NOTES:

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• While there are no acknowledged burial grounds in Miller County for the Osage Indians, who once resided in the county for centuries, it is most probable there are many unmarked Osage Indian graves entombed throughout the county.

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• One of the earliest known burials in Miller County is located in Spring Garden Cemetery in Saline Township. An infant with the surname of Spaulding was interred there in 1824 (13 years before Miller became a county).

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• The first recorded burial in Spring Garden Cemetery [after countyhood in 1837] is Benjamin Bond who died in 1840.

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• Another early recorded burial in the county was Elijah Dyer who died in 1841 in Richwoods Township. His grave is located in a wooded area outside the south wall entrance of the Iberia Cemetery. 

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• The lone grave at Wilson Cave in Osage Township belongs to an early settler named John Wilson, who made a temporary home in this cave upon arrival in Miller County around 1810. Over 45 years later [in 1856], Mr. Wilson was buried in this same cave.

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• According to Peggy Smith Hake, the Gardner Cemetery (a lost cemetery) in Richwoods Township contains somewhere between 30-40 burials, including a few Civil War veterans. Family names in this lost cemetery includes: Adams, Castleman, Dial, Gardner, Long and Stewart. This unmarked cemetery is located on the northwestern side of Iberia near Gardner Branch. 

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• According to Ameren UE records, there are approximately 60 cemeteries - spread over the counties of Benton, Camden, Miller and Morgan - lying beneath Lake of the Ozarks today.

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• Birdsong Cemetery, near Bagnell, moved its burial ground to its current location in 1926 due to the construction of Lake of the Ozarks.

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• It is rumored that Crane Cemetery in Franklin Township was located where Bagnell Dam was built between 1929-31. No records can be found for a Crane Cemetery in Miller County, but the locals swear by this story... which makes this a 'great mystery of the county'. 

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• According to GPS, there are two cemeteries within the city limits of Eldon but are no longer there. Eldon-Sexton Cemetery was once located at the intersection of 1st Street and Oak Street. Breckenridge Cemetery was once located at the southwest corner of W. 2nd Street and S. Aurora Street. It is unknown if these cemeteries were relocated or if the interments still lie beneath the paved roads.

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• Anticipating the need for future Eldon burials, the Warden family donated land for a new cemetery to be built in 1988. It was called Eldon Memorial Gardens. Randall S. Warden and Anna M (VanDolah) Warden were the only two interments; the property was never further developed for burial purposes. In 2017, the legal agreement designating the Eldon Memorial Gardens property as a cemetery was rescinded and the two Warden graves were moved to the Eldon Cemetery, thus ending the brief history of this particular cemetery.​

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• Many local residents of Brumley claim the Pioneer Cemetery [located within the Brumley city limits] is not an actual human cemetery, but instead is a burial ground for dogs.

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• The lone grave of Jesse Kendricks is located in the Tuscumbia "Goose Bottoms" near the Osage River. He died in 1843 at the age of 57 years.  His solidary gravestone stood for many years, well into the mid-20th century, before multiple years of flooding from the Osage River eventually destroyed his tombstone.

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• Two unknown cemeteries were unearthed in March, 2023. Both are extremely old burial grounds. One is located south of the Osage River near Bagnell; possibly the Fitzgerald Cemetery, a small family cemetery. All that remains is one broken base of a tombstone and a field stone. The other one is located south of the Osage River near Tuscumbia. This unknown cemetery stands atop a steep hillside overlooking the Bear Cemetery. An old statue of Mother Mary, encircled by a black wrought iron fence, is most probably the center of the cemetery. At least 3 tombstones, which were about an inch under the brush and dirt, have been unearthed, but are illegible.

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• The majority of small and small family cemeteries, as well as a few of the mid-size cemeteries, are overgrown and unkept today.

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• As of March 2023, Miller County is home to 187 cemeteries: 29 large cemeteries, 23 mid-size cemeteries, 42 small cemeteries, 43 family cemeteries, 13 lone graves, 35 lost cemeteries and 2 unknown cemeteries.

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• Cemetery Photo Gallery