Colfax Sesquicentennial memorial stone for J.D. Simons has been ordered

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX — The gravestone for J.D. Simons, founder of Colfax, has been ordered and paid for in full.

Troy Knutson, Colfax historian, reports that he collected $1,317 all together from Colfax residents and former Colfax residents, and that the stone, engraving, and setting the stone came to a total cost of $1,040.

Knutson has ordered the stone from Johnson Monument, and the gravestone for J.D. Simons will be at Hill Grove Cemetery in time for the Colfax Sesquicentennial in July, he said.

For reasons that will probably forever remain a mystery, there is no gravestone for J.D. Simons at Hill Grove Cemetery.

Mary Simons, J.D.’s wife, is buried at Hill Grove with a larger Simons family stone and a smaller stone to mark her final resting place.

At the time J.D. died in 1918, accounts in the Colfax Messenger said the funeral was held in town and that village residents followed the funeral procession to Oak Grove Cemetery.

Unfortunately, there is no Oak Grove Cemetery near Colfax, so the presumption is that the newspaper account meant to say Hill Grove Cemetery.

A dedication of the memorial for J.D. Simons, founder of Colfax, will be held during the Colfax Sesquicentennial Celebration at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 19, at Hill Grove Cemetery.

All are welcome to attend the memorial dedication program at Hill Grove Cemetery.

After the work for J.D. Simon’s gravestone has been completed and the stone is set, Knutson said he will close out the account at Bremer Bank and will write out a check for the remaining funds to the Hill Grove Cemetery Association.