When the Hopefield Children died in Peabody, the Santa Fe was housing them, and they may have known of the Hornberger Cemetery on some of their land and within a Mennonite community. The cemetery is about 4.25 miles north and 1.5 miles west of where the Santa Fe railroad crosses the main street of Peabody.

We also have the following account of the burial of the children, which was written originally in German in 1929. "The town [Peabody] had no cemetery at this time. A few miles north there was a place with a few graves. Since there was no other way of transportation, the bodies were carried there and buried." (3 p65) This is generally consistent with a burial on the Hornberger farm on SW/4 Sec. 17.

?? Why does Wedel claim that Peabody had no cemetery? It did. Burials had been made at what is now Peabody's Prairie Lawn Cemetery since 1871. (8) -- dg 2012 Mar 13

?? Is Wedel's claim that there was no other way of transportation credible? Were they perhaps just following a traditional burial custom? -- dg 2012 Mar 13

The immigrants from Kotosufka move on from Peabody to settle in McPherson Co. near Moundridge and to found the Hopefield Mennonite Church.

Geophysical Search

2010 Jan 2: A geophysical search by FPM Group, Ltd. for the graves of the Hopefield Children is performed at the Catlin Community Cemetery using electromagnetic conductivity metering and ground penetrating radar. The search is limited to four grids believed to be promising burial sites.

The results of the search are inconclusive.

"Although it is not possible to conclusively confirm or refute the presence of the children's graves in Catlin Cemetery, it is FPM's determination that the graves are more likely to be present in Grid 1." (11 p11)

Grid 1 is a rectangle extending 30 feet east and 66 feet south of the grave marker for Anna Mary Hornberger. (11 Figure 1) This grid also contains the grave of Elisabeth Evers. (12 frames 18-56) Anna and Elisabeth, who died in March and April of 1874, are the first two known burials at the cemetery.