History, heritage and the future
Hartley man maintains family cemetery with rich heritage
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BELL-TIMES-COURIER PHOTO
LeRoy Steffens stands proudly beside the newly-erected cemetery directory at Steuck Prairieland Cemetery south of Hartley.
A tiny O'Brien County cemetery means the world to Hartley's LeRoy Steffens.
In 1884 Michael Steuck, Steffens' great-grandfather, buried his mother, Anna Steuck, on the family farm in Center Township in O'Brien County. She was the first in the family to be buried in the privately-owned pioneer cemetery. Born in 1819, Anna became a war widow in Germany and later brought her children to the United States to build a life in northwest Iowa.
Since then, 36 more family members have opted for burial in the family cemetery. Familiar names like Guse, Brandt and Brinkert rest there. Steffens says that...
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