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Title
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Finding Aid for the Kansas City Cemetery Collection
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Type
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Text
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Description
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The collection contains copies of sexton records including interment records, burial records, and lot records from various cemeteries in Kansas City, Kansas and one cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. The information collected was used by Joan Kusek to publish books containing indexes of burials in those cemeteries. Other records include handwritten cemetery transcriptions done during the 1980s or 1990s. The collection includes digital images of Index cards transcribed from funeral home records. The records were transcribed around 1980s or 1990s. Some of the funeral homes no longer exist. The project to publish the funeral home index was not completed.
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Format
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Portable Document File Format; 503 KB; 5 pages.
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Language
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English
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Place
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Kansas City (Mo.)
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Publisher
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Midwest Genealogy Center, Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, Missouri
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Extent
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3 archival boxes, digital images
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Identifier
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MGC 1157
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Temporal Coverage
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1831-1981
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extracted text
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Collection Summary
Title
Kansas City Cemetery Collection
Date
1831-1985
Extent
3 archival boxes, digital images of transcribed funeral home cards
Name and Location of Repository
Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence (Mo.)
Reference code: MGC 1157-KCCC
Processed by: Jolene Clark, 2018; finding aid created by Jolene Clark, 2018.
Name of Creator
Joan Kusek
Biographical History
The following cemeteries are defunct and are now in the care of the Unified Government Parks and
Recreation Department of Wyandotte County, Kansas. No new plots are available for sale in any of these
cemeteries, but the department maintains the grounds.
Huron (806 N 7th St)
Griffith (6749 Leavenworth Rd)
Mt. Hope (3600 Parallel Pkwy)
Oak Grove (Waverly Ave and N 3rd St)
Old Quindaro (3560 N 31st Ter)
Prairie (N 100th & Leavenworth Rd)
Saylor (6901 Donahoo Rd)
Shawnee (S 55th St & Edgehill Dr)
Vinewood—also known as Swedish Cemetery—(N 97th St)
Westlawn (628 S 38 St)
Woodlawn (2041 N 9th St)
Bethel Cemetery (7800 Leavenworth Rd), also known as Bethel IIOF Cemetery, was established in 1896.
Franklin Cemetery (86th and Swartz Rd, Kansas City, KS) is also known as Jordan Cemetery
Maple Hill Cemetery (2301 S 34th St, Kansas City, KS), was originally called Arlington Cemetery and was
established in 1865 as a cemetery for Union soldiers after the Civil War. It later became known as
Argentine-Junction Cemetery. In 1905, a group of citizens bought the cemetery as well as some
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surrounding land to create Maple Hill Cemetery. The Argentine and Junction cemeteries remain part of
Maple Hill Cemetery.
Mt. St. Mary’s Cemetery or St. Mary’s Cemetery (2201 Cleveland Ave) is a Catholic cemetery located in
Kansas City, Missouri. It was dedicated in 1877. St. Francis Regis Cemetery closed in 1877 and Saint
Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery was abandoned in the 1920s. Burials from both cemeteries were
moved to Mt. St. Mary’s Cemetery. Father Donnelly kept the early record books for St. Francis Regis and
Mt. St. Mary’s Cemetery. The first death and burial was in 1846. About half of the deaths between 1846
and 1859 were children under the age of 12.
Stony Point Cemetery (S 78th St, Kansas City, KS) was established in 1873 near the Santa Fe Trail. The
Eberhart family donated two acres for the cemetery. The cemetery was laid out with 35 lots and had 18
burial plots in each lot. Later, the Stony Point Cemetery Association formed to maintain both the church
and cemetery. In 2007, the cemetery board members purchased one more acre of land for the
cemetery.
White Church Cemetery (2200 N 85th St, Kanas City, KS) is also known as Delaware Indian Cemetery. The
church and cemetery were established in 1831 as a Methodist Mission to the Delaware Indians.
Wyandotte County Cemetery (1500 N 94th St) is also known as the Potter’s Field. There are only two
marked graves and the field is maintained by the Wyandotte County Court House Annex.
Scope and Content
The collection contains copies of sexton records including interment records, burial records, and lot
records from various cemeteries in Kansas City, Kansas and one cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. The
information collected was used by Joan Kusek to publish books containing indexes of burials in those
cemeteries. Other records include handwritten cemetery transcriptions done during the 1980s or 1990s.
