North River Cemetery

NORTH RIVER CEMETERY is located in the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter and the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 27 of Greenfield Township. Take Highway 65-69 north out of Indianola to Evansville and turn west on G 24. Travel two and one/half miles west and then go one-half mile north.

North River Cemetery is the churchyard cemetery of North River Church. The North River Christian Church was organized in 1849 and was one of the first religious organizations in the county. It was started by Thomas Cason and William P. Cogan and originally had sixteen members. The church building was constructed in 1867 at a cost of $1,000.

North River Cemetery is 252 feet north and 105 feet west of the center of Section 27. It is not a square plot. The old section is 267 feet by 265 feet and 271 feet by 268 feet. The two parts are separated by a drive down the center. There is a new addition on the south and west side. In Deed Book 125, page 635, a newer addition was made to North River Cemetery, and is called Orange Grove. Is is dated August 13, 1962.

At one time a stage coach line traveled the winding road past North River Cemetery. People in the area of Fort Des Moines in Polk County were buried at North River. Many graves were not marked or recorded. As the cemetery was laid out, the former graves were discovered. Some of the early graves are marked as indicated by the Ash family graves which are enclosed in the iron fence. They date back to 1852. The two oldest markers are "Polly 1847" and "Drucilla 1848". These two ladies were both wives of the same man. He lost two wives within one year.

North River Cemetery is the burial place for the victims or participants in the neighborhood feud which resulted in the Tear Down murders. Also, North River Cemetery contains a small marble slab inscribed with the word "Grandpa". After much research, "Grandpa" was identified as J.H.[John Henry] Wayman, a veteran of the War of 1812, who died September 25, 1874, at the age of 84 years, 9 months and 1 day. A native stone in the cemetery is inscribed "Herbert". He was an old Englishman who lived a lonely life, and was the neighborhood "handyman".

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 North River Cemetery.