Clarke County, Iowa Cemeteries
Old Smyrna Cemetery
Franklin twp., Sec. 16
This cemetery is in a field, located in the southwest quarter of section 16, Franklin township; it is not accessible by road. There was once a road, but it was closed. The original Smyrna church, founded by Quakers, was near this cemetery but was moved slightly south about 1879, and gradually this cemetery fell into disuse.
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The Clarke County Genealogical Society compiled this listing of burials by walking the cemetery. This listing is included in their book Clarke Co., IA Cemeteries, vol. 2: The Rural Cemeteries, c. 1997. They still retain copyright to this list. I am grateful to them for sharing this information .
The stones are recorded in the order they are set in the row. They started in the northwest corner and every row of stones was read from the north end to the south end, always working from the western-most row to the east. If the cemetery was divided into sections, each section will start in its northwest corner. The listing is by rows of stones, not by lots. Their intention was to include all the names, dates, places, relationships, military histories and organization memberships that were engraved on the stone. They did not note metal spikes set into the ground, such as GAR markers, as those markers are sometimes moved by mowers, vandals, or children so can't be counted on as an accurate source of information. Space limitations prevented them from including poetry and inspirational notations engraved on the stones.
Each stone is listed with a row-stone number such as 05-03 (the third stone in the fifth row). If there is more than one person named on the same stone, the number is repeated for each one. Words in (parenthesis) are not actually on the stone. Often only given names and dates were engraved on the foot stones next to a large family headstone. They made an effort to determine the surname for those foot stones, based on type of stone and proximity to a family headstone, then put the surname in parenthesis. There is the possibility of error. Also in parenthesis are notations about the condition or location of the stone or additional information about the deceased person taken from the WPA's Graves Registration book.
Underlined words or numbers indicate that the word or number was difficult to read and that they have made a "best guess."
Old Smyrna Cemetery
01-01 (Rock)
01-02 (Rock)
01-03 KELLER, Zalia E., dau of D. W. & A. A. Keller d. Jul 2, 1892, age 5y 7m
02-01 GRIMES, Harry W., son of D. H. & M. A. Grimes d. Aug 21, 1872, age 1m 19d
02-02 GRIMES, Mary A., wf of D. H. Grimes d. Oct 25, 1872, age 33y
02-03 BROOKS, Bell, dau of J. & M.A. d. Jan 16, 1858, age 5m
02-04 BROOKS, John d. Feb 13, 1866, age 35y
02-05 GATES, Elvira E., wf of S. Gates d. Mar 12, 1875, age 56y 11m 14d
03-01 H. W. G. (footstone)
03-02 (blank footstone)
03-03 (blank footstone)
03-04 (blank footstone)
03-05 E. E. G. (footstone)
03-06 Z. E. K. (footstone)
04-01 WILLIAMS, O. C. Co. D 39th IA Inf. (WPA called him Oren C. Williams)
04-02 HAVENS, Mary A. M., dau of I.P. & M. J. d. Oct 25, 1872, age 4y 2m 17d
04-03 HAVENS, John W., son of I.P. & M. J. d. Aug 8, 1873, age 15y 7m 17d (WPA said 12d)
04-04 HAVENS, Isaac P., husb of Mary J. d. 1881, age 55y
04-05 HAVENS, Mary J., wf of Isaac P. Havens d. 1882, age 50y
04-06 GATES, John M d. Jan 23, 1897, age 79y 4m 17d
04-07 GATES, Louisa M., wf of J. M. Gates d. Sep 9, 1891, age 70y 8m 25d
04-08 WHITE, John M., son of T. C. & E. J. White d. Aug 27, 1860, age 9m 9d
04-09 GATES, Malissa Jdau of D. & M. V. d. Jun 21, 1872, age 19y 7m 20d
04-10 BUCKINGHAM, Eliza d. Apr 27, 1882, age 77 (part of age illegible?)
04-11 BUCKINGHAM, Ebad (WPA said Ezra), husb. of Eliza d. Mar 23, 1873, age 69y 3m 20d (WPA said age 69y 3m 28d)
04-12 BUCKINGHAM, Orrila, dau of J. W. & S. A. Buckingham d. May 5, 1892, age 11y 4m 27d
04-13 BUCKINGHAM, Geo. H., son of J. W. & S. A. Buckingham d. Mar 1, 1876, age 4y 5m 7d
05-01 (blank footstone)
05-02 L. M. G. (footstone)
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