11/12/2021
Each cemetery we oversee holds a story, all unique in their own right. Bethel Cemetery is the final resting place for the Foster Family, as told by a historical marker placed in the cemetery:
Robert and Lillie settled into a little sod house about 3 miles northwest of this marker. Six of their 9 children shared the primitive home. Within months, 2 of them perished in a savage storm. The winter morning of January 7, 1873 was unusually warm and Robert Jr. 14 and Sara 12 left their home, lightly dressed, to go check on fox traps 1/2 mile north of their home. While they were out a blizzard hit without warning and disorientated them. They got lost and wandered 2 miles from their home. They came upon an old sod shanty while the blizzard went on for 3 days. People spent weeks after trying to find the children. A neighbor told her husband of a dream she had that the children would be found and he immediately located them. The children were first buried on the family farm and then moved to Bethel Cemetery.
Read more: https://www.city-data.com/forum/south-dakota/337208-sd-historical-markers.html
