The burial records of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church at Massbach indicate at least five persons buried in the cemetery that eventually were moved to Ladies Union Cemetery in Stockton. Karl and Maria (Gerner) Pohlker and their three infant daughters were moved to Ladies Union Cemetery in the early 1900’s. Their combined gravestone is now located in that cemetery.

The Pohlker family were German immigrants from Leopoldstal, Lippe-Detmold. The name was originally spelled with an umlaut (double dots) over the “o” which in English is spelled “Poehlker”. An excellent German website provides information about the family and many other immigrants from Lippe-Detmold. To view the site, go to www.lippe-auswanderer.de and select the American flag icon with the word “english” underneath. Then select “Emigration database Lippe-USA” and then “Data of Emigrants”. The alphabetical database of Lippe emigrants can then be viewed. The information is arranged in such a way to be able to understand the birth, marriage, and death information without a knowledge of the German language.

To reach the cemetery, go south about 4 miles on Highway 78 from Stockton. Then turn left onto Ridge Road. Follow Ridge Road for about 3 miles. When the road forks, take the left branch marked “DEAD END”. After about a mile the road turns into a farm lane and the abandoned portion of the road is blocked with a gate. You have to go ¼ mile straight east on the abandoned road to reach the cemetery. The cemetery is located on the edge of the timber and is surrounded by a cow pasture.

Joel Zink also made these tombstone transcriptions on December 27, 2002. Maria (Gerner) Pohlker was the older sister of his great-grandmother, Charlotte (Gerner) Zink.

Caroline Louisa Koeller (maiden name Klaas)
   Died 4-11-1864
   Age 29 years, 7 months, 23 days
   
Tombstone with no names, three doves, and a Bible verse, Isaiah 40:11.
   Believed to mark the graves of the three infant daughters of Karl and Maria (Gerner) Pohlker.
   Their names appear on their parents’ tombstone in Ladies Union Cemetery in Stockton.
   The following information it taken from the burial records of St. John’s
      Evangelical Lutheran Church in Massbach:
         Julia Caroline Pohlker was born October 8, 1875 and died October 19, 1875.
         Carolina Wilhelmina Pohlker was born December 27, 1880 and died March 16, 1885
         Josephine Barbara Pohlker was born March 3, 1886, and died March 4, 1886.
		 
The tombstone of Karl and Maria (Gerner) Pohlker was moved to Ladies Union Cemetery in Stockton.
   The burial records of St. John’s, Massbach, indicate they were buried in the “Pohlker Friedhof”.  
         Karl Pohlker was born September 22, 1840 and died October 20, 1892, in Stockton Township.
         Maria (Gerner) Pohlker was born August 5, 1842 in Massbach, Bavaria, and died February 22, 1892, in Stockton Township.
		 
Here rests Wilhelm, son of S. & W. Pohlker.
         Born December 31, 1848 and died June 15, 1863

Simon F. Polker
       Born April 29, 1795 and died January 8, 1876
Minna, wife of S. F. Polker
       Born May 12, 1806 and died April 11, 1891
	   [note: this is a large stone]
	   
Simon W. Poelker
       Born March 18, 1864 and died May 8, 1870
	   
Illegible tombstone.  [Fred W. Kiefer tombstone from Dean Wolfrom’s transcription?]
	   
Louisa Polker
   	   Wife of Henry Polker
   	   24 yrs  4 ms  13 days
       Born January 15, 1841   Died April 28, 1865
       (with infant child)
	   
Wilhelm Schleger
       Born December 18, 1849   Died February 8, 1870
       Age 20 years, 2 months, 21 days

Fred W. Kiefer
  Born 1-19-1885   Died 10-2-1887
  2 yrs  8 ms  14 days

(First name illegible, 8 or 9 letters) Schleger