The first burial in Topeka Cemetery was on Dec. 9, 1859, and since then more than 35,000 souls have joined 2-year-old Elias Kempton.
This is the final resting place of such notables as Charles Curtis, the first vice president of color; John Holmes, the guard who sat with Abraham Lincoln through the night after he was shot in Ford's Theater; and Marilynn Smith, a founding member of the LPGA; along with many early Kansas leaders and pioneers.
Dr. Franklin Loomis Crane donated his homestead for to create a garden cemetery for his fellow Topekans, and his family resided on the cemetery grounds for 100 years and operated the cemetery.
The cemetery today is still privately owned, but now is in the hands of the people who own burial lots. These people comprise the Topeka Cemetery Association, and from their ranks comes a board of directors that handles general operations.
Friends of Historic Topeka Cemetery is a nonprofit group that assists in promoting the cemetery and raising funds to help in the mission of sharing the amazing legacies in this historical place.
TopekaCemetery.com has a full listing of the burials and a map that will pinpoint most gravesites. The Walk to Site feature can be used with a smart phone to guide the user to the burial lot.
Please understand that many gravesites are not shown on FindAGrave.com simply because there is nothing to photograph. The wonderful volunteers who help populate this site generally do so by taking pictures of headstones, so if there is no stone, there may be no entry.
The cemetery currently updates FindAGrave with each new burial as it occurs. Headstones may not be included with these new entries, because they often aren't ordered until arrangements for burial have been completed.

The first burial in Topeka Cemetery was on Dec. 9, 1859, and since then more than 35,000 souls have joined 2-year-old Elias Kempton.
This is the final resting place of such notables as Charles Curtis, the first vice president of color; John Holmes, the guard who sat with Abraham Lincoln through the night after he was shot in Ford's Theater; and Marilynn Smith, a founding member of the LPGA; along with many early Kansas leaders and pioneers.
Dr. Franklin Loomis Crane donated his homestead for to create a garden cemetery for his fellow Topekans, and his family resided on the cemetery grounds for 100 years and operated the cemetery.
The cemetery today is still privately owned, but now is in the hands of the people who own burial lots. These people comprise the Topeka Cemetery Association, and from their ranks comes a board of directors that handles general operations.
Friends of Historic Topeka Cemetery is a nonprofit group that assists in promoting the cemetery and raising funds to help in the mission of sharing the amazing legacies in this historical place.
TopekaCemetery.com has a full listing of the burials and a map that will pinpoint most gravesites. The Walk to Site feature can be used with a smart phone to guide the user to the burial lot.
Please understand that many gravesites are not shown on FindAGrave.com simply because there is nothing to photograph. The wonderful volunteers who help populate this site generally do so by taking pictures of headstones, so if there is no stone, there may be no entry.
The cemetery currently updates FindAGrave with each new burial as it occurs. Headstones may not be included with these new entries, because they often aren't ordered until arrangements for burial have been completed.