The Ferdinand/St. Maurus Cemetery is located in Township 33N  Range 1W  Sec 36,  less than one mile north of Ferdinand, Idaho.  The following information was gathered between 1998 and 2001 from oral interviews with Tony Arnzen, Carl Bieker, Hubert Frei, Cletus Kuther, Rich Riener, and Father Waldman.

In Europe, the cemeteries were near the church.  This is why the Assumption Parish Catholic Church in Ferdinand had such a large amount of land around it.  However, it was soon discovered that this land was too rocky to dig into. So Nick Kinzer donated a couple acres of his land north of town for the cemetery.

St. Maurus Cemetery was originally a Catholic Cemetery.  It went public in the 1950’s  because more money was needed.  Tony Arnzen was one of the first to start the Ferdinand Cemetery District.  Ben Schroer  maintained the cemetery for a long time.  He worked hard and did a great job with a push mower.  It is said he used scissors to trim around the stones.  Ben planted the pine trees at the cemetery around 1964.

St. Maurus (510-584) was said to have miraculously cured the sick and freed many persons from their bodily afflictions.

Respectfully submitted by Kristin Frish

Please contact me at kfrish@yahoo.com with any additions or corrections