HIGHLAND CEMETERY RECORDS

 

1908 TO 1993

WITH ADDED ADDENDEUM

1985 TO 1993

 

 This work was compiled by Wauneta McDerneit and Cleo Staley

 

and

 

SOUTHEAST KANSAS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

Iola, Kansas

 

 

Thanks toWauneta McDerneit and the SEK Genealogical Society, its current president Richard Canfield, and the members of the group for allowing me to begin work on these records

 

 

 

 

A note about why I chose to do this particular material. 

 

As a little girl growing up in Iola - going to the cemetery was a natural occurance.  My grandmother, Ethel Gantt Childress, did as many others of the time did, she observed the tradition of what we now call Memorial Day, only then it was called Decoration Day.  Her home was about a mile from the cemetery and we walked, carrying the flowers from her yard (roses, lilies, peonies, honeysuckle, probably sweet peas and others) in cans, which had water in them because there wasn’t water at the cemetery then.  And then we carried the empty cans back home to be reused another time.  I remember one of her cousins, Carrie Howard Mogul usually stopping by to visit Grandma when they came to Iola to the cemetery.  I was taught that going to the cemetery was an act of respect and remembrance.  And because my grandmother was such a stickler for respect, I was not allowed to walk immediately across the gravesites.  I was taught to walk the “undesignated” paths between gravesite rows. And I also remember the Veterans decorating the graves of those soldiers who had served in the Civil War, WW 1 and WW 11.  Small neat rows of American flags lined the gravesites.  It was always a beautiful site, and I still am moved when I see cemeteries all decorated with flowers and flags.

 

After my grandmother’s death in 1950 my mother continued her mother-in-law’s tradition to decorate the gravesites with flowers from my grandmother’s yard, as we had moved into her home.  But in 1955 all that tradition ended when we moved away from Iola.  And though I’ve only been back to Highland Cemetery four or five times since then, when Memorial Day comes around, I still visit that lovely cemetery, in my mind, and place flowers on the graves of my dad, my grandparents and great-grandparents.

 

      Last Memorial Day (2000) we were back in Kansas and I got to visit Highland Cemetery as well as several other cemeteries in Allen and Linn Counties, as my husband and I were looking for the headstones of my ancestors, some of which I had not seen since I was in my twenties.  Then we went up to Lyon County to find his grandmother’s gravesite.  It was a fun (and hot and windy) trip, but being a detective was fun.  So that’s the story!  If you can’t get back to Allen County to find your ancestor, then perhaps this site is the best way for you to find them. 

 

All entries from the book have been made. There is still some editing to do and work to make the entries all appear the same. If you note any errors please let me know. Entries were made as true to the book as possible. 

 

If you have any questions?  Please contact me – Lonna Nevil at kscoallen@usgennet.org

 

I also would like to note that I don’t know if the date given is for the person’s death date or the date lots were purchased.  As an example, they have the date listed as 4 September 1970 for my father.  He died 2 September 1970.  These records will give the researcher a general idea of the time their ancestor died.  In compiling these records the researchers struggled with hand written records done by many different employees of the cemetery and consequently some of the names were hard to decipher.  A personal note here too:  My grandfather’s last name was Childress.  The record shows his name to be Childers.  My grandmother’s however was written correctly.  As with all research we must look to family personal records of our ancestor to see how the name was written, and then who knows it may be wrong too.  Good luck in your search.

 

 

Look At Names Beginning With:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

 

Return to Allen County Cemetery page

 

Return to Allen County ALHN main page

 

 

 

 

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