Bellfountain Cemetery, Benton County, Oregon
T.14 S R.5 W S.7, SW1/4
Enumerated
on 3 June 2003 by George & Dorothy Burt. Earlier partial surveys were done in 1987 and 2002.
The Bellfountain
Cemetery is located on a hillside
off Dawson Road, one-half mile
east of the town of Bellfountain.
The entrance is from a gravel drive on the north side of Dawson
Road. Arbitrary rows were assigned running north
to south starting at the west entrance gate. Row 1N is to the north of the
entrance road. Row 1S is the apparent continuation of Row 1N on the south side
of the entrance road. Many rows are incomplete and irregular as the cemetery
has a complex history with many undocumented burials. The row assignments are
at best approximations of the grave location; for this reason, this list is
presented alphabetically by the surname on the stone [except for Rachel Kelsey
Larkin]. The information actually on the gravestone appears immediately after
the names. The maiden name of females is [in brackets]. The inscription is followed by amplifications
about surrounding stones, etc. Additional comments by the author are in
[brackets] and come after comments from the 1987 reading of the cemetery
(comments in parentheses). Occasionally, 1987 comments are omitted if they are
clearly in error or confirmed by other sources. Sources of the author’s
comments are to be found in the Benton County Pioneer Database or by contacting
Dorothy Burt at 27321 Reese Creek Rd., Monroe,
OR 97456. If you have someone buried here who is not
listed, please contact Dorothy Burt.
Heman Chapin
Buckingham, who came to the area in 1848, took up a Donation Land Claim just
south of Bellfountain. He also purchased a part of the Jonas Belknap Donation
Land Claim, and in the early 1850's donated ground for the cemetery. This land
was first deeded to a Board of Trustees to be held for the use of the
community; later a corporation was formed. The cemetery plat was filed with Benton
County in March 1900. Additional
land was donated by J. P. and Vernon GRAGG. The cemetery now contains a total of
11 acres. The oldest marked grave (22
July 1859) is that of the infant daughter of J. and P. KELSEY. It
is likely that there were burials earlier in that decade. It is not known which is
the oldest part of the cemetery. There is no overall map and early
records were burned. The sexton has the names of plot owners in some sections
of the cemetery. The oldest extant record is a map drawn on a piece of wood.
The Annex rows are in a new area to the west of the old cemetery. Annex rows
are numbered from north to south.
Surnames In Alphabetical Order
A - F
G - L
M - R
S - Z
Return to Cemetery Index
Please send additions/corrections to Dorothy Burt
Page revised - 1 June 2007
Return to
Benton Co, ORGenWeb
