Milwaukee County Wisconsin Genealogy

St. Martin of Tours Cemetery

Formerly known as Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery and Holy Assumption Cemetery

St. Martin of Tours Cemetery is located at 7973 S. 116th St., Franklin, WI 53132
Located in what was known as the St. Martins area of the Town of Franklin.
Latitude: 42°54'05" N; Longitude: 88°03'39" W

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History

The cemetery used to be two separate cemeteries. Holy Assumption Cemetery and Sacred Hearts Catholic Cemetery. These two churches merged in 1998 taking the new name of St. Martin of Tours.

The cemetery is now owned and maintained by St. Martin of Tours Faith Community Church and is under no diocese. Today, the two cemeteries adjoin and appear as one, though separate records are kept. All records are kept in the office of the new church.

This history of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary is from the congregation website.
Which was taken from the "Lives of the Saints", Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York.

The history of the former Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church is interwoven with the history of surrounding area, during the time that Wisconsin was still a territory. On December 20, 1839, the town of Franklin was founded, and a few years later, in 1842, Father Martin Kundig settled here. Church services were held near what was to be the village of St. Martins. Hearsay has it that Father Kundig platted the village of St. Martin's and that it was named after him, but no records have been found to prove this.

The area was settled by large numbers of Catholic German immigrants. They attended Holy Assumption Church, a primarily Irish congregation. Having difficulty understanding English preaching, they sought out to establish their own church. In 1858, Father Franz Weinhart, a German priest, was instructed by Bishop John Martin Henni to establish the new church on land donated by Holy Assumption Church. The land donated was sufficient for the erection of the church, rectory and a plot for the cemetery. Holy Assumption was to have a small area reserved for its cemetery.

On May 18, 1858, the German congregation started construction of the church. The cornerstone was laid on June 5, 1858. It can still be viewed on the Northeast corner of the building. It is said that farmers hauled field stones in their horse-drawn wagons to the site. Two-foot thick walls were put up using mortar made from sand, water and lime burned in the old limekilns at Trimborn Farms at 92nd Street and Grange Avenue. On Oct. 15, 1858, Rev. Weinhart was transferred to Sauk City. Father Hubert Jansen was invited by Bishop Henni to act as pastor of Sacred Hearts. He served as pastor from December 1858 to June 1864 and saw the completion of the church. On Oct. 15, 1859, the church was blessed under the title of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

More information on the parish which is now St. Martin of Tours can be found on the parish website.

Select Burials and Interments

This is a partial listing

BURG:
Gladys (Schnell)/b. Mar 10, 1906/d. Mar 27, 1959/wife of John Burg, Jr/
	daughter of Marie Riebe and Hermann (Johann Freidrich Karl) Schnell

GOETZKE:
See REXIN

HAIG:
Charles Joseph/b. Apr 21, 1915/d. Apr 26, 1959/husband of June Burg/
	son of Oren Haig And Katherine Rexin
Oren Eugene/b. Jun 04, 1882/d. Jul 21, 1957/husband of Katherine Rexin
Patrick Thomas/b. Mar 16, 1946/d. Nov 12, 1979/husband of Sandra Sachi/
	son of June Burg and Charles Haig
Katherine (Rexin)/b. c.1883/d. Sep 02, 1958/wife of Oren Eugene Haig

MCCARTHY:
Bradley John/b. Nov 10, 1970/d. Jan 06, 1971/son of Bradley John McCarthy 
	and Teresa Helen Haig

NETTESHEIM:
John W./b. 30 Sep 1880 Brookfield/d. 4 Mar 1865
Christina (WEBER) Nettesheim "Nina"/b. 11 Jul 1888 Pewaukee/
	d. 5 Jan 1878

REXIN:
Frank J./b. Jul 12, 1850/d. Dec 12, 1913/husband of Paulina Rexin
Paulina/b. Sep 13, 1850/d. Jan 15, 1930/wife of Frank J. Rexin
Clara (Goetzke)/b. Apr 08, 1883/d. Apr 05, 1949/wife of Frank Rexin
Frank/b. Nov 27, 1885/d. June 26, 1950/son of Paulina and Frank Rexin and
	Husband of Clara Goetzke

REXIN:
See HAIG

SACHI:
See HAIG

SCHNELL:
See BURG