Oct. 20, 1866, W.T. Rigby of the newly formed Clearwater Masonic Lodge #28 suggested a committee be formed to find land for a cemetery. The committee was formed, land was found, and on Nov. 3 Acacia Cemetery will celebrate its 150th anniversary.

 

The original five and five-sixteenth acres of land in Lynden Township that would become Acacia Cemetery was purchased from J.M. Fuller for $100. The land was surveyed and platted for burial in 1867. It was the first ground dedicated for that purpose between Monticello and St. Cloud.

 

By the time Acacia was formed there were already 29 graves on the site. The first person buried there was James W. Stevenson. After moving to Clearwater from Ohio Stevenson married Emma Kent on the banks of the Mississippi River. He passed away Aug. 26, 1856.

 

In the book, An Early History of Main Prairie, Fair Haven, and Lynden Township, author E. H. Atwood writes, “Stevenson was first to marry in the Clearwater area and first to die.”

 

Additional property was purchased for Acacia Cemetery along Hwy 152 (Hwy 75) Jan. 10, 1949. This addition enlarged the cemetery to nearly 8 acres. 

 

In 1978 the Masons felt they weren’t financially able to maintain the cemetery any longer, and sold it to the lot owners for $1. The sale included the land, maintenance equipment, CDs, books and records. 

 

The lot owners, who became the Trustees of Acacia Cemetery Association, held their first meeting  Dec. 27, 1978, to begin setting up their association and corporation. A board of directors was elected to oversee and maintain the property. Their first annual meeting was held the following May.

 

Although it was open to the community, when Acacia was first formed some of the gravesites were reserved for Masons. There was also a section set aside as paupers’ graves (those that couldn’t afford a burial). A single gravesite or a lot, which included eight graves, could be purchased.

 

Because of families moving on, today there are lots in Acacia that were purchased years ago but only have one gravesite used. There are also lots that have family headstones erected but no family members are buried there.

Although most burials in Acacia are local residents, occasionally a person would die on one of the trains passing through Clearwater and be taken off the train and interred there.

 

Acacia Cemetery is filled with Clearwater history. Veterans from six wars are buried there; the Civil War, the Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. A Civil War monument was erected near the cemetery’s west entrance.

 

Many of the founders of Clearwater can be found at Acacia, and many of the family names seen there are still prevalent in the community today.

 

Simon Stevens, who came to the area in 1849 and founded Clearwater in 1855, is buried there along with his wife. He passed away in 1904.

 

Thomas C. Porter, an early Clearwater settler and one-time member of the State Legislature, is there, along with his wife Abigail (Kemp) Porter. Mrs. Porter was the first white woman to settle in the Clearwater area in 1855.

 

Their daughter, Maude, was one of the first white children born in Clearwater.

 

William Wallace Webster, originally from Canada, came to Clearwater in 1856 after serving in the Civil War. Married to Mavina Woodworth in 1861, he was a farmer and merchant. After Mavina passed away he married Lucy Claretta Fay Walker. He and both his wives are buried at Acacia.

 

Wright County’s first physician, Dr. Jared D. Wheelock, is interred at Acacia along with his wife, Polly Davis Wheelock. Born in 1819, he was one of Clearwater’s earliest settlers. He served in the Civil War, was the first justice of the peace in Clearwater Township, was chairman of the first board of supervisors of Wright County, and served on the Clearwater school board.

 

Lifetime resident Lloyd Laughton was Clearwater’s first historian, a Mississippi ferry operator, and a 70-year member of the Clearwater Masonic Lodge. He was buried at Acacia after his death in 1995.

 

Today there are 3,371 gravesites at the nondenominational Acacia Cemetery, and 1,334 people are interred there. Annual meetings are held every May to set rates and policies.

 

Current board members include President Mark Collins, Vice President Scott McGown, Secretary/Treasurer Sharon Lee, and trustees James Kantor, John Lee and Lyle Heaton.

 

In honor of its 150th Anniversary, this fall Acacia Cemetery board members added the year 1866 to the iron archway over the main entrance, and erected a monument with a brief history of the cemetery next to the entrance.