Immanuel Lutheran
Cemetery

In early 1881 a group of German immigrants, living in Washington County, near what is now Arlington, loaded their families and belongings into covered wagons and headed west.  They stopped in southern Gosper County where they took homesteads in East Muddy, Turkey Creek, Elk Creek, and Union Townships.  These families formed the core of what would become known as "The German Community."  Nearly all were related, or would become related, to the Schievelbein family.  The patriarch and matriarch of this extended family were Wilhelm Christian and Maria Christine (Koepke) Schievelbein.  To this group God and their religion were as important as food and water; so one of their first acts after performing all that was necessary to insure shelter and food was the establishment of a church in 1882.  The fist deaths among these folks were twins who died soon after birth.  Only a few people know today where they are buried.  When a tragic accident claimed the lives of two more children Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery was formed on a quarter acre of the land their father had donated for a church building.  The first two burials were Emma (1883-1886) and Otto (1885-1886) Schievelbein, children of Wilhelm F. C. & Bertha (Melchert) Schievelbein, and grandchildren of Wilhelm and Maria.

Immanuel Lutheran School was built in 1888, and for several years the school building served as the church on Sundays and a gathering place for the whole German community.  With the automobile came the inevitable and inexorable move from country churches and schools to town.  In 1966 the school closed its doors for the last time and a year later the church memberships were moved to either Trinity Lutheran Church in Arapahoe or Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Elwood and the church doors closed forever.  The cemetery is still being used by descendants of the original community.

This list of those buried in the cemetery is incomplete. If you know the names of others buried there, please, send them to and I will add them to the list.

If you live near this cemetery or plan to visit it anytime, please, consider photographing some, or all, of the gravestones and contributing them for use on this page. Or if you already have one or more photographs of stones in this cemetery I would be most happy to use them on this page. Write to if you would like to contribute photos for this or any Gosper County cemetery.

I want to thank Don Wohler for contributing most of the names included on these pages. I'm sure there are still some names that have been omitted. I will add any that are sent to me. If you see any errors, please bring them to my attention and I will try to correct them.

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Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery Gravestone Photos