A wagon train of German Catholic settlers from Teutopolis, Illinois, arrived in this area on November 11, 1874, the Feast Day of St. Martin of Tours, and that year built and dedicated a log cabin church to St. Martin. The John Deiterman family donated five acres for the church and two for a cemetery, and other German, Czech, and Moravian families soon joined the farming community. In 1887, county surveyors discovered an error in the cemetery's location: it had actually been sited on Anton Halbrook's property. He sold 10 acres across the road, and the graves were moved to the new site. Although several unmarked graves exist, the cemetery's first marked grave is that of Clement Uptmore (1831-1876). Represented there are generations of the Deiterman, Jupe, Pfeiler, Seith, and Willenborg families. Among the numerous decorative gravestones are metal crosses and granite and marble markers, and a large crucifix marks the graves of two parish priests. An association maintains the burial ground as a significant reminder of the German and Czech history of Tours, and members hold a memorial service each November celebrating All Souls Day.