WEST RESERVE
Every time we zip along Provincial Road 421 to Neubergthal or Sommerfeld (as one does), Blumenthal takes me by surprise, and we have no time to stop. It’s a cemetery, right there in a field along the road — why oh why wouldn’t we stop?
It seems we’re always in a hurry. Sometimes, to get to a performance at the Krahn Barn in Neubergthal, or to meet a local for a tour through Sommerfeld. So we did not stop for Blumenthal Cemetery… until one day last summer I finally included it in our plans. (And then I didn’t post about it until today! ha)
I knew the name of this cemetery right away, because of the very clear sign. Speaking of which, this well-kept little cemetery even has a plot map, so it’s very easy to find whomever you are searching for.
According to this plot map, the earliest burial here is Abram Schroeder in 1917. However, it also looks like under the Frank Janzen family, there are three unmarked plots. It’s possible those may be older.
This cemetery is still in use today, so it’s an interesting mix of older and newer stones.
Find A Grave doesn’t really shed any light on this place, but it does call it “Blumenthal Cemetery North”… which leads me to believe there’s another Blumenthal cemetery south of here. But if there is, I certainly cannot see it on Google Maps!
I looked up Blumenthal in the Rempel-Harms Historical Atlas of the West Reserve, and learned that this never turned into a village at all, yet the name Blumenthal stuck with this area anyway.
That kind of reminds me of what Andrew and I learned about Silberfeld (West Reserve) last summer. There too, it was never really a village, but rather, an area with a name.
And that’s pretty much all I know about this place! (I will have to bolster my collection of West Reserve writings.)
Related posts:
A Visit to Neubergthal Mennonite Street Village
All things Sommerfeld! Village AND Church