Pictured above is Matthew Barnes, middle, surrounded by friends and family who gathered for the Bush Cemetery rededication ceremony August 1, 2021.

A member of the A. F. Hutchins family, Marty Hutchins, heard about Matthew’s dedication ceremony and ordered flowers for him to place at the marker. Goldie Welch assisted Matthew in locating the head stone.

Following a four year-long restoration project of Bush Cemetery in Atchison County, Missouri, Matthew Barnes and around 20 friends and family gathered at the cemetery on Sunday, August 1, 2021, for a rededication ceremony.

We first met Matthew when he was a freshman in high school who joined the Nodaway Valley Historical Museum and learned about the process of restoring grave markers. Matthew started research on his family and discovered that the Hunter Cemetery just south of Rock Port was the location of the D.C. Dragoo family where he was able to restore that marker. Next on Matthew’s list was to find and restore the Bush Cemetery, which was founded in 1854 and maintained up until the mid 1960s. Located on KK Hwy. between Rock Port and Fairfax, this once overgrown and non-recognizable cemetery sits off the road about 400 yards. With Matthew’s tireless efforts and the help of countless volunteers, friends, family, and benefactors, the Bush Cemetery now resembles a peaceful place of rest for countless former county residents. Although the original estimate is that there are 200 burial sites, Matthew says it is hard to know exactly how many there truly are. He hopes to someday bring in equipment to try and locate as many as possible.

The gate was dedicated in the memory of Richard and Leona Slemp. All headstones in Bush Cemetery are now standing except one. Aside from a few small details, Abigail Douglas’ stone is the last to be repaired.

Scott Adams and the Tarkio Tech welding class constructed the new gate. The Morgan Trust and ATCO 10 squared assisted Matthew with funds for the project. The Nodaway Valley Museum donated the fence panel for the gate and helped with the installation.

Many descendants of those buried at Bush Cemetery, near or far, have contributed to this project, whether it be with information, donations, or helping at workdays.

Marty Hutchins of Louisiana has helped greatly with this project, whether it be financially or with information on the Hutchins’ family. As descendants of those buried in Bush Cemetery are all over the world, many are unable to pay their respects in person. Marty took it upon himself to order a flower basket from a local flower shop to have placed on Abner Hutchins’ grave. Matthew remarked, “Thank you to Marty for displaying such an unwavering level of respect. It makes you realize that while those buried at Bush are long gone, they are not forgotten and that alone makes this whole project worth it.”

Matthew hopes to have all the work on headstones completed by the end of the summer. He will host one final workday to burn brush piles, grind stumps and clear the little brush that is left sometime in the next year or so. The final step of the restoration will be to grade and reseed the cemetery and reset the footstones.

Aside from the final workday, progress will slow as Matthew will soon be leaving for college. He said, “I will take final photos of stones as they begin to get clean, and will continue to upload before and after photos along with bios.” To see all the extraordinary transformations of the cemetery and to read about the people buried there, visit the Bush Cemetery, Atchison county Missouri Facebook page.