Shipley Cemetery

The cemetery is 1.3 miles north of the historical marker, on North 47th Street at Aire Lane. The cemetery is in Washington County.

The Shipley family were early pioneers in the Nebraska Territory and Washington County; later descendants resided in the Florence area of Douglas County. William Shipley bought land in 1855. which later became the Shipley homestead. He married Mary Elizabeth Baer and they had 11 children. These children had large families, some of whom served in the Civil War from Nebraska. Many of the descendants of William and Mary married into other pioneer Nebraska families of Washington County.
The cemetery apparently had its beginnings with family burials: later the Shipley Cemetery Association was legally formed on the 4th day of January 1893, when James L. Shipley et. al., deeded the land to the public. It is understood that perhaps more than 50 persons were interred in this historical burial place. Sources indicate over 40 known burials, several of whom are not members of the Shipley family.
Over the years, the cemetery suffered from neglect and vandalism. Markers were broken or stolen and the area was overgrown with weeds and trees.
Late in 1973 a group of people organized and started to clean and restore the cemetery. Brush and trees were cleared away and the few remaining stones were reset. The Shipley Cemetery Association was formed and, with help from Washington County, is now working to keep the site in good condition. The following is a list of people believed to be buried in Shipley Cemetery. The list is as complete and as accurate as we could make it at this time. Mistakes have probably been made as the information came from many sources and, in some cases, two dates were listed for the same burial. In some records of the Vital Statistics of Douglas County, Nebraska, burials located at Shipley Cemetery are also shown as being buried at Dr. Cooper's Farm Cemetery.