The collection includes digital images of Index cards transcribed from funeral home records. The records
were transcribed around 1980s or 1990s. Some of the funeral homes no longer exist. The project to
publish the funeral home index was not completed.
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Collection Inventory
System of Arrangement
These records are arranged in 11 series.
Box 1,
Series 1, Bethel Cemetery
Folder 1, Cemetery Transcription
Series 2, Huron Cemetery
Folder 1, Index
Series 3, Mt. Hope Cemetery
Folder 1, Copies of lot Records
Folder 2, Copies of lot Records, cont.
Folder 3, Cemetery Transcription
Folder 4, Cemetery Transcription, cont.
Folder 5, Cemetery Transcription, cont.
Folder 6, Index
Series 4, Mt. St. Mary’s Cemetery**Note—some records not alphabetical—some records copied
on backs of other records do not have same letter of alphabet**
Folder 1, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards A-B
Folder 2, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards C
Folder 3, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards D-F
Folder 4, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards G-H
Folder 5, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards I-K
Box 2,
Folder 6, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards, L
Folder 7, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards, M
Folder 8, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards, M-R
Folder 9, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards, S
Folder 10, Copies of sexton records, Index Cards, T-Z
Series 5, Oak Grove Cemetery
Folder 1, History and maps of Oak Grove Cemetery
Folder 2, Index, 1870-1885
Folder 3, Index, 1884-1949
Folder 4, Index, 1900-1910
Folder 5, Index, 1922-1970
Folder 6, Copies of plot records 1870-1885
Folder 7, Copies of plot records, 1884-1949
Folder 8, Copies of monthly report—Sale of single graves, 1895-1896
Folder 9, Copies of interment records, 1889-1894
Folder 10, Copies of interment records, 1895-1938
Folder 11, Copies of interment records, 1895-1938, cont.
Folder 12, Cemetery transcription
Series 6, Quindaro Cemetery
Folder 1, Copy of interment records, 1876-1985
Folder 2, Cemetery transcription
Folder 3, Index
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Box 3,
Series 7, Westlawn Cemetery Records
Folder 1, Copies of interment records A-C
Folder 2, Copies of interment records D-G
Folder 3, Copies of interment records H-N
Folder 4, Copies of interment records O-R
Folder 5, Copies of interment records S-Z
Folder 6, Copies of burial records
Folder 7, Copies of lot Records
Folder 8, Copies of lot Records, cont.
Folder 9, Complied list
Folder 10, Index
Folder 11, Map
Series 8, Woodlawn Cemetery
Folder 1, Copies of interment records, 1885-1903
Folder 2, Cemetery transcription
Series 9, Misc. Cemeteries
Folder 1, Argentine-Junction Cemetery
Folder 2, Franklin Cemetery
Folder 3, Griffith Cemetery
Folder 4, Prairie Township Cemetery
Folder 5, Saylor Cemetery
Folder 6, Shawnee Cemetery
Folder 7, Stoney Point Cemetery
Folder 8, Vinewood Cemetery
Folder 9, White Church Cemetery
Folder 10, Wyandotte County Cemetery (Potter’s Field)
Series 10, Misc Records
Folder 1, Some facts about the cemeteries
Folder 2, unidentified sexton records
Folder 3, unidentified cemetery transcripts
Folder 4, copies of cemetery maps
Series 11, Transcribed funeral home cards (digital images only)
Rights and Access
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use by appointment.
Physical Access
Most records within this collection are housed file folders.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the Midwest Genealogy Center.
Languages and Scripts of the Material
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Materials in the collection are entirely in English.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated by Joan Kusek.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected for this collection.
Existence and Location of Originals
Originals owned by the Midwest Genealogy Center.
Notes
The following sources were consulted during the preparation of the biographical history:
“A Final Resting Place for Missouri's Founding Settlers.” Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph, 19
Oct. 2018, catholickey.org/2011/09/14/catholic-cemeteries-a-final-resting-place-for-missouri’sfounding-settlers/.
Cemeteries - Unified Government, www.wycokck.org/Parks/Cemeteries.aspx, 2018.
Findagrave.com, www.findagrave.com, 2018.
“History - Stony Point Cemetery.” Google Sites,
sites.google.com/site/stonypointcemetery/home/history.
“Who We Are.” Maple Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery, www.maplehillfuneralhome.com/whowe-are/history-and-staff.
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