.
There is also a section of the cemetery for the Wisconsin State Industrial School. The plot is full with the last burial in the 1930s. Most of the burials from the Industrial School were before 1900. About half of the boys from the school buried in Prairie Home were known though school records. Other school records show names of boys who died, but give no indication as to where they were buried. Prairie Home kept no records for these burials, since the identity of the boys sent to the school was considered confidential. These were unclaimed boys who died at the school and were buried by the State of Wisconsin. In the Industrial School plot there are only a few stones with names on them and only a few names listed in the record books.
The first person to be buried at Prairie Home was the mother of Reverend O.F. Curtis. Morris Cutler, first settler of Waukesha County, is buried here.
More on the history of Prairie Home[ Back to top ]
Cemetery Records
There are cemetery records 1841 to date, but there are some earlier burials with no records. There is a chart of the cemetery and records are available to the public for research, Monday-Friday for a fee. The cemetery charges an in person fee for the first half hour of research. For research that takes over a half hour, a total fee is usual. Mail requests will be answered, but you must send a self addressed stamped envelope for your reply. If more than a few names are requested by mail, the fee is required in advance.
Contact:
Prairie Home Cemetery Contact Information
605 S. Prairie Ave.
Waukesha, Waukesha Co., WI 53186
Phone: 262-524-3540
At the Waukesha County Museum: there are Incomplete records from the cemetery, sections M, N, and K 1836-1949.
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Tombstone Photographs
There are some tombstone photos available for some of the stones at the Linking Your Past Gallery. If a photo is available there will be an icon next to the surname. 
. If you click on the icon you will be taken directly to the cemetery photo page.
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Burials and Interments
This is a large cemetery. We have divided the burials alphabetical. This is only a parial listing.
[ A ][ B ][ C ][ D ][ E ][ F ][ G ][ H ][ I ][ J ]
[ K ][ L ][ M ][ N ][ O ][ P ][ Q ]
[ R ][ S ][ T ][ U ][ V ][ W ][ Y ][ Z ]
The numbers in braces {} indicate Elizabeth Lamb's tombstone survey, NOT the plot and grave locations recorded by Prairie Home Cemetery.
Items in brackets [] indicate [Section_Lot_Block_Grave number]The South side of the cemetery has numbered sections; the North sections are lettered.
Once you know the person's name and the section they are buried in, cemetery employees will be able to find the records.
Map of Cemetery. See also the links above for an interactive map.
Burials listed in row order (Section One)
AABYE: [K_72_2_6E] Albert L/Infant (age 0-2)/b. Feb. 7, 1931/ d. Mar. 28, 1931/interment: 28-Mar-1931 ACHILLES: [2_1_40_6S] Minnie B/Gasper Funeral Home/Cremains/interred: June 23, 1944 ADAMI: Nellie Adami/b. Feb. 8, 1896/d. Jun. 1, 1897/ Daughter of Jacob Adami and Wilhelmina Siewert/ no stone Wilhelmina E. Siewert/b. Dec. 17, 1861/d. Feb. 23, 1926 Daughter of Gottlieb Siewert and Wilhelmina Busse/ Wife of Jacob Adami ADAMS: [5_1_166_3N] Kenneth Raymond/Pederson Funeral Home/interred: January 10, 1997
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