First Eagle Cemetery
Eagle Township, Waukesha County, Wisconsin

Location

The First Eagle cemetery was established on the Ebenezer Thomas farm near Sprague Road, in the northwest corner of the Section 13, Town of Eagle. The bodies were removed.

History

The first Eagle settler to pass away in the town of Eagle is believed to be Jane Bovee, mother of Matthias Bovee of Amsterdam, New York. Matthias settled in the area in 1843, with his wife Elizabeth, nine children, his mother Jane and other relatives. There was no formal burial place. She is believed to be buried on a hilltop on the family property.

Another Early settler, John Griffin, was buried on his farm, which in 2002 was owned by Ed and Welthy Mueller. His tombstone is inscribed simply "John D. Griffin, died November 18, 1856, 61 years.

Ahira R. Hinkley, the first settler in the Town of Eagle 1836, agreed to let some of his neighbors bury people in the far corner of his property. Come to find out later, the property was actually owned by Ebenezer Thomas. The cemetery was established sometime after 1836 but before 1844. There were still burials after the opening of Oak Grove in 1844. Circa 1940, the county re-routed what is now Sprague Road and had to go through the graveyard. Workers dug up the graves that were in the way and reburied them on the side. The cemetery is now on private property. There are no longer any stones marking the graves.

Many of the Bovee family were buried in the original cemetery. These family members were later interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery. The removal of the bodies occurred on the anniversary of the marriage of William R. and Sarah A. Bovee.

In 1972, transcriptions were taken of the remaining tombstones. Only four stones were still legible, but there were many more burials. It is believed that many were not given stones at the time of burial.

Records

There are no known records of the burials.

Transcriptions

BOVEE:
Matthias/d. Sept. 12, 1872/(moved to Oak Ridge in May 1907)
Elizabeth/d. June 12, 1892/(moved to Oak Ridge in May 1907)
William R./husband of Sarah(moved to Oak Ridge in May 1907)
Sarah A./(moved to Oak Ridge in May 1907)
Ella/(moved to Oak Ridge in May 1907)

LOBDELL:
Jeannette/d. 10 June 1850
Noble/d. Oct 18, 1861/Gone but not forgotten/ 80 years 5 months
Mary/b. 1806/d. 30 Dec 1866/We hope to meet again/wife of Noble Lobdell
	60 years
Pliny/b. 1781/d. 6 Feb. 1858