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Title
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Finding Aid for the Woodlawn Cemetery Collection
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Collection Summary
Title
Woodlawn Cemetery Collection
Date
1865 to 1951
Extent
Digital Only
Name and Location of Repository
Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence (Mo.)
Reference code: MGC 1212-WCC
Processed by: digitized, 2016.
Name of Creator
City of Independence, Missouri
Biographical History
Woodlawn Cemetery, located on Noland Road in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, was founded
in 1837 with the purchase of 1.25 acres adjacent to the Stayton Family Cemetery. In 1845 Joseph and
Sally Hansbrough sold additional land for use as a grave yard public burials for persons of Jackson
County. The cemetery became known as the City Cemetery. In 1853, six acres on the south side of the
cemetery was added. That portion was called Saint Mary Cemetery and was used for Catholic patrons.
All of the cemeteries were combined in 1922 and named Woodlawn Cemetery. The cemetery now
contains 56 acres and over 33,000 graves.
Scope and Content
This collection contains digital images of death registers, burial registers, and lot sales from the early
cemetery sections of Woodlawn Cemetery known as City Cemetery and Saint Mary Cemetery in
Independence, Jackson County, Missouri.
The register of deaths is a chronological list of deaths recorded by the city clerk from June 1897 to
August 1911. Information provided on the registers is particularly helpful for genealogists because
Missouri did not begin statewide registration of deaths until 1910. The register lists the name of
deceased, race, nativity, place of death, age, marital status, sex, cause of death, name of physician, and
burial location. Death information is recorded for those that died in Independence and are buried in City
Cemetery as well as those that died in Independence and are buried in another location. Deaths of those
who died in another city and are buried in City Cemetery are also recorded.
The burial register is a chronological list of those buried in City Cemetery between June 1897 and May
1918. The register records information about the deceased and the location of their burial within the
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cemetery. The register includes name, age (years, months, and days), race, date of burial, sex,
undertaker, lot and block number, and any remarks. Additionally a few other pages of burial registers
are included. The miscellaneous pages include two transcribed pages for records from 1897 and 1898,
two pages from 1898, and an index (the letter D only) from 1899 to 1908.
Records included with the lot sales include various types of documents showing sale and ownership of
the plots from 1865 to 1951. Although various records detail sale and payments on lots, it is not a
complete list for that period. In 1900, the city compiled an alphabetical listing of lot sales using the
information from the old book. At another time, a typed list of lots by deed number was also created.
Many miscellaneous records provide additional information about lot ownership in the cemetery. Order
of Publications from 1865 and 1866 provides estate information, correspondence during the 1930s
attempts to clarify ownership of lots, and a list of lots under perpetual maintenance gives names and lot
numbers.
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Collection Inventory
System of Arrangement
These records are arranged in 3 series.
Series 1, Register of Deaths, Independence, MO
Item 1, Register of deaths June 1897 to August 1911
Series 2, Register of Burials City Cemetery, Independence, MO
Item 1, Burial register, Jul 1897 to May 1918
Item 2, Burial register, Misc. 1897 to 1908
Series 3, Lot Sales
Item 1, Lots sold and cost, 1865 to 1896
Item 2, Order of Publication, 1865 to 1866
Item 3, Alphabetical list of lot sales created in 1900 from old book
Item 4, Lots by deed number
Item 5, Payments on cemetery lots, 1932-1938
Item 6, Cemetery Lots under perpetual maintenance, 1931 to 1951
Item 7, Misc. correspondence
Rights and Access
Conditions Governing Access
Digital images can be accessed on the Midwest Genealogy Center website.
Physical Access
This collection is digital only.
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
Materials in the collection are entirely in English.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Jackson County Historical Society.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected for this collection.
Existence and Location of Originals
Originals owned by Jackson County Historical Society.
Notes
The following sources were consulted during the preparation of the biographical history:
“Woodlawn Cemetery.” Woodlawn Cemetery - City of Independence, Missouri, 2015,
www.ci.independence.mo.us/ParksAndRec/story/1452.
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