History of the Union Cemetery from "Past and Present of Hardin County, Iowa"
William J. Moir, Editor BF Bown & Company 1911
The Cemetery Association
"The proper care for the resting place of the departed dead in Union bespeaks well for
the populace of the town. And to the ladies must be given the credit for first
establishing a society by which these ends could be brought about. December 24,
1875, the Ladies' Cemetery Association was formed wit the following officers: Mrs.
Farwell Barnes, president; Miss Ada Beecher, vice-president; Mrs. John Devine, secretary;
Mrs. O. B. Chapin, treasurer; trustees, Mrs. Crider, Mrs. Wood and Mr. Thompson.
Articles of incorporation were filed August 15, 1876. Four and a half acres of land
were purchased at first, at seventy-five dollars per acre. These grounds are a half
mile south of the town and present a fine view to the passer-by. The first lot was
sold to O. B. Chapin at thirty dollars. Rev. J. W. Clinton, then a Methodist minister
stationed at Marshalltown, dedicated these sacred grounds November 11, 1876.
Evergreen and forest shade trees were soon added and since then fencing and proper
improvement has made it a desirable resting spot for the deceased members of Union and its
surrounding community. Some fine monuments now grace the cemetery, and with the
return of each Memorial day the populace assemble in loving and tender manner and smooth
down the little mounds where repose the silent sleepers, among which are numbered many of
the pioneers of this portion of Hardin county, who long ago dropped into a dreamless sleep
and their mortal remains are guarded by the living friends."
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