Berea Cemetery Association Records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: BCA 0170 HC 66

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of bound and unbound association records from 1872—1996. Included in the records are notes on the formation of the association, a handwritten constitution, and the names of the association’s first members including: John G. Fee, E.H. Fairchild, J.A.R. Rogers, Charles Lester, H. R. Chittenden, Samuel G. Hanson, and other leaders of the Berea community.

The collection also contains historical notes, annual reports, meeting minutes, correspondence, records of lot sales, and publications of the association.

Dates

created: 1872-1996

Creator

Berea Cemetery Association (Berea, Ky.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.

Conditions Governing Use

Federal copyright regulations apply. Cite all references to the material in this collection.

Extent

3.00 boxes_(general)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

After agitating the question of the need to organize a cemetery association and holding preliminary meetings led by Reverend E. H. Fairchild and A.A. Wright, the Berea community organized the Berea Cemetery Association in 1872. The preliminary meetings resulted in the adoption of a constitution, the enrollment of nearly thirty subscribers to the Constitution, and an initiation fee for membership of $2.00. The first election under the Constitution was held in the Fall of 1872 and resulted in the election of E. H. Fairchild (President), A.A. Wright, S. G. Hansen, Charles Lester (Treasurer), and S.J. Marshal (Secretary) to the Association’s executive committee. The first recorded lot sale was to John G. Fee—although three unknown Union soldiers were buried on what would become the Berea Cemetery’s land previous to the Association’s organization. The cemetery was chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1914 and came under a new constitution (written and signed by W. G. Frost, Mayor J.L. Gay, and J.W. Stephens) in 1931 and again, twenty-eight years later, in 1959.

Arrangement Note

The collection is arranged in two series: Series 1: Official Records of the Berea Cemetery Association, and Series 2: Notes, Correspondence and Publications.