The SW Quarter of the SE Quarter of
Section 14 in Township 143 N Range 91 W
St. John’s Lutheran Church was also known as the Bronco Church because of its
proximity to the Bronco Post Office in Mercer County. The church had been built
around 1913 with services held until 1942 when the church burned down after a
lightening strike. The cemetery had begun before the church was built and was later
annexed to St. Paul Congregation in 1980. (From Dauntless Dunn II - 1989 A History
of Dunn County North Dakota page 77.)
The sign beside the gate for this cemetery
states “St. John Cemetery Annexed to St. Paul’s Lutheran Dodge, N. Dak.”.
Directions to St. John’s Cemetery: From Dodge, ND: Take 81st Ave S.W. seven miles
south to 15th Street S.W. Turn left and go east 2 1/2 miles. From Marshall, ND: Take
Hwy 8 four miles north to 15th Street S.W. Turn right and go east 8 1/4 miles.
The cemetery is located on the north side of 15th Street S.W. and is not well
marked. It does have a small white sign beside the gate, however it can be easily
missed if not specifically looking for it. The portion of the cemetery where the
actual graves were located had been mowed and well maintained. A path had been
mowed along the north side of the cemetery that leads to the Marvin Sayre marker.
The area around that grave had also been maintained.
St. John’s Cemetery was a difficult cemetery to transcribe. There were many markers
engraved in a language (most likely German) which I am not familiar with. The engravings
themselves were often in a font that was difficult to decipher. Also many of the markers
had not been deeply engraved and had weathered over time adding to the challenge of
reading them.
The cemetery had been maintained. The area from the north fence heading south 195
feet and from the west fence heading east 93 feet had been mowed. A path had also been
mowed along the north fence to the grave site located in the northeast corner and that
site had also been mowed.
PLEASE NOTE: There are 2 lists for this cemetery. The first list is created from
the tombstone transcriptions and is not complete. There is a great deal of evidence of
possible missing markers on many sites. As of 04/10/2003, there were 31 visible markers.
The second list was created from copies made of the old interment book provided by
the sexton. The interment book contained obvious missing pages. The second list is
also not complete.
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