Knox County, Nebraska
A Free Service of the Nebraska GenWeb Project
http://negenweb.us/knox/



Links:
Home
Surnames
Queries
Marriage Index
Obituaries
Cemeteries
Resources & Lookups
1890 Gazetteer
1912 Compendium
1920 Atlas
Andrea's History
Civil War Vets.
Communities
Current Towns & Org.
Family Collections
Gen. & Hist. Soc's.
Ghost Towns +
Historical Sketch
Probate Index
Registered Person List
War Casualties
World War 1 Inductees

Email & Site Design:
Jacquelyn Romberg
Thomas Risinger

Santee Cemetery History
Knox County, Nebraska


Contributed by Judy Carlson, 2000


In 1865 the Episcopalian Missionary saw the need to build an Indian Mission at the Santee Agency. The Rev. Samuel D. Hinman Sr., an interpreter for the Indians was sent to accomplish this.

A three-story hotel was purchased from the Niobrara Townsite Company and the material was moved to Santee where a church and school was built. A tornado destroyed the structures and a fire wiped out the second set. The chapel and mission residence only were replaced the third time.

At the east edge of Santee stands the Church and residence. They are both in dire need of repair and show scars from the wounds that mother nature has inflicted on them over the years. Just a little south of the driveway lies the Santee Cemetery.

The Hinmans’ was a young family, the parents of five sons. Mary Hinman, wife of the Rev., died in 1876 at the age of 33. She was the first to be buried in the Santee Cemetery.

For many years the cemetery was hidden from view by the dense brush and lilac bushes. When I visited the cemetery a few weeks ago, I was glad to see that it has been cleared and that all of the stones are visible.

There are approximately ten burials in this small cemetery. Two of them; Clarence Mitchell and Clifford St. Clair, both died in 1944 while serving their country in World War II. From the inscriptions on the remaining stones, it was easy to determine that old age was not the cause of death for the few buried here.