The first person to be buried in the Shelburne Cemetery was Fannie Gee Boyle on November 9th, 1896. She died in childbirth, giving birth to her son, Francis. She was 24 years old at time of death. Always wanting to be laid-to-rest in this location (Lot A-4) on the Gee Farm, she was buried on land owned by her sister and her husband, Nelle and Frank Burgess. Her son, Francis lived to age of 78, and is interred in plot B-1.
The cemetery was established October 23rd, 1899, when the area known as Section A, was set aside by Nelle and Frank Burgess. This section consists of 36 individual lots.
Additions were added in later years as follows:
Section B was set aside December 14th 1905, by Nelle and Frank Burgess. It consists of 36 additional lots.
Section C was set aside September 13th 1915, by Nelle and Frank Burgess. It consists of 36 additional lots.
Section D was set aside May 25th 1950, by Norman and Grace Boyle. It consists of 25 additional lots.
Section E was set aside May 25th 1993, by Oliver and Karen Prewitt. It consists of 17 additional lots.
In 1943, the cemetery was organized/incorporated and is now known as the Shelburne Cemetery Endowment Association.
In 1963, an updated directory of the cemetery was completed by Mrs. Evelyn Sheets and her mother, Hazel King. This listing is available at the Grundy County Jewett Norris Library.
In 1985, Mr. Noel Davidson walked the cemetery, making an alphabetized listing of the graves.
In 1988, Offa and Mary Helen Woldridge, again walked the cemetery, using the list provided by Noel Davidson, adding any names not on the list.
In 1989 - Anna (Dockery) Burgess assisted in identifying the boundaries of the sections and lots within the cemetery. She was also able to provide the original owners of all lots in Sections A, B and C. Her help was invaluable in locating and identifying un-marked graves. Marjorie Prewitt was able to provide information on locations and owners of Section D.
The Shelburne Church and the cemetery are two completely separate-entities and are not dependent on each other. The only income the cemetery association receives is from donations and interest from the fund.
Interesting Facts –
1. Cemetery access used to be from what is now the back of the cemetery (West side). This changed when new Hwy W was built (late 1950’s?). So the back of the cemetery became the front, and front became the back.
2. There are currently 561 gravesites within the cemetery.
3. Included in those are gravesites are 36 military veterans, who contributed in Civil, Spanish American, WW1, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam war.
4. Thirty-one (31) infants have been laid to rest here, forty-seven (47) children under 5 years.
5. The oldest marker belongs to William Russler. He died in 1851 and was likely buried in the nearby Dockery cemetery, before being re-located to current location, Plot A-30.
6. The “busiest” time for Shelburne would be from 1961-1970, when a total 56 were laid to rest within the cemetery.