Burial Records As An Overlooked Source
Mary Clement Douglass, CG¹

Appeared originally in Everton's Genealogical Helper magazine, January/Frebruary 2006

In the vault of the Salina Kansas City Clerk, high on a shelf in a dark corner rested a slim ledger that contains the burial records for the Gypsum Hill Cemetery Association, 1889-1924.²< Very few people knew it was there and even fewer people knew its value. It was not easy to access it, even when you knew its location. [This record has recently been moved to off-site storage.] I had to file a Kansas Open Records Act³< request and pay for the photocopies, but I now have a copy of a unique source that contains vital record data before Kansas began state registration of vital statistics, 1 July 1911.

The City of Salina Kansas has posted burial information for Gypsum Hill Cemetery on its web site [http://www.ci.salina.ks.us/Cemetery/Index.htm]. Data for the web site was taken from the card files of the cemetery sexton, which also contains lot owner information not found in the burial register. But nowhere on this web site is the existence of the burial register even mentioned.

The ledger is pre-printed; therefore there are probably more of these treasures lying around gathering dust in some municipal, church, or cemetery office. The headings include Date of Order, No. of Order, Name of Deceased, Lot (Part, Lot, Block), Sex, Aged (Yr Mo Day), Buried (Mo Day Yr), Distance from lot line, Married or Single, Where Born, State, Cause of Death, Doctor, Order Given To, Charges (Sext., Sec., Lot, Total), Paid (date), and Remarks.⁴

A typical entry reads Jul 5 1900, #1800, Kraft John , block 3, lot 26, aged 85 years, buried July 6, 15’6” from lot lines, married, born Cassell Germany, died of old age, Doctor J. E. Miller, order given to W. Berg [one of the local undertakers], total charges were $3.50 for the sexton and sec[retary?], paid August 8 1900, remarks Probate. With this information I know to look for an obituary in the local papers for the first week of July 1900. I know that John was born about 1815 in Germany, that he left a widow and an estate to be probated in the local court. Saline County Probate Court records are available on microfilm at the courthouse, 300 West Ash and at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society, 211 West Iron Ave., Salina. I know where in the cemetery to look for a tombstone that may contain more information. [His tombstone is one of several Kraft stones clustered together.] Salina had a city/county directory for that year so I need to search for him there and in previous years as well. Was John naturalized? If so, did he register to vote?

In this source, beside the name of the deceased, is sometimes written a notation such as col’d, removed, “old Pap”, son of… followed by the name of the father, unnamed child of after the name of the father, stillborn, and fictitious, my personal favorite.

The August 1900 entry for Henrietta Bondi⁶ shows she was born in Bavaria Austria, November 1863, and the burial order was given to S. Stiefel. Stiefel was not an undertaker. Was he a relation? The birth location also shows shifting national borders in central Europe since 1863 as Bavaria is now part of Germany. Harry Cassaday⁷ was buried in Gypsum Hill Cemetery April 19, 1900 and removed to Sioux City, Iowa March 11, 1901. In the remarks column I found Mrs. Crandall (nee Johnson) phones permission to bury here the body of J. B. Sturman,⁸ June 7, 1901. Corporal Frank Riedman,⁹ age 26, drowned, and was buried July 7, 1901 in the GAR plot. He was born in New York. Under remarks is listed Co F 15 US Inf Madison Barracks [can’t read town] NY. The 1902 burial of Henry Davis¹⁰ shows the order given to George Davis and the deed for the lot was in the name of I. J. Davis.

By studying the causes of death you can see what ailments were common. Children were dying of whooping cough, diphtheria, summer complaint, or were stillborn. Pneumonia was common as was consumption. Six people died in the last week of July 1899 of the flux.¹¹ Causes of death were often vague-stomach trouble, bowel complaint, change of life.

