Pleasant Grove Church
Plot Map
Plot Details
PLEASANT GROVE CEMETERY
Story County, Milford Township, Section 6, Iowa
Following is the story of Pleasant Grove Community Church that has been
compiled from past histories collected and written for various
anniversary celebrations of the church and also records kept over the
past 131 years. I have tried here to give a brief overview of
Pleasant Grove Church and to write as accurate an account of events as
we have records for. Some of the information included is from
memories of people with connections to the church. Also, I
hope the reader will get some insight into the personality of the people
of the community and the church.
On Jan 23, 1877, the trustees of the newly formed Pleasant Grove M. E. Church
purchased the ground adjacent to the church to serve as a cemetery for the church
members and neighbors from Thomas R. and Eleanor Hughes for twenty dollars. The
ground had been surveyed on June 1, 1874 at the same time as the church lot. They
proceeded to sell the first lots of the original 39 lots {containing 7 individual plots) for $2.50 each.
Some of the original owners were Thomas R. Hughes, George Alfred, Wesley Arrasmith,
Fritz Randau, Richard Hughes, James B. Swearingen, M. Davis, D. H. Spencer, E N. Kimble,
Edgar O. Wilkinson, Thomas J. Sowers, J. M. Bailey, Jacob E. Hoover, William Randau,
T. B. Howland, and Isaac Crowder. Three more lots were added in the early 1940’s by using
the land that had been set aside as a lane midway thru the cemetery.
The care of the cemetery was passed from the church trustees to the Milford Township Trustee
when the church closed during the First World War. Later the Township Trustee handed the
responsibility for the cemetery over to an association of descendents, the Pleasant Grove
Cemetery Society. The cemetery has been fortunate that some of the generations have stayed
nearby to care for the cemetery but it has not been forgotten by those who moved on. The
new front fence was made possible with contributions from descendents across the country in 2004.
Some of the gravestones predate the beginning of the cemetery. These stones were moved from private
cemeteries on family farms to Pleasant Grove Cemetery. It is unknown if the people represented by
these stones were also moved. The gravestones represent varied types of monuments from the early
Victorian draped obelisk and marble heart to the modern stones, some including scenes and pictures.
Great effort has gone into documenting the Pleasant Grove Cemetery as accurately as possible. Additional
factual information has been added to the common knowledge represented on the gravestones. This
information came from documents kept by the trustee of the cemetery, obituaries published in local
papers, and personal family records.
To help the genealogist gain more understanding of an ancestor they are seeking or to afford the
local historian more knowledge of our central Iowa pioneer heritage, every obituary that can be found
will be put in the obituary board of Story County IAGenWeb site. Forty-five obituaries have been posted
at this time. Plans are also made to join the Iowa Gravestone Photo Project and document the interesting
and poignant collection of monuments that make up the visible assets of Pleasant Grove Cemetery.
For more information on the Pleasant Grove Church, its weekly services, and its annual Ice Cream Social, go to www.pleasantgrovechurch.us
Pleasant Grove Cemetery Association
17655 580th Ave.
Ames, IA 50010
Loretta H. Hughes
Linda Hughes Meyers
10 July 2008
Plot map and details known about the plots will be uploaded after formatting has been completed
The cemetery is located behind the church
