This listing of burials is from the records of the South Union Cemetery Association and includes both marked and unmarked burials. There are many listed with "NO NAME." This is because in the early history of this cemetery no records were kept.

HISTORY
From Records of South Union Cemetery Association, Book 1: 1881-1921, compiled by Robert J. White © 1990

The South Union Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in western Howard County. In the beginning the land was owned by a Mr. Straughn. He set aside one half acre of ground for free burials, in his words, "to any family who had need of it". Many of the early burials were unrecorded burials and were children. The first recorded burial was in 1851 by a stonemaker. The cemetery was known in this time period as the "Straughn Graveyard."

The land was later purchased by Mr. S. F. Wilson and the cemetery therefore became known as the "Wilson Graveyard." By the 1870's the people seemed to settle on and accept a common name for the cemetery. It was called the "Union Graveyard."

In 1881 a group of people gathered at the Christian Church known as "The Early Church" to establish a permanent cemetery association accoding to the prescribed laws of the State of Indiana. They approached Mr. Wilson who owned the land around the old cemetery. He agreed to sell one-half acre to the group with two conditions. First, they pay $25.00 for the ground. Second the old graveyard would remain as it has been, free to everyone, and it would be kept in the same condition as the new. The agreement was sealed by a handshake. In 1882 the cemetery was officially chartered by the State of Indiana as the "South Union Graveyard Association." The first president was W. W. Harrell.

In 1917 the South Union Graveyard Association was officially changed to the South Union Cemetery as it is today.

In 1912, the first annual Memorial Service was held. In 1920, an additional one-half acre was purchased from Steve Wilson for $300. On March 29, 1921, South Union Cemetery was incorporated.

Another 1.624 acres were added to the cemtery on February 6, 1968 and was purchased from Mr. & Mrs. James M Kirkendall and Mr. & Mrs. Jerry L. Angel. They had purchased the complete farm from the Estate of Glen Ritchey. This made a total of 3.86 acres for the South Union Cemetery. In 1973-74, the cemetery was plotted by Ervin Kizer.

The secretary of the South Union Cemetery Board, Diana Criss, may be contacted by email at: dlcriss7@gmail.com

This information is provided for non-commerical use only and may contain inaccuracies. Please report any inaccuracies to: Debra L. Beheler
All photographs are copyrighted by John C Anderson and may be used for personal use only.

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Site owners - Edward D Beheler & Debra L. Beheler
Updated 25 October 2013