Rasmus Larsen

 

On the southwest edge of Downsville, Wisconsin lies an old cemetery abandoned long ago. Pawnell Cemetery dates to the early settlement of Downsville in the mid 1800's and for the better part of my youth was broken, untended and mostly forgotten. The cemetery is quite sizable with plenty of space for burials in a pleasant area overlooking what was to be the main part of town if it had ever chanced to grow. For some unknown reason Pawnell was forsaken and two other cemeteries took its place. The Township of Dunn has taken over the care and mowing of the cemetery and has revived its dignity if not its purpose.

As you come up the old roadway to the cemetery and reach the top you will find a small number of headstones clustered together near the driveway. A large pine shelters quite a number of the markers and the rest fade away to the large unused portion, an empty field once awaiting loved ones. There is nothing remarkable at Pawnell, just another collection of lost souls and loved ones no longer visited. The headstones and markers reflect no great artistry, just a place of rest for the common people who worked hard to settle this land and tame its wilds.

As a child Pawnell Cemetery always intrigued me, an early indication of my love for history, no doubt. I would bike or walk from across the river to visit and wonder about those lost souls and what life was like for them amongst the Native Americans and the hardships of early life here. Now as a man of age I have the honor of placing veterans flags for Memorial Day at the three cemeteries in Downsville, Pawnell is one of those.

As far back as one can go in Pawnell Cemetery nearly tucked into the woods stands a lonely Civil War Veterans marker. As a rule, Civil War markers have very little information on them and this marker is no exception. The marker is succinct: RASMUS LARSEN Co H 28 WIS INF no age, no dates just acknowledgement of his service to our country. The stone tells little but the story can now be told from my research into this lonely soul alone in a forgotten graveyard.

Rasmus has a story told by people who like to weave tapestries from straw. A foolish tale of a 'colored man' buried away from the 'white settlers' laid to rest among townspeople he lived and worked with. A man given the honor of a burial and a soldiers marker yet with his respect removed with his death. Nothing could be further from the truth and with a little bit of research, proved to be without merit. The death of Rasmus Larsen is chronicled in the Saturday June 2, 1866 Dunn County News on page one, column 5, bottom paragraph.

'Fatal Accident - On Sunday last (May 27), three men undertook to raise the shute gate at Knapp Stout & Co's mill, which is done by a windlass and levers and while one of the men, Rasmus Larsen, a returned soldier, was lying across his lever, the other men let go theirs and the gate running down with full force, threw Larsen high into the air and falling into the pond, was carried away through an open shute and drowned.' Rasmus had no family near and was buried at Pawnell Cemetery without a marker.

Fast forward 70 years and Rasmus Larsen, a Civil War veteran, had no marker and no recognition of his service. This injustice came to the attention of Miss Ada Hosford at the Menomonie American Legion Auxiliary. Ada placed an order for a proper marker on August 5, 1936 and it was shipped November 30, 1936 to Fred Borm in Downsville for placement at Pawnell. Such time had passed without a marker and the records of Pawnell not being sufficient, Fred Borm had the marker placed at the end of the cemetery where it would not interfere with future burials there or be wrongfully placed on the grave of another unmarked burial. Rasmus had no family here a single grave for a solitary man.

Rasmus Larsen was the eldest of three children, born July 24, 1840 in Skorpinge, Soro, Denmark. His parents were Lars Rasmussen (1812-1854) and Karen Marie Nielsdatter (1811-unk), a brother Jens Larsen (July 24, 1843-unk) and a sister Niels Larsen (May 27, 1844-unk). Lars and Karen were married on January 9, 1839 at Gimlinge, Soro, Denmark. Lars died in 1854 leaving his widow and daughter to struggle along and they lived with Maren Larsdatter a 78 year old (born 1777) widow, possibly a relative. Rasmus and Jens are apparently on their own or with others. Rasmus is 14 years old, a virtual orphan in 1855 Denmark.

At the age of 21 Rasmus boarded the steamer Borussia in Hamburg Germany bound for the port of New York in the promised land of America. A passenger amongst Americans, Germans, French and 22 fellow Danes looking for a new life and opportunities away from the troubled times behind them in Europe. None of the other Danes on the steamer are related or appear to have journeyed with Rasmus after landing in New York port. Rasmus must have found opportunity that called him to Wisconsin for he found his way there to a town called Merton in Waukesha County. He was employed as a farmer until he decided to enlist in the US Army on August 21, 1862.

Rasmus mustered in as a private with the 28th Infantry at Camp Washburn and was assigned to company H, October 13, 1862. He was counted as absent sick October 12, 1864 at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, hospitalized at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri in Bisbos House. From there, Rasmus was transferred to the US Swift Hospital at Prairie du Chien on November 6, 1864. Swift Hospital was closed down in September of 1865 and all of the remaining patients were either removed to a hospital in Madison or discharged.

Rasmus Larsen was discharged and most likely heard the lumber mills of Knapp Stout and Company were hiring. He headed north to seek his fortune and reclaim a life that had been interrupted by a war in his new found homeland. He found work in the mill at Downsville, worked through the winter, most likely held a room at the Booth House and began making new friends. Whether a cruel trick gone awry or a senseless accident, less than nine months into his new life, Rasmus Larsen drowned in the cold spring waters of the Red Cedar River.