Hostorical Pet Cemetery Ownership

​

Hello brilliant people of reddit,

Location: Wisconsin, USA

I am looking for some advice on land ownership. There is a small parcel of land (about a quarter of an acre) that is home to a pet cemetery. The cemetery was started by the land owners at the time in the late 1950s/early 1960s. According to online sources, the cemetery filled up right away and hasn’t interred an animal since the early 60s.The man that owned the land and cemetery, lets call him Karl, died shortly after the cemetery was complete in the early 60s as well. His family kept the land and cemetery for several decades but sold all the land, except the cemetery, in the 1990s. The new owner, lets call him Jeff, used the hundreds of acres for several things, but surrounding this small cemetery he built houses, ponds, and homesteads for himself and his family. During this time we are not sure exactly who took care of the cemetery, but it has a fence on its perimeter and has its own address, so it was not included in any land transfer between Karl’s family and Jeff’s family. I’d also like to mention it isn’t designated as a cemetery by the state/county that we can tell. So we don’t think there are any special requirements with it.

Roughly seven years ago, a man and his wife, we will call them Tom and Shirley, along with other locals took interest in this pet cemetery and not only started to care for it by keeping it mowed and weeded, but they also restored the sign over the gate and paid the taxes with the county for the land the cemetery is on. Tom and Shirley inquired about who owned the pet cemetery but the only information they have are the names listed on the tax documents. Several names are on there. One is a grandchild of Karl’s. We are unsure of their status and no one has been able to contact them. The second person is a woman named “Ethel.” The third is Tom, Shirley, and their friend Harvey who took over paying the taxes on the property (which is very low–I believe around $25/year). Ethel was a single woman her whole life who was a very avid protector of animals. We assume that is how she got involved in the years we don’t know much about. When Tom and Shirley found out about Ethel, they went to visit her at her skilled nursing facility, but she was not in great health and they didn’t find out much before she passed away a few years ago.

It’s important to note, Ethel changed the name of the cemetery during her time of being an owner and turned it into a foundation. However, online records show that the foundation was “administratively dissolved” and expired in 2018.

Last year in 2025, I entered the picture. I purchased a home from one of Jeff’s family members that sits next to the cemetery (my land touches it). When I moved in I became interested in the history of it, and being a pet-lover myself wanted to keep it intact. However, I could not figure out who owned it. I contacted the register of deeds for my town and they sent me the tax records, which gave me Tom and Shirley’s information. The other owners were listed as well but Tom’s address was listed first on the record. I wrote him a letter expressing my interest in either helping with the cemetery or purchasing it from him to keep it in-tact. Tom reached out to me right away (his wife passed the year before) and said he and a couple of his friends have been taking care of it and paying the taxes on it, but no one has shown up saying they own it. All of the surrounding neighbors say the same. We all came together to form a group that looks after the cemetery and also wanted to make it a historical landmark, which we did. Over the next year we continued to care for it, as well as contact the county historical society. They verified its significance and since Tom was listed as its owner on the tax deed, we were able to get a historical marker installed designated it as a historical pet cemetery. The local newspaper even did an article on it. Now we would like to make it officially ours, but don’t know how. We’ve searched the internet and talked to professionals, but we never get any real answers on how to acquire this cemetery. Some people have mentioned adverse possession or a quiet title lawsuit, but those seem extreme and costly. Does anyone have advice on how to properly proceed with this since there doesn’t seem to be anyone to contact who has the deed to the land? Any information would be extremely appreciated!

TLDR: There is a pet cemetery connected to my land. We can’t find the owner with the deed, but have been paying taxes for 7 years. How do we go about purchasing/owning it?