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Benjamin F. Jesse Pioneer Cemetery is located in Des Moines Township, near 7 SW 56th St., Des Moines.

Approximate Lat. 41.57764     Approximate Long. -93.69314

Long-forgotten private burial grounds rediscovered in 1906 and then forgotten once again. Only one known gravestone, for Infant Daughter Shaw. Per Find-a-Grave, a search through old Polk County land deeds disclosed the cemetery was founded by Benjamin F. Jesse. "The earliest mention of its existence (1854) mentions that it was located somewhere in the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 12, Township 78, Range 25. It is. Benjamin F. Jesse is the first traceable owner of that land - and the apparent founder - because he bought the land in 1850 from the U.S. Government, and when he sells that parcel of land in 1854 to Benjamin Bennett it is mentioned in the legal description. There is also a creek that runs north and south through the center of the land, and this could be the creek mentioned in the newspaper account, instead of Walnut Creek. It is not mentioned in legal transactions of the land after the 1860's." An anonymous FAG source documents visting and confirming the existence of this single gravestone in July 2003.

View the Des Moines Daily News, July 28, 1906 news article.

Known Burials: