Union Cemetery Records
Union Cemetery was established in 1853 with the purchase of a one acre plat of land for $10 by the Stevens Point Cemetery Association from Moses Strong. In 1854 another plat of land was purchased from Willian Griffin for the same purpose. It was subdivided into lots and blocks and named Union Cemetery. Graves initially placed in an old cemetery on land now part of the Stevens Point Square were moved to the new site. In 1927 graves were again moved, relocated to other grave sites within Union Cemetery, to make way for a 48" storm sewer. In 1929 the Cemetery was fenced. And in 1935 the abandoned cemetery was taken over by the City of Stevens Point to be maintained by the Park Department.
An excellent resource to use in conjunction with the Union Cemetery records is the book Union Cemetery: A Biographical History by Millicent Zindel Hild. It is available at the Portage County Public Library (there is both a circulating and non-circulating edition) or through the Family History Library. You may also purchase it through the Portage County Historical Society.A few things to keep in mind when searching these records. Interment dates are not necessarily the same as the death date. It is the date that the body or, in the case of cremation, the ashes were buried. In the case of cremation it may be months or even years after the death. For actual death dates you should consult other sources.
Second, in the case of older burials, if there was only a year listed on the tombstone then the city entered the interment date as 01/01/xxxx, with xxxx being the year. So if you encounter a date of Jan 01, 1920 (for example), it may not be the date of burial. The burial may have actually taken place any time in 1920 but was not recorded. You will need to consult other sources.
Also, as these records are from the City Treasurer's Office they include plots that have been purchased but have not been used yet. If you find a person's name with no interment date it may very well be that they are still living.
Locations are set up as Block-Lot-Space. (00-000-00) When looking at the map, first identify the main section number (Block). Within each block there are several boxes with numbers (Lots). Within each Lot there are 8 spaces. The Spaces are set up like this:
4 |
8 |
|---|---|
3 |
7 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
5 |