Burials at the cemetery in Frontenac date from the mid-1860s and include some of the town’s earliest settlers. If you haven’t been here, picture this: A wooded piece of land just off a dirt road with a lot of shade and a heavy scent of pine hanging in the air. Squirrels dart from one side of the cemetery to the other and birds sing back and forth from the treetops.
The older part of the cemetery is located in a narrow clearing. A narrow dirt path curves down the middle and loops around at the end. Within that loop are the graves of one of Frontenac’s first white settlers, the Garrard family. Israel Garrard was a veteran of the Civil War who came to the area to hunt and fish one summer. He liked it so much, he built a town here that evolved into a fashionable summer resort.
Among the many other early families buried here, the Huneckes — Henry Hunecke was the master carpenter and builder of many houses in town. And the Ankers — Dr. Arthur Ancker was a prominent physician in St Paul and namesake of the Ancker Hospital. There’s Ralph Churchill, who served in the trenches during World War I. And the Steffenhagens — some of the first people laid to rest here and some of the most recent. History is still evolving here; burials are still taking place with plenty of room to grow.
