Woodland Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, having been established in 1848, before Des Moines was the state capital. It is a municipal cemetery owned and operated by the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department. It covers at the corner of 20th Street and Woodland Ave and is the site of over 80,000 graves.

History

The cemetery was created in 1848 when five local farmers donated of land to create it. It was originally called Fort Des Moines Cemetery. The first burial took place in 1850, the burial of Thomas Casady, the infant son of Iowa state senator Phineas M. Casady. The city took ownership of the cemetery in 1857, and purchased an additional 36.5 acres in 1864. It has since been expanded to and now houses over 80,000 graves. The City Receiving Vault, which was used to store bodies when the ground was too frozen for graves to be dug, was built in the 1880s. Woodland Des Moines City Receiving Vault

Woodland Des Moines City Receiving Vault

Within the grounds are subsections. These include St. Ambrose Cemetery (relocated from elsewhere in Des Moines in 1866), the Emmanuel Jewish Cemetery founded in 1871, and an

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...

Cemetery. In 1986, the city council of Des Moines designated the cemetery a local historic landmark. Various restoration projects have been undertaken in recent years. A new arch over the entrance was constructed in 2012. An effort to restore the mausoleum of Samuel Merrill, the seventh governor of Iowa was started. A project to add markers to hundreds of previously unmarked children's graves on "Baby Hill" from the earliest days of the cemetery concluded successfully in April 2017. A number of historic neighborhoods are near the cemetery, including Sherman Hill to the east, Woodland Place to the west, Ingersoll Place to the southwest.

Notable interments

Woodland Des Moines The Savery Mausoleum

* Rollin V. Ankeny (1830 – 1901), soldier * Nathaniel B. Baker (1818 – 1876), 24th

governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along w ...

* Martha Callanan, (1826 – 1901), woman's suffrage advocate, newspaper publisher * Chester C. Cole, Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court *

Rose Connor Rose Connor (March 4, 1892 – December 29, 1970) was an American architect. Called "one of the earliest and most successful women architects of the 20th century", her architectural work was largely residential projects in Southern California, ...

(1892 – 1970), architect * Ira Cook (1821 – 1902), land surveyor, businessman, politician * Marcellus M. Crocker (1830 – 1865),

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

general * Albert B. Cummins (1850 – 1926), 18th

governor of Iowa A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

* Ida L. Cummins (1853 – 1918) Women's and children's rights activist * Alvah Frisbie (1830 – 1917), Pioneer minister * Josiah Given (1828 – 1908) attorney, soldier and

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

justice * Cora Bussey Hillis (1858 – 1924) child welfare advocate * Frederick Marion Hubbell (1839 – 1930), prominent Des Moines businessman * John A. Kasson (1822 – 1910), politician *

John MacVicar John MacVicar (6 November 1927 – 23 March 2011) was a British physician who was most notable for pioneering the diagnostic use of ultrasound in obstetrics as well as later, being a clinical educator. MacVicar was part of a team along with ...

(1859 – 1928), progressive mayor of Des Moines (elected 1896, 1898, 1900 and 1928) * Samuel Merrill (1822 – 1899), 7th governor of Iowa * Calista Halsey Patchin (1845 – 1920), first woman reporter for the Washington Post * Emory Jenison Pike (1876 – 1918), a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

recipient of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

* Charles A. Rawson (1867 – 1936), unelected Senator for Iowa in 1922 * Annie Nowlin Savery (1831 – 1891), women's suffrage activist and philanthropist * James C. Savery (1826 – 1905) businessman who built the Savery Hotel *

Hoyt Sherman Hoyt Sherman (November 21, 1827 – January 25, 1904), a member of the prominent Baldwin, Hoar & Sherman family, Sherman family, was an American banker. He served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives in 1866. Early life Hoyt Sherma ...

(1827 – 1904), banker, namesake of Hoyt Sherman Place, brother of

William T. Sherman William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

* Hiram Y. Smith (1843 – 1894), politician * Seward Smith (1830 – 1887), lawyer, politician * Sumner F. Spofford, one of the first mayors of Des Moines * S. S. Still (1851 – 1931), osteopath *

James M. Tuttle James Madison Tuttle (September 24, 1823 – October 24, 1892) was a soldier, businessman, and politician from the state of Iowa who served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He commanded a brigade and ...

(1823 – 1892), soldier * Henry Cantwell Wallace (1866 – 1924), politician *

James B. Weaver James Baird Weaver (June 12, 1833 – February 6, 1912) was an American politician in Iowa who was a member of the United States House of Representatives and two-time candidate for President of the United States. He belonged to several d ...

(1833 – 1912), politician * George G. Wright (1820 – 1896), politician * Lafayette Young (1848 – 1926), journalist * Sarah Palmer Young (1830 – 1908), nurse and writer

References

External links

Des Moines Municipal Cemeteries
* {{Find a Grave cemetery, 96709 Cemeteries_in_Iowa Buildings and structures in Des Moines, Iowa Cemeteries established in the 1840s 1848 establishments in Iowa