In 1844-1846, the Rev. John Mann was the first minister of the Bethel German Methodist Episcopal Church, which was the oldest German Methodist Church in Iowa. In 1848, a second and larger log church was constructed. After this log church was outgrown, a frame structure was built. The Old Bethel Cemetery was near the church.

In time it was considered advisable to relocated the Bethel Methodist Church to be more easily accessible by public highway. A new site was acquired and the new church building constructed, which is the present church on Highway 92, six miles east of Sigourney.

When the new Bethel Cemetery ground was purchased in 1882, diagonally across the road from the new Bethel Methodist Church, burials were made there. Some bodies were removed from the Old Bethel Cemetery and reburied in the new. There is no list of those whose bodies were transferred, nor is there is a list of those buried in the old cemetery.

Because of the location of the Old Bethel Cemetery in the field without a good access road, few people went to the cemetery other than those who had very close relatives buried there. Those who had memories through family connections with the church, its services, and its influence were concerned about the cemetery's care. In the last decade, the owner of the surrounding land has removed the head stones and placed them against a barn in the farm building lot.

The internments listed for this cemetery are from stones and pieces of stones. Where pieces could be fitted together by design or other identifying marks, they were read as a unit.



The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) feature ID for the cemetery is 1976310 (Old Bethel Cemetery).