La Belle Cemetery is in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Built in 1851, and originally called Henshall Place, it was the first cemetery recorded in Oconomowoc. The cemetery then moved to Walnut Street. In 1864, the

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republican ...

approved the removal of all the bodies from Oconomowoc Cemetery on Walnut Street to the current La Belle Cemetery grounds. The land that is now the grounds for the La Belle Cemetery was first owned by Charles Sheldon, which he donated when the Oconomowoc Cemetery became too crowded. The oldest recorded stones in the cemetery have been there since the early 1800s. Some graves have no headstone and there are no records of who is buried there, just a little X marking a burial spot. The most common symbols found on the headstones are religious crosses. The two mausoleums people visit are the ones for the Kohl family and the Sheldon family. In the cemetery, there is a section for infants and children younger than six years old. Another section was specified for the newest style headstones, which are black marble with pictures and drawings.

History

In 2005 three corporations were found guilty of allowing sediment from nearby construction sites to wash into the cemetery in 2004, and ordered by the court to undertake a $400,000 cleanup of the cemetery. Over 90 men who fought in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

are thought to have been buried in La Belle, including the last surviving Civil War veteran in Waukesha County, who died and was buried here in 1942.

Notable interments

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player

Ghost stories

A memorial statue of a woman named Mary Nathsius in La Belle Cemetery is said to come to life. Some tales report that the statue's hands turn black, others, that blood oozes from her eyes, and many of the stories describe the statue as walking to the lake where she drowns herself, as the woman memorialized by the statue is said to have done.

References

{{reflist Cemeteries in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Waukesha County, Wisconsin Geography of Waukesha County, Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Waukesha County, Wisconsin