Cologne cemetery mystery: 15-year project identifies burial records

COLOGNE, Minn. (FOX 9) - The hands of time erased decades worth of history and names in a 19th century Cologne cemetery, but a dedicated group of volunteers solved the puzzle.

A new monument lists the names of 418 people whose graves were almost lost forever.

Founding Father family mystery

Judy Glander’s family founded Cologne, but a piece of their history was a mystery for decades.

"I did look for my great grandfather for a long time trying to wonder ‘where is he?’" Glander said. "Because I knew he had to be here because he was a member of Saint Bernard and I just could never find him."

Saint Bernards Catholic Church has two cemeteries: One well-maintained since its first burial in 1880.

The other opened in 1857, but fell into disrepair after filling up in the early 1900s.

Man on a mission

"They had wooden crosses or poor stones," said the project’s leader, Cologne resident and St. Bernards parishioner Roger Storms. "And then, like 1960, they had some vandals go through and tip them over. And so the result is what we had left."

Only a few headstones survived the years, but Storms couldn’t let Cologne’s forefathers disappear into the ground.

Language barrier

The parish kept burial records at the time in only a German-Latin hybrid language so he recruited a nun who taught both languages to decipher the names.

And he got his cousin, Jim, to engrave the names in a new granite monument to the dead.

Solving the mystery

"I was just surprised how many young children and babies are buried in this," said Jim Storms.

Like the Neys — Cornelia, Theodore, and twins Joanna and Joseph — who all died just after birth.

There’s also the name Judy Glander rubs every day, after living most of her life wondering where he was buried.

"My great grandfather was Adam Mohrbacher I," she said.

A name almost erased by erosion, but now back from the dead as long as the new grave marker stands.

A lasting monument 

"I think it has the chance to last forever," said Roger Storms.

And the names of the people who spent 15 years on this project will live on as well because one of the plaques on the monument describes the recovery efforts.