Sunnyside Cemetery
Menomonee Township
Waukesha County Wisconsin

Location

This active cemetery is located on the west side of Highway 74, 1 1/3 miles northeast of the center of Lannon Village, Southeast 1/4 of Section 8, Menomonee Township.

History

On March 3, 1855, the Menomonee Center Cemetery Association was organized. There were seven recorded burials prior to this date and from their locations it is obvious that the cemetery was platted out at some prior time, although there is no record of a cemetery being in any of the deeds or abstracts for this parcel of land. It is believed to have been established circa 1839. The earliest recorded burial is that of Betsy Waterman, age 32, who died in 1847. She is not buried near the Bancroft lots so it is assumed that she was not related to them.

History of the Property-On October 29, 1846, the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 8 in the town of Menomonee was deeded to Joel Bancroft. Sunnyside Cemetery is located in this parcel of land.

Joel Bancroft died in 1848. In December of 1848 this parcel was sold to Abner Rowe who sold it to Daniel and Charity Smith in May of 1851.

On January 3, 1862, one acre comprising the original plat was deeded to the Menomonee Center Cemetery Association by Daniel and Charity Smith. On October 1, 1888 Daniel Smith's son, George and his wife, Elizabeth deeded the First Addition to the cemetery. This is the area from the big maple trees down highway 74, then known as Waukesha road.

In June of 1892, the name of Menomonee Center Cemetery Association was changed to Menomonee Union Sunnyside Cemetery and in June of 1894 changed again to Menomonee Sunnyside Cemetery. Later in 1894 it was re-named again to Sunnyside Cemetery.

In 1898 a narrow strip of land on the south and west sides containing a row of maple trees was sold to the cemetery for $1.00 by George and Elizabeth Smith. In 1922 a 1 1/2 acre strip of land on the north side was purchased from Nicholas and Anna Lauer, and in 1960 a 4.022 acre parcel on the south and west side was purchased from Alvin and Charles Smith.

It was discovered that both the State of Wisconsin and Waukesha County claimed to have no record of the cemetery being organized or incorporated, so on February 24, 1975 the Sunnyside Cemetery Association was re-organized and incorporated in accordance with the regulations of the State of Wisconsin. Old records in our possession indicate that the incorporation of the Menomonee Center Cemetery Association of March 3, 1855 was indeed recorded in Vol. 1, page 37 by Wm. R. Williams, Register of Deeds, Waukesha County on March 28, 1855!

As of April 15, 2000, Sunnyside Cemetery contains 2278 burials with probably a few more early burials in unmarked graves or those where stones were broken off.

Negotiations are presently under way to acquire an additional 9.6 acres behind the cemetery for future expansion.

Dated April 18, 2000 Article submitted to Sussex-Lisbon Area Historical Society by Lois Clementi (Rec'd June 5, 2002) Copied here with permission from the SLAHS.ORG webmaster

Records

There is a chart of the cemetery, but it is incomplete. The records are held by the Sunnyside Cemetery Association. They are not generally open to the public, for research but the association will answer mail requests.

Contact: Sunnyside Cemetery Association 19166 Main Street Lannon, WI 53046

Transcriptions

Originally copied from tombstone and other available cemetery records by Mrs. Edith M. Tallmadge, Curator of Waukesha County Museum and County Historian, assisted by Mrs. Miriam Wood of the Waukesha County Medical Society Auxiliary. 1849 - approx. 1963. Some entries have additional material added from Register of Deeds office, Waukesha, for fuller family information. More recent burials have been entered by Mike Reilly. There is a recent book of transcriptions available at the Waukesha & Milwaukee Libraries, possibly through interlibrary loan.

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VINCENT: SEE CROSS