The accidents frequently have notations such as “snow slide in Chilkoot Pass Alaska,”¹² or “caught in machinery in Corsicana Texas.”¹³ In 1898 two people were shot,¹⁴ one child scalded,¹⁵ one killed by a cyclone,¹⁶ and one was struck by the Union Pacific Rail Road [I assume traffic thereon] south of Wesleyan College¹⁷. Jonas Wallenstein was smothered in a wheat hopper.¹⁸

In February and March 1900 soldiers killed in battle during the Spanish-American War in the Philippines were buried.¹⁹ Three bodies were found while digging for a water main and removed from South Street, site of the old Morrison Cemetery. The remains were buried in one box, one grave.²⁰

Sometimes burials show other locations to search. Samuel Johns, born about 1829 in Pennsylvania, died April 29, 1882 in Chrisman Illinois and was buried in Gypsum Hill cemetery November 25, 1904 by J. B. Johns.²¹ Gertrude Young, daughter of Frank Young, was treated by a doctor in Topeka Kansas for scarlet fever and died at age 5.²²

1905 was a particularly violent summer. Two men were murdered, Robert Ross in July and J. F. Caldwell in September. There should be newspaper accounts and court proceedings to pursue.

After July 1, 1911, the cause of death has been blanked out on my photocopy to coincide with the Kansas Statutes concerning death certificates currently in effect.

Not only do burial registers give us vital records information, often not available elsewhere, they give the reader an insight into the life and times of the community. They also give us clues for further research in other records.

End Notes

1. Individuals may request searches of this source from the author. Contact Mary Douglass, 259 N. Kansas Ave., Salina, KS 67401-8515 or by e-mail: mdoug_hm at yahoo.com
2. Gypsum Hill Cemetery became the Salina Kansas municipal cemetery in 1924.
3. Kansas Open Records Act, K.S.A. 45-215 et seq., as amended, declares that it is the public policy of Kansas that "public records shall be open for inspection by any person." Public records are defined as "any recorded information, regardless of form or characteristics, which is made, maintained or kept by or is in the possession of any public agency." Be aware that there are a lot of exceptions made to this act.
4. Gypsum Hill Cemetery Association, Burial Register, 1898-1924, City Clerk’s Office, City of Salina, Kansas, page 1
5. ibid, John Kraft, No. 1801, page 13
6. ibid., Henrietta Bondi entry, No. 1822 , page 14
7. ibid., Harry Cassaday, No. 1778, page 11
8. ibid., J. B. Sturman, No. 1892, page 17
9. ibid., Frank Riedman, No. 1900, page 18
10. ibid., Henry T. Davis, No. 1966, page 21
11. ibid., page 7, No. 1688-1693, defined as severe diarrhea
12. ibid., Rudolf N. Ruehl, No. 1699, page 6
13. ibid., Wm Trumaine, No. 1653, page 5
14. ibid., Mamie Stanley, No. 1579, page 1; Jacob Brown, No. 1602, page 3
15. ibid., Henry Allen Steward, No. 1571, page 1
16. ibid., George Higgs, No. 1578, page 1
ibid., Phillip Rockwell, No. 1580, page 2 ibid. Jonas Wallenstein, No. 1781, page 12. One of the chief agricultural crops for Saline County Kansas is wheat.
17. ibid., H. H. Morrison, No. 1760, page 11; Samuel M. Wilson, No. 1767, page 11
18. ibid., No. 1792, page 12
19. ibid., Samuel Johns, No. 2235, page 34
20. ibid., Gertrude Young, No. 2225, page 34
21. ibid., Robt [sic] Ross , No. 2298 page 37
22. ibid., J. F. Caldwell entry No. 2316, page 38
23. Death records in Kansas, after 1 July 1911, are a closed record group. The Kansas Legislature has determined that the vital records filed with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Office of Vital Statistics are not open for public inspection. They are exempted from the Kansas Open Records Act [K.S.A. 45-221(a) and K.S.A. 65-2422d(c)]. The vital records are deemed to be confidential records which may contain sensitive information. Also, the information contained in a vital record is sufficient for establishing a false identity. Identity theft and fraudulent use of vital records has soared within the last decade. Vital.Records@kdhe.state.ks.us http://www.kdhe.state.ks.us/vital/genealogy.html Therefore, we have no indexes available to the public. The requestor must meet eligibility requirements and must provide proof of identification.

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