Nelson Abandoned Cemetery - Galena MO USA
N 36° 50.987 W 093° 27.259
15S E 459497 N 4078304
An abandoned cemetery in rural Stone County, Missouri
Waymark Code: WMZBT3
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 10/15/2018
Views: 3
This cemetery is in a grove of trees in a field and is completely overgrown with weeds. Topographic maps show it as Bass Cemetery, and who knows? - maybe there is a Bass buried here. It's hard to tell with so many blank or unreadable grave markers.
FindAGrave lists it as Nelson Cemetery, which makes sense since there are 3 Nelson family members buried here.
There are only 6 records in FindAGrave, but it looks like there may be up to 10 or maybe 15 burials here. There are some marker stones that are hard to see at all. There is even a "boxed off" area like you see in other cemeteries - in this case using railroad ties; but I couldn't really identify any grave markers therein. The boxed off area is next to the most readable marker in the cemetery, which happens to be a Woodmen Circle marker.
The oldest recorded grave is from 1863 (a Nelson), making it antebellum. The last recorded grave is from 1912. From my extensive experience in Waymarking southwest Missouri cemeteries, if the last burial is from about the mid-1920s or earlier, then the cemetery is apt to be abandoned. If it was used after about 1925, then it has a
much greater chance of still being maintained.
This cemetery is in a grove of trees in a field that is private property. To keep from disturbing the landowners, I recommend that you do not go up their driveway to reach the cemetery. Instead, turn off of Missouri Secondary State Route AA at:
N36° 50.994' W93° 27.320'
at a field access; then drive up (and I do mean up) the field to the grove of trees. Be careful walking around in the trees so that you don't trip over a downed limb or a hidden grave marker.