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Jonesboro & Riverside Cemetery Association
Riverside Cemetery History
Riverside Cemetery lies in Mill Township on the East bank of the Mississinewa River in Gas City. The approximate 15 acres of this cemetery are owned by the F. & A.M 109 Masonic Order of Jonesboro. The cemetery is operated by the Jonesboro & Riverside Cemetery Association and is managed by Needham-Storey-Wampner Funeral Service.
Riverside has a long and rich history in Grant County. The June 1, 1934 Jonesboro Journal reported that 4,000 persons were buried in Riverside Cemetery and that the first known burial in the cemetery was Fannie Carr in 1864 who died of tuberculosis. However, there are persons buried in the cemetery who died well before that time. The records are sketchy and know the remains from those buried in the original Jonesboro Cemetery and the original Gas City Cemetery were moved to Riverside Cemetery. In fact, Riverside cemetery is actually composed of 4 cemeteries combined.
One section of the cemetery was originally known as the I.O.O.F Cemetery and was started by the I.O.O.F and F. & A.M Masonic lodges in Gas City and Jonesboro and dates back to 1864. Another section of cemetery was laid out as a for-profit cemetery in 1914 but was purchased by the lodges prior to going into operation. The remains of those buried in the original Jonesboro Cemetery were moved to Riverside prior to 1892, to accommodate the construction of a railroad through the cemetery just east of the former J.C. Knight school in Jonesboro. Another portion of Riverside was moved from the original Gas City Cemetery which was located at 7th and South "H" Streets in Gas City. The cemetery was sometimes known as the Welsh Cemetery due to large number of Welsh families that migrated to Gas City to work in the factories during the boom-days of the 1892-1910.
Through the years the cemetery has been blessed by the public minded selfless service of men such as T.P. Moore, W.S. King, R.F. Wiley, J.H. Rook, J. Edgar Dragestrem, Charles Presnall, William Johns, Herbert Smith, Clarence Spangler, C.R. Bloom and more recently Wayne "Spike" Gaskin and Walter "Walt" Wood. Walt served as the manager for in excess of 30 years having retired in April 2003. Currently, John Cragun serves a grounds superintendent and has been with the cemetery since 1982.
