St. Joseph Cemetery, Gluckstadt, Mississippi

Gluckstadt, which means "Lucky Village" in German, was settled in June of 1905 by five German farmers from Klaasville, Lake County, Indiana, whose names were Henry Klaas, John Kehle, Valentine Fitsch, Peter Schmidt and Joseph Weilandt. Later that year, they were joined by a number of other families. For approximately a dozen years, these families, who shared a common religion, their Catholic faith, met in family homes once a month, when a visiting priest traveled to their farming community to celebrate Mass. In 1917, the community erected a building that served as both school and church. Some years later, the building burned completely, but it was successfully rebuilt and dedicated in June 1929.

Near St. Joseph's Church is the cemetery by the same name that became the resting place for these early settlers and their families. Among those who have been laid to rest in St. Joseph Cemetery are those with the surnames of Aulenbrock, Kiehle, Klaas, Minninger, Schmidt, and Ulrich. Gravestones for some of those names are pictured here

Math Schmidt
b. March 27, 1879, in Germany
d. May 16, 1966


Teresa Hasse Schmidt
b. September 3, 1887, in Klaasville,
Lake County, Indiana
d. July 16, 1956

Anna Miller Minninger, b. September 27, 1890, d. July 12, 1967

John A. Minninger, b. September 23, 1889, d. August 6, 1983

Theresa Callahan Kehle
b. December 5, 1895 in Atlanta, GA
d. December 10, 1980 in Gluckstadt, MS

John Kehle, b. July 2, 1868 in

Hittensweiler, Germany

d. December 24, 1963

Gluckstadt, Mississippi

Henry A. Klaas

b. June 15, 1857
d. May 23, 1916

Mary M. Klaas
b. December 5, 1861

d. November 19, 1937

Note: All photographs are courtesy of Natalie Maynor