Cemetery RecordChanhassen Pioneer Cemetery
Lot 23.2
Grave Status Occupied
Update Date 10/22/1997
Place of Birth Pennsylvania (CCDR)
Place of Death Chanhassen, Carver County, Minnesota
Age 84
Marital Status Widower: Married Mary Jane Davidson
Mother
Father
Children See comment section below.
Occupation
Military Status Civil War Company D, First Minnesota Sharpshooters
Baptized
Occupant Information
Name
William Sarver
Sex
Male
Social Sec. No.
Date of Birth
9/29/1828
Date of Death
12/26/1912
Interment Date
12/30/1912
Cause of Death
Non -communicable
Place of Birth Pennsylvania (CCDR)
Place of Death Chanhassen, Carver County, Minnesota
Age 84
Marital Status Widower: Married Mary Jane Davidson
Mother
Father
Children See comment section below.
Occupation
Military Status Civil War Company D, First Minnesota Sharpshooters
Baptized
Purchaser Information
Purchased By
William F. Sarver
Street
City, State, Zip
Phone
Date Purchased
Amount Fee Paid
Date Int Fee Paid
Interment Fee
0.00
Spouse Information
Name
Mary Jane Sarver
Address
(deceased 5/8/1883)
City, State, Zip
Phone
Next of Kin Information
Name
Relationship
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
Lot 23.2 Update Date 10/22/1997
Name William Sarver
Comments/History William pre-empted land on 6/25/1857. The Sarver Farm was located on present-day
Highway 41. William came to Minnesota in 1855. He was a member of the Chanhassen
Cemetery Association in 1861. He farmed and raised bees. In 1873, he won a ribbon at
the County Fair for his vegetables. The 1857 census lists the following:
Sarver, William F./Age 29/Born: Pennsylvania, Native, Farmer
Sarver, Jane/Age 25/Born: Pennsylvania
Sarver, Maragreth E./Age 7/Born: Pennsylvania
Sarver William H./Age 5/Born: Pennsylvania
Sarver, Selia/Age 1/Born: Minnesota (1856)
Sophia Bost wrote in her letter home, dated August of 1862, of the Indian uprising. She
tells of looking in at the Sarver's home and finding the wife pale with fear, the children
weeping, and the father molding bullets for his musket, about to leave at top speed for
Chaska, which was the assembly point. Reports were received, the Indians were
approaching through the forests in War Parties of 15 to 20, destroying everything in their
paths; they were coming down the Minnesota River and would reach Chaska by evening.
Sarver, Celia Ida married Orris Bennett on 9/13/1876.
Sarver, Emma married John Wood on 6/10/1874. She is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in
Excelsior.
Sarver, Ella married Melvin Bennett on 3/24/1877. She is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in
Excelsior.
The January 23, 1913 edition of the Weekly Valley Herald reads:
The Herald in its isue of January 2nd, briefly announced the demise of William F. Sarver,
but was unable at that time to give a biography of his life, as we had no data at hand for
that purpose. We have since been furnished with the following:
William F. Sarver was born September 29, 1828 at Pittsburgh, PA. At the age of nineteen
he married Miss Mary Davidson of the same place, who died 30 years ago. Seven children
were born of this union, five of whom are living: Emma S. Wood and Harry Sarver of
Seattle, Washington, Mrs. O.N. Bennett of Quinton, Canada; Mrs. M.W. Bennett,
Excelsior; and Charles A. Sarver of Pickering, LA. Five children of the second marriage
survive him: Mrs. Harry Burdine of Redfield, SD; O. Grant Sarver of Chanhassen; Roy M.,
Ray D., and Wilmar F. Sarver of Washburn, Wisconsin, besides the widow.
Deceased came to Minnesota in 1853 and was the first white man to settle on the shores
of Christmas Lake and named the same and later took up a claim in Chanhassen, this
being in the year 1854 or 1855, and he continued to reside on that claim to the day of his
death. At the outbreak of the Civil War in the summer or fall of 1861, he enlisted in the
First Minnesota, but after a short service was discharged on account of disability. From the
time of his discharge until his demise on December 26, 1912, he lived on the old
homestead in Chanhassen. With his passing away the earliest settler of Chanhassen town
has gone to his reward. Peace to his ashes."