Griswold Cemetery is in Waveland Township, Section 2. Land for the first and second additions of the cemetery was obtained from John Book. Since then there has been a third addition.
Little information is available about this cemetery. It must have been a family burial site before Griswold was started, as the first person buried there was a 13-week-old child in 1869, named Wm. E. Baughman. The second person recorded was a lady, Emma Rightmire in 1878. The Rightmires were the first lawyers in the area. John and R. A. Meane lost four daughters who were buried in the cemetery in 1892. Undoubtedly, they died during an epidemic.
There is a Potter’s Field in Griswold Cemetery. Three transients, possibly more, are also buried there. One Negro man rests there; he was murdered on the streets of Griswold around the turn of the century.
The first mention of “Griswold” cemetery in the city council records was in 1906. However, an 1894 newspaper item mentioned the City Council was making an effort to improve the cemetery two miles west of town. Theo. H. Brown was named to solicit funds for putting down a tubular well, at the cost of $250.00.
In 1929 and 1938, several roads were added to the cemetery making it more accessible and, in current times, the area is maintained by the town of Griswold.
Griswold Cemetery is reached by following Highway 92 to Cherrywood Avenue north. The cemetery gate is less than one-quarter mile from the highway. It was read in August and September 2003 by Patti Brown and Joyce Hickman. The cemetery is divided into six sections by the road and by the natural valley surrounded by trees. The sections were read East to West, North to South.
View gravestone photos at Iowa Gravestone Photo Project and Find A Grave.