County of cemetery: Montgomery County
Location of cemetery: CR-215 (Cemetery Rd.) & Stoddard Memorial Drive, New Florence
Number of graves: 1,800
Sign Text:
NEW FLORENCE CEMETERY
150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
1872 - 2022
"With its 150th anniversary coming up next year, the New Florence Cemetery is looking to preserve its heritage by maintaining the grounds and seeking donations for improvements.
So the cemetery is having a campaign in which 1,500 descendants donate 100 dollars, making it a grand total of $150,000. A total of $50,000 will be used to upgrade and fix the headstones, grounds and roads. The perpetual care board will use $100,000 for future maintenance.
'“We did an assessment of the graves,” said Cathy Nickens Powell, who is a member of the perpetual care board. “Some are completely broken off, some are tilted and some are damaged in various ways. They do restoration. Hopefully, they could start next summer. So we want to do the dedication in the fall if they get that completed. But we need to raise the funds to pay them.”
"The perpetual care board also includes John Slovensky, Gale Johnson, Jenidean Mitchell Readey and Michael Keith. The cemetery board members are president Larry Elflein, Melody Meyer Bartlett, Judy Cramer Hillebrand, Ron Fortmann, Nathan Thurman and Ralph Young.
"Elflein said the idea of having a fundraiser for the cemetery came during a meeting in May.
'“We contacted some folks called Jacob’s Ladder out of Randolph County,” Elflein said. “They’re going to be in Hermann next year. Hopefully, they’re going to do our stones, too, and take care of them. We have a number of stones that are broken or loose.”
"Recently, Joyce Shelton and Matthew Harris helped contribute to the descendants’ campaign by donating $100 each in memory of their ancestors. Shelton is the descendant of Ezekial McCarty, who has five generations buried at the cemetery in plots he purchased in the 1920s, when they were sold in lots of 10 for $100. Harris, who is the treasurer of the Montgomery County Historical Society, is the descendant of Sylvester Baker, who is his great-great-great grandfather and built the Baker home east of Danville in 1853.
"Harris and his wife are co-authors of the book, “The Baker Legacy,” which is written about the Baker family.
“It’s a wonderful little book,” Powell Nickens said. “It talks about the history of their family and they’re buried right here. There’s a story during the Civil War about his grandmother saving their house when the Anderson’s Raiders tried to burn the house down. It’s a wonderful story. When I was growing up, I heard that she saved the house. There are burnt marks on the floor today from that attempt to burn that house when Danville was burned down during the Civil War.”
"Powell Nickens grew up in Danville. She said her family arrived in Montgomery County in the late 19th century from Kentucky in a covered wagon.
'“They came here before any of this and decided to stay here,” Powell Nickens said. “We are here as a result of that. They could have gone west or could have stopped earlier, but they decided to stay here. This is where we grew up. We have lifelong friends from here and a wonderful childhood I know that I had.”
"Powell Nickens said the money needs to be collected by Memorial Day weekend so the celebration can start in the fall of 2022. Checks are to be mailed to the New Florence Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 204, New Florence, MO 63363. Anyone who doesn’t want to write a check can get any size jar and put change in it until Memorial Day weekend, then turn in the jar at the cemetery.
"The New Florence Cemetery was founded in February 1872. George and Nathan Thurman designed a new sign for the cemetery in preparation for the 150th anniversary celebration." ~ Montgomery Standard, By Theo Tate, November 18, 2021