The meaning behind the white crosses at Christ the King Cemetery in Browerville
by Karin L. Nauber
Whenever I think of crosses marking graves, I always think of a song by Randy Travis titled Three Wooden Crosses.
You maybe know the one: “There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway. Why there’s not four of them, heaven only knows...”
When you venture to Christ the King Cemetery in Browerville, you might find yourself questioning several rows of unmarked white crosses in the midst of the cemetery.
The beautiful small crosses span four rows and while we didn’t count them when we were out there, it easily looked to be between 80-100.
A while ago, a reader inquired if anyone had an answer to what those white crosses meant.
According to Walt Lucas (as told to Sue Wiersgalla) the crosses are there for the graves of babies that were unmarked.
“I knew that area of the cemetery was called ‘Angels Row,’ but I didn’t know the crosses were for babies,” said Wiersgalla.
The babies represented by these crosses may have passed on in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The row that has the stones/markers starts around the 1930s to 1940s.
More about the cemetery
According to the website peoplelegacy.com, the cemetery is also known as Saint Peter’s Catholic Cemetery or more familiar to some, the Catholic Cemetery.
It is located on the south end of Browerville and can be seen from Highway 71.
If you want a comprehensive view of those buried there you can go to: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2292508 which has photos of about 95% of the headstones or markers in the cemetery. It is fairly well updated, too.