BOUNTIFUL MEMORIAL PARK
-- History --
The first burial plot in Sessions Settlement was near the spot where the Hogan cabin now stands in Woods Cross. In the next few years 20 individuals, including two Indians, were buried there.In 1854 a new cemetery site was selected at the present address, 2224 South 2nd West. (There were no streets or house numbers in Bountiful in those days.) Luther S. Burnham donated 10.23 acres of land for a burial ground. Stephen Hales Ellis, son of early pioneer John Ellis, sold his adjoining land for $50 to make it a full twenty-acre cemetery. Some of the bodies were moved from the Woods Cross burial ground to the new site.
In the early 1850's and 1860's there were no undertakers. The dead were packed in ice at home, and the neighbors sat with the body (the wake). Any vehicles available were used for conveyances, often white-top wagons and buggies in summer and sleighs in winter.
The funeral of John Fisher was the first to use a horse-drawn hearse, owned by William H. Streeper of Centerville. It was white and very elaborate with drapes at the plate glass windows.
The cemetery was under the control of local bishops. As bishops changed, a new deed had to be executed for the cemetery. Nora Stringham, descendant of Luther Burnham, holds a deed dated April 1874, deeding this property to the L.D.S. Church. In 1880 the Bountiful Cemetery was put under control of Bishops Stoker (East Bountiful), Lewis M. Grant (West Bountiful) and Richard Egan (South Bountiful) with Samuel Smedley as Sexton. The area was divided into lots, with roadways between each group. Some hollows were filled and records were begun. Lots sold for $5; grave diggings cost $3.
In 1906 William Hill was recorded as sexton, serving for 26 years. His son, Jonathon Hill, succeeded his service. In 1939 the L.D.S. Church deeded it to Bountiful City.
In 1934, during WPA times, Ruby Stringham Garrett was given responsibility for starting perpetual care. The cemetery was leveled and the planting of lawn began.
Ten of the gravestones carry birthdates of individuals in the 1770's. Buried in the cemetery are 312 servicemen who served in the War of 1812, Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Viet Nam conflicts.
Since Bountiful was the second settlement in Utah Territory, this is one of the oldest cemeteries and is beautifully maintained. Stately pines raised from seed by Franklin D. Ashdown form the border fronting Second West, and adorn the cemetery throughout.
Sources: Bountiful Cemetery Historical Walking Tour Booklet, pp 2-3
Bountiful Area Historic Sites Tour Guide Booklet, pp. 10-11
Nora Stringham
East of Antelope Island, DUP
The City Bountiful, by Leslie T. Foy
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This page was updated on 04/10/02 by Annette Nelson.
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