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By Terry W. Blevins
 This is the story of the Mennonite cemetery, located southwest of Vona in Kit Carson County. But to tell the cemetery's story, one must also tell about a church, a community, and a generation of immigrants.
The story of the Mennonite cemetery began more than 200 years ago in the German Rhinelands. A large group of Germans left the "war-scarred and religion-ravaged Holy Roman Empire," emigrating to Denmark, Hungary, the United States (later the "Pennsylvania Dutch") and Russia. In 1763, Catherine II of Russia recruited colonists for her newly acquired Volga and Black Sea territories, promising "generous grants of land, exemption from taxation for 30 years, religious freedom and exemption from involuntary military and civil service."
A group of Germans who had moved to Prussia (now Poland) availed themselves of this fine offer, and moved to Russia, where their families stayed (along with about 23,000 others) for nearly 100 years. Unfortunately, living was hard in Russia, and when later rulers began to suspend the colonists' rights, one by one, the urge to move on prompted the second great migration of these people.
This wave of German/Russian emigrants began in 1873, and lasted in varying degrees of intensity until after World War II. In 1874, almost in the vanguard of this movement, came Cornelius B. Schultz, 22, and with their families, Andrew B. Becker, 2, and Benjamin H. Boese, 3. This group moved first to Scotland, then on to the United States, landing in South Dakota. Some 30 years later, in 1907, these three gentlemen, their families and others moved on to homesteads south of Vona.
Pleasant Valley
Germans had resisted the Slavic influence in Russia nearly 100 years, and when their descendants came to the United States, they hung onto their old ways in much the same manner. According to Kenneth Rock, the first generation "mainly in Colorado rural districts, clung to their dialects, religion, traditions and dress," which set them apart from other Americans.
The "Germans from Russia" settlement south of Vona was largely concentrated in a 30-square-mile area, known as the Pleasant Valley Community. Hub of the community was the large, sod Pleasant Valley School, built with volunteer labor. Area residents used the school for all sorts of meetings including a "well-attended" Sunday School. The group containing Schultz, Becker and Boese organized their church in 1908, and conducted worship services at the school in German. (Original church records also were written in German and were (at the time this article was first published) in the custody of church secretary Wilbert Becker.)
In 1910, the group was given an official charter by the Colorado Secretary of State, and the New Friedensberg Mennonite Church was official. During the next year and a half, church members built a new church building on a site seven miles south and 1.5 miles west of Vona. Church records of December 1910, note that the congregation had agreed to "write Brother J. H. Epp to preach an English sermon for the dedication."
The building was dedicated in 1912, and records don't indicate whether Brother Epp was able to attend. The building held 100 chairs, and one early church-goer has recalled those chairs were full on many occasions. But throughout its history, the church has reached a maximum actual membership of about 30 members.
The church also created a Mennonite cemetery adjacent to the building, and the first person to be buried there was 27-year-old Jacob Unruh, who had lived with his mother just northeast of the church. Cornelius B. Schultz, who had traveled all the way to Vona from Russia, was buried there in 1917, at the age of 65.
The switch to English
The use of German Hymn books and of the German language during church services continued until the World War I era. "There wasn't much German, after that," recalled Wilbert Becker. As they would do again during World War II, other Americans tended to be suspicious of neighbors with German backgrounds and habits.
During the dust bowl years, many families left the area, although the church still had an active membership of about 25. But older members passed away, and younger members left the area for better opportunities, and finally, a few years ago, regular worship services at the New Friedensberg Mennonite Church ceased. A few families still use the building for Bible study or for funerals, but it is more constantly used these days by a colony of raccoons, who have lived in and around the church for about 20 years, and have occasioned many repairs to the building.
There aren't many graves in the Mennonite cemetery... a total of 29 in the last 70 years. The most recent burial was in January 1982, when Arthur L. Boese, was laid to rest. But a set of twins is buried there. And one grave contains a 40-year-old woman who died in childbirth, as well as her infant son, who died two days later.
Many of the present day Pleasant Valley folks are descendants of the Boese and Becker immigrant families. Most of them attend other churches in the community, now, but they still work together to keep the New Friedensberg Mennonite Church in good repair, and the cemetery in good order. Except for the occasional visitor, or for the rattlesnakes and the raccoons, the churchyard and the cemetery are quiet. It's a peaceful resting place for a people with a turbulent heritage.
(Note: Early history of the Germans from Russia was taken from "Unsere Leute": The Germans from Russia in Colorado, by Kenneth W. Rock, published in The Colorado Magazine, Spring, 1977.)
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