Ghosts of Mount Pleasant

Originally published Oct. 25, 2007 

By Mollee Francisco 

Perched quietly above downtown Chaska, just north of Firemen’s Park, many of the city’s earliest residents still have a pretty good view of the very town they helped shape.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery became a final resting place for many founding Chaskans. What began as a family graveyard, evolved into a designated burial ground in 1863 when the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association purchased the property. There, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and Zion Evangelicals all shared space along Highway 41. Today, the cemetery is owned and maintained by the city of Chaska.

Among its headstones and footstones, one can find former mayors, sheriffs, brickyard owners, shopkeepers, soldiers and newspaper publishers, along with their families. Many of the names found on the tombstones are still familiar – names like Roepke, Molnau, Diedrick - whose descendents continue to shape the community today.

In the spirit of Halloween, and with the help of newspaper archives and former Herald editor LaVonne Barac’s “Chaska: A Minnesota River History,” the Herald decided to go beyond the grave and unearth some details about a few of those who were laid to rest at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. 

Frederick Iltis

1867-1937

Frederick Iltis came to Chaska from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France with his parents Mathias and Maria and his siblings, Peter, Mathias and Magdalena. During the Civil War, Iltis served in the Sixth Minnesota Infantry and took part in the siege and capture of Mobile in April 1865.

After the war, he returned to Chaska and purchased the local ferry service for $250. He ran the ferry for many years. Iltis also served in the state senate, as a Chaska representative on the county board and as mayor of the city.

Among his numerous activities and involvements, he was also active in the Chaska Dairy Association and the Chaska Village Trustees.

Wallace B. Taylor

1898-1918

Wallace B. Taylor was the son of a county school superintendent and a player on Chaska’s first high school basketball team.

Taylor was among 13 local boys to die in World War I. He was reportedly rushed to the frontlines, where he served only a few weeks before his death. 

Clarissa Howe

1805-1873

A native of Vermont, Clarissa married Lucius Howe and the Howes opened the first brickyard in Chaska in the 1850s.

It is rumored that their brickyard supplied bricks for the first brick house in town. The Howes built their own brick house out of their product in 1857.

By 1868, Howe & Sons was making 1.6 million bricks annually and had 40 employees. Bricks were delivered largely to St. Paul and Hastings. Lucius sold his brickyard in 1873. It would later become the largest operation in Chaska.

Gustave Krayenbuhl

1822-1904

Born in Switzerland, Krayenbuhl arrived in Chaska in the mid-1850s. He opened the first store in Chaska but yearned for a life in the government.

Krayenbuyl was the county’s first treasurer. He was appointed to the position after the first county election and later reelected. He held public office for 43 years, including 33 years as clerk of court and 30 years as deputy auditor.

Krayenbuhl also belonged to the city’s Masonic lodge and was a member of the school board.

Fred Greiner, Jr.

1855-1910

Fred Greiner, Jr. was elected as one of the first city officers in 1891, representing Ward 3. He served as a depot agent with the railroad, was on the Moravian church building committee, the canning factory’s board of directors and was a member of the Neptune Boating Club.

Greiner, Jr., a democrat, purchased the German Thalbote newspaper in 1892, publishing it until 1897 and providing the Valley Herald (the Chaska Herald’s predecessor) with a bit of competition.

Ezekial Ellsworth

1816-1871

A farmer and a Republican, Ezekial Ellsworth was elected as one of the county’s first sheriffs and collectors in 1855.

He ran a harness shop on Third Street downtown and sold a piece of his land to the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association for $5. His tombstone reads “A good 55 years.”

John Reitz

1855-1912

John Reitz was one of Chaska’s most well-known photographers. He had a gallery on Second Street for many years in the late 1800s and photographed many of Chaska’s citizens.  

His obituary from 1912 pointed to a failed marriage as the beginning of the artist’s demise.

“He built up a splendid business, enjoying wide popularity and universal respect,” it read. “But when about at the height of his career marital troubles cause the once dashing and debonair artist to lose his grip and after a few years the brilliant prospects of a bright mind had withered and passed beyond the recall of time … . He drifted away from us, never to return in life.”

1891-1926

Paul Kayeske was an electrician and the superintendent of utilities for the city of Chaska. Along with Oscar Paschka, he installed the first radio in Chaska – reportedly spending the rest of the day “listening to the new contraption.”

Kayeske belonged to the German social and service organization the Schnitzelbank Club (named after the sing-a-long song). He was also a member of one of the town’s early amateur baseball teams – the White Diamonds.