Liberty Center Cemetery

LIBERTY CENTER CEMETERY is located in the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Se3ction 21 of Liberty Township. The cemetery is one-half mile west of Liberty Center, Iowa. It is owned and operated by the Liberty Center I.O.O.F. Lodge.

Trappers and traders were the early occupants of present-day Liberty Center. They existed peacefully with the Indians. The first one to build a cabin and locate permanently in the area was Adam Sees, who arrived in 1847. He sold his cabin to James Bales in 1848. Mark Williams was the third settler, and was the first to enter land, which he did on June 29, 1849. Samuel James, Robert Kester, Joseph Michael, Henry Shaver and James Williams were other early township settlers.

Settling near the Liberty Center area between 1850 and 1854 were Asa Mocher, Joseph P. Mosher, James Cole, Samuel James, Mark Williams, Joseph Hall and James Hall. The township was organized in 1854 and was named Liberty at the suggestion of James Cole, because the majority of the settlers were Abolitionists. The post office was established in 1867.

Liberty Center was laid out by J.W. Proctor and J. Davidson in 1875 on land owned by Jeremiah Boston, but the plat, originally containing seven and one-half acres, was not recorded until 1878.

The first death in the area was Mary Ann Kester, wife of Robert Kester. She was buried near the Christian Church in the present-day cemetery.

Cemetery and Death Records of Warren County, Iowa, Warren County Genealogical Society, Walsworth Publishing Company, Marceline, Missouri: 1980.

View records submitted to the Iowa Gravestone Photo Project for Liberty Center Cemetery.