In the summer of 1854, a fast-spreading cholera epidemic killed 21 men, women, and children from the Lebanon area, and to control the epidemic the elders decided to bury the deceased in a mass grave on the large open hillside area in Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery. Church records preserve the names of those buried there: Wilhelm Friedrich Behl, John Boettcher, Charlotte Boettcher, Carl Boettcher, August Herman Uttech, John Gottlieb Ludwig Christian, Augusta Louise Wilhelmine Christian, Rosaline Fredricke Wilhelmine Christian, John Gottlieb Wilhelm Christian, Ernst Friedrich Piper, John Herman Christian, Ann Louise (Tesch) Piper, Christian Friedrich Wilde, Wilhelmine Voeltz Braunschweig, August Friedrich Albert Braunschweig, Marie Caroline Louise (Budahn) Braunschweig, Albert Friedrich Ferdinand Braunschweig, Mr. Lueck, Mr. Schruel, Mrs. Schruel, and Child Schruel. After more than 160 years, in 2014, this area was considered hallowed ground and a memorial to local residents who lost their lives.