By Beverly Clinkingbeard

According to Mrs. Sue (Scott) Smith who wrote “The Settlement of North Grove,” settlers arrived in northeast Atchison County after the Civil War, about 1870. Too soon, a cemetery was needed, and she wrote, “After returning home from an all night vigil with a sick child, Mrs. Dryden told her husband that the child could not live and suggested that they go out on their farm and locate a place to be used as a cemetery. They selected a beautiful spot . . . and donated it as a public burying ground.”

This became Center Grove Cemetery. It continued to develop with an elected board and minutes are from 1880. The cemetery continued this way until August 30, 1924, that, “. . . come P.L. Norton, as president, and George Bentley, as secretary and treasurer of the Center Grove Cemetery Association, and submit to the court the articles of agreement of said association . . .” Included were sixty-nine signatures of interested people and/or members.

The articles were: “Sec. I. The Corporate name of this association shall be Center Grove Cemetery Association.  Sec. II. The location shall be Westboro in Atchison County State of Missouri. Sec. III. The duration of this association shall be Ninety Nine Years. Sec. IV. This association is formed for the purpose of maintaining, beautifying and caring for Center Grove Cemetery which is located on a part of the Northeast quarter of section number Thirty Two (32) of township number Sixty Six (66) of range number Thirty Nine (39). In the Circuit Court, Atchison County, state of Missouri, August term 1924.”

Thus, the cemetery has oper-ated under this registration and in the concluding years little thought given to that ninety-nine year thing.

In 2024, the certification for ninety-nine years had expired. Attorney Beverly Jones, who is also a board member, began the submission process to reactivate the certification of the association. The reasons for having the cemetery certified with the state haven’t changed and Chris Stevens, as president, signed “Amended & Restated Articles of Agreement” January 13, 2025. It was also signed by Beverly K. Jones and Corey K. Herron, Circuit Judge, 4th Judicial Circuit of the State of Missouri. Included is a perpetual existence, so come 2124, board members won’t be surprised by a ninety-nine year ending agreement.

Meanwhile, the stones silently declare those who rest in perpetuity. The iris and peonies bloom, and families join in death as they did in life. Mrs. Smith said, “The original tract was small and unimproved and it was in later years that it was enlarged and made into one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the country, by the cemetery association, which owed its origin to these ladies: Mrs. Rachel Hurley, Mrs. James Filson, Ms. William Bentley, Mrs. J.W. Kemp, Mrs. John Scott, Mrs. Holland Caudle and Mrs. Aaron Dunham. These ladies labored devotedly to make it the beautiful spot which it became . . .”  There was a Center Grove Ladies Auxiliary for many years also. It is not known if the first burial was a boy or girl, age, or name. Three years after the first burial, Mrs. Dryden buried Mr. Dryden. Mrs. Dryden was in Illinois at the time of her death and is buried there.

The American Legion will have its annual commemorative service at 11:45 a.m. on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, at Center Grove Cemetery. The Center Grove annual meeting will immediately follow and will be held in the small shed.

’Til next time.