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Clay County
South Dakota

Cemeteries and Memorial Sites of Politicians in Clay County

Index to Locations

  • Rockfield Cemetery
  • Vermillion Bluff View Cemetery
  • Wakonda Union Cemetery


    Rockfield Cemetery
    Clay County, South Dakota
    See also Findagrave page for this location.
    Politicians buried here:
      James Fedderson (1884-1959) — of Beresford, Union County, S.Dak. Born March 22, 1884. Democrat. Member of South Dakota state house of representatives 1st District, 1927-30; member of South Dakota state senate 1st District, 1931-38. Died in 1959 (age about 75 years). Interment at Rockfield Cemetery.
      See also Find-A-Grave memorial


    Bluff View Cemetery
    Vermillion, Clay County, South Dakota
    Founded 1882
    See also Findagrave page for this location.
    Politicians buried here:
      Andrew Ericson Lee (1847-1934) — also known as Andrew E. Lee — of Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak. Born near Bergen, Norway, March 18, 1847. Governor of South Dakota, 1897-1901; defeated (Democratic), 1908; candidate for Presidential Elector for South Dakota. Died in Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak., March 19, 1934 (age 87 years, 1 days). Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Relatives: Son of Erick A. Lee and Augusta (Johnson) Lee; brother-in-law of Lyman Burgess and Hans Gunderson; married 1872 to Annie M. Chappell; married, June 1, 1920, to Myrtle Shepard Lee; uncle of Carl Gunderson.
      Political family: Lee-Gunderson family of Vermillion, South Dakota.
      See also National Governors Association biography — Find-A-Grave memorial
      Carl Gunderson (1864-1933) — of Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak.; Mitchell, Davison County, S.Dak. Born near Vermillion, Clay County, Dakota Territory (now S.Dak.), June 20, 1864. Republican. Engineer; surveyor; farmer; member of South Dakota state senate 2nd District, 1893-94, 1897-1902, 1917-18; President pro tempore of the South Dakota State Senate, 1899-1900; Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota, 1921-25; Governor of South Dakota, 1925-27; defeated, 1926; candidate in inconclusive primary 1930. Baptist. Norwegian ancestry. Member, Odd Fellows; Elks; Freemasons; Kiwanis. Died in Mitchell, Davison County, S.Dak., February 26, 1933 (age 68 years, 251 days). Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Relatives: Son of Hans Gunderson and Isabel Johnson (Lee) Gunderson; married to Gertrude Bertlesen; nephew by marriage of Lyman Burgess; nephew of Andrew Ericson Lee.
      Political family: Lee-Gunderson family of Vermillion, South Dakota.
      See also National Governors Association biography — Find-A-Grave memorial
      John Lawlor Jolley (1840-1926) — also known as John L. Jolley — of Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak. Born in Montreal, Quebec, July 14, 1840. Republican. Member of Dakota territorial House of Representatives, 1867; delegate to Republican National Convention from Dakota Territory Territory, 1868 (alternate), 1884; member Dakota territorial council, 1874-76, 1881-82; President of the Dakota Territorial Council, 1874-76; mayor of Vermillion, S.Dak., 1877; member of South Dakota state senate 2nd District, 1889-92; U.S. Representative from South Dakota at-large, 1891-93. Died in Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak., December 14, 1926 (age 86 years, 153 days). Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Relatives: Married to Harriet J. Grange.
      See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Find-A-Grave memorial
    M. J. Chaney Morris J. Chaney (1858-1940) — of Newell, Buena Vista County, Iowa; Wakonda, Clay County, S.Dak. Born in White Rock, Ogle County, Ill., October 1, 1858. Republican. Farmer; banker; member of South Dakota state house of representatives 2nd District, 1903-10; Speaker of the South Dakota State House of Representatives, 1905-10. Congregationalist. Member, Freemasons; Knights Templar. Died in Palm Springs, Palm Beach County, Fla., February 8, 1940 (age 81 years, 130 days). Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Relatives: Son of Osborn Chaney and Amanda (Rice) Chaney; married 1886 to Helen McFarline.
      See also Find-A-Grave memorial
      Image source: South Dakota Legislative Manual, 1903
      Horace J. Austin (1837-1891) — of Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak. Born in Washington County, N.Y., July 11, 1837. Republican. Surveyor; served in the Union Army during the Civil War; member of Dakota territorial House of Representatives, 1865-67; member Dakota territorial council, 1867-69, 1874-76; President of the Dakota Territorial Council, 1867-68; member of South Dakota state house of representatives 2nd District, 1891; died in office 1891. Member, Freemasons. Died in Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak., February 27, 1891 (age 53 years, 231 days). Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Relatives: Married, March 21, 1870, to Rachel Ross.
      See also Find-A-Grave memorial
      Aaron A. Carpenter (1826-1914) — of Vermillion, Clay County, Dakota Territory (now S.Dak.). Born in Concord, Essex County, Vt., July 7, 1826. Member Dakota territorial council, 1867-69. Died in Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak., February 22, 1914 (age 87 years, 230 days). Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      A. B. Gunderson — of Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak. Republican. Member of South Dakota state senate 2nd District, 1927-30; alternate delegate to Republican National Convention from South Dakota, 1932. Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Hans Gunderson (1832-1913) — of Vermillion, Clay County, Dakota Territory (now S.Dak.). Born in Norway, 1832. Member Dakota territorial council, 1877-78. Norwegian ancestry. Died in Clay County, S.Dak., September 20, 1913 (age about 81 years). Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Relatives: Brother-in-law of Andrew Ericson Lee; father of Carl Gunderson.
      Political family: Lee-Gunderson family of Vermillion, South Dakota.
      See also Find-A-Grave memorial
      Myrtle Shepard Lee (1874-1948) — also known as Myrtle Sophia Shepard; Mrs. Andrew E. Lee — of Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak. Born in Fayette County, Iowa, March 13, 1874. Democrat. Alternate delegate to Democratic National Convention from South Dakota, 1940. Female. Died in Vermillion, Clay County, S.Dak., December 31, 1948 (age 74 years, 293 days). Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Relatives: Daughter of Luther David Shepard and Margaret Jane (Dykins) Shepard; married, June 1, 1920, to Andrew Ericson Lee.
      Political family: Lee-Gunderson family of Vermillion, South Dakota.
      See also Find-A-Grave memorial
      Lyman Burgess — of Vermillion, Clay County, Dakota Territory (now S.Dak.). Member of Dakota territorial House of Representatives, 1862. Interment at Bluff View Cemetery.
      Relatives: Brother-in-law of Andrew Ericson Lee; uncle by marriage of Carl Gunderson.
      Political family: Lee-Gunderson family of Vermillion, South Dakota.


    Union Cemetery
    Wakonda, Clay County, South Dakota
    Politicians buried here:
      Donald McMurchie (1896-1981) — of Clay County, S.Dak. Born in Clay County, S.Dak., October 2, 1896. Republican. Farmer; bank director; Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota, 1937-41. Congregationalist. Scottish ancestry. Died in Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, S.Dak., November 20, 1981 (age 85 years, 49 days). Interment at Union Cemetery.
      Relatives: Married to Pearl E. Wallace.

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