The Pioneer
Cemetery is located on a hill on the west side of the town of
Jordan. It was the original cemetery for the town and was located
on the D.J. Tierney farm. Arthur
Jordan, in his book "Jordan", states that Michael FitzGerald
was the first person buried in the town's cemetery.
FitzGerald was the town's Justice of the
Peace, a native of Ireland, a veteran of the British Navy and the
Spanish American War. He was harassed by some of the rougher
characters living near Jordan at the time until the stress became too
great and he committed suicide.
His grave, and other early graves, are
marked by a standing sandstone marker with the name scratched into it.
Next to a sandstone marker will be a large marble memorial belonging to
the family of an early businessman in the town.
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Grave marker of Michael FitzGerald |
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Pioneer Cemetery |
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By 1916 the town
of Jordan had grown and become "sophisticated" enough that a
cemetery association was formed and land was purchased east of Jordan
for Greenridge Cemetery. Many families continued to use the
Pioneer Cemetery and by the mid 1920's the Greenridge Cemetery was no
longer used. In 1933 the Pioneer Cemetery Association was founded
and continues today as the primary cemetery in the county.
This cemetery contains over 700 marked
graves. There is no written record of burials prior to the
founding of the association in 1933. Many of the old graves are
marked, but there are a number of known burials that are not marked.
Since 1933 all burials, with location, have been recorded by the Pioneer
Cemetery Association. Unfortunately their original records were
lost in the 1997 fire that burned the county court house, however a
back-up copy did exist which listed most names and locations.
