Woodland-Old City Cemetery

Woodland-Old City Cemetery. . , History , When Missouri became a state in 1821, the temporary seat of government was in St. Charles, Missouri. The Constitutional Convention was charged with the duty of selecting a permanent set of government and after much discussion and debate, the General Assembly voted to establish the "City of Jefferson" in the Howard's Bluff vicinity on the Missouri River. At that time there were only two houses here.

In 1822, when the City of Jefferson was being platted, the trustees were authorized to sell 200 lots, with the proceeds going to build the Capitol building. At that time, out-lot #38 was set aside as a city "grave yard" and was never sold. Over the years, it has been called "City Cemetery," "Fairview Cemetery," and "Old City Cemetery." It is the oldest public cemetery in Jefferson City and possibly in Cole County. The first recorded burial here was in 1826.

In 1838, Israel B. Read and his wife, Mary, purchased all of out-lot #39 from the State of Missouri and established Woodland Cemetery as a private cemetery. The first recorded burial here was in 1837. Approximately 2 acres on the eastern end of Woodland was sold to the Federal Government in 1868 to establish the Jefferson City National Cemetery. An ashlar stone wall separates the two.

Setting , There is no visual delineation between Old City and Woodland cemeteries, however there are some differences between the two in the orientation of grave markers. Tombstones near the front of Old City Cemetery face true east. It was a Christian custom to position tombstones facing true east in anticipation of the second coming of Christ. These markers are at a slight angle to the property line while the graves near the back of the cemetery are aligned with the property line. Woodland Cemetery begins at the Clarke Mausoleum and moves eastward to the National Cemetery; tombstones in this area face in a somewhat easterly direction but are more squarely aligned with the property line. The two cemeteries occupy approximately 7 acres.

Prior to 1897, Van Buren Street was renamed McCarty Street and was widened through and well past the cemetery, necessitating the relocation of 185 burials, 109 of which were labeled "unknown". It is likely that these unknown individuals were reinterred in a mass, unmarked grave but there are no records to indicate where these burials might be.

To date, no original burial records have been found for either cemetery. Since death certificates were not required until 1910 and obituaries in early years were not universally published, it is difficult to accurately establish the number of unmarked burials. Some tombstones have simply not withstood the test of time and some graves never had tombstones. To date, over 790 unmarked burials have been identified; it is estimated there are over 2,600 burials in the two cemeteries.

People , When the new state Capitol was completed in 1826, there were 30 families living in the City of Jefferson; many are buried in Woodland-Old City Cemetery are closely intertwined with the birth and development of this city as well as the state of Missouri. It reflects the demographics of Jefferson City as it was being developed.

There are veterans of every U.S. military conflict from the Revolutionary War to W.W.II. This includes several United States Colored Infantry veterans, some of whom helped fund the founding of Lincoln University.

As was common in that era, Old City Cemetery was segregated, with African American burials at the western end, along Chestnut Street. This section makes up slightly less than 1/4 of Old City Cemetery. There is a noticeable lack of grave markers in this part of the cemetery. It is likely that any graves were not given permanent markers or were originally identified with native stones or wooden markers that did not withstand the test of time. To date, primarily using death certificates and obituaries, 300 unmarked burials have been identified in this part of the cemetery. A modern "Gone But Not Forgotten" monument was placed in this area to allow for the engraving of these individual names.