Murray Cemetery is located in Troy Township, Sec.15 in Clarke County.
Murray Cemetery is the 2nd largest cemetery in Clarke County. It was laid out in 1871 and this well-kept cemetery is located at the junction of Highway 34 and R16 on the north side of Highway 34.
Murray was the name given to the new station of the B. & M. Railroad ten miles west of Osceola. It is located on a beautiful, high rolling prairie, in the midst of a splendid agricultural portion of the county. It is in Troy township near the state road leading from Osceola to Afton, and also on the road from Winterset, running south. It is perhaps in the most fertile but least timbered part of the county. There is, however, good timber in sight on South river and Seven Mile Creek. The proprietors of Murray are the B. & M. R.R. and H.C. Sigler, Esq.,of Osceola. It is expected to become an important shipping point.
Even though the town of Murray was not incorporated until the fall of 1880, there were many pioneers in the surrounding areas before the 1850's, and the town itself was laid out in 1868.
One of the earliest needs of the community, was a cemetery. There was a small burial ground some two and one half miles east of Murray which was becoming over-crowded. Pioneer William Bell, along with organized cemetery trustees: H. Lamb; G. W. Sefrit; T. B. Stone; and J. W. Martindale, paid in hand $100 to William and Jennette Ward for four acres of land now known as the north and old part of the Murray Cemetery, receiving the deed on the 14th of May, 1871.
They then proceeded to move the graves from the little burial ground east of Murray, placing them in the new cemetery. The oldest grave recorded was for Franklin P. Bell, three year old son of William and Louisa Bell, who died January 25, 1855. No doubt it was one of the graves moved by the trustees, neighbors and friends.
The cemetery was recorded in three sections, Sec. I - the north and oldest part; Sec. II - the middle part; and Sec. III - the south part. As of September 30. 1981, we had recorded (2,154) graves. Many many burials have taken place in the cemetery which are unmarked. This is sad. and for this reason, it was deemed important to record it for those interested.
Please be respectful of the area and only hunt cache in daylight hours.
While placing caches in Clarke County we encountered many dead end roads and lots of them that are level B roads – this means there is NO gravel on them – they are mud after it rains. If you get stuck, the farmers will not pull you out – you will have to call a tow truck. Please be aware of this and use caution when hunting these caches.
Cache may not be accessible during winter, depending on amount of snow.