Keith Cemetery
Pike County, MO

Location: Hartford Twp - 51N R 3W Section 8
Directions: Hwy 161 south to Pike 416 on right side of road. 
Notes: This is an old catholic cemetery   In 1843 and 1844 James R. Keith was a merchant in Middletown. He decided to come to New Hartford to continue his business. He bought land near the site of the home of Mrs. Marvin Nalley where he built a home and store building. While he was in business here, two children drowned while they, with their family, were crossing the Indian Creek just south of New Hartford. The father asked Mr. Keith where he might bury the children as they were traveling through and far from home. Mr. Keith gave him permission to bury them behind his house. In the late 1800's John Keith inherited this farm from his father, James R. Keith, and deeded an acre or so of his land to be known as the Keith Cemetery. This was where the two drowned children had been buried. In 1965 a perpetual care fund was begun to take care of it.

Correction!
My name is Diane Fuerst. I was born and raised in the New Hartford and was secretary/treasurer of the Keith Cemetery for over 20 years. In the Pike County Genealogy website it is mentioned that Keith Cemetery is an old Catholic Cemetery. This is TOTALLY wrong. The old Catholic Cemetery is located between the old New Hartford School and the residency of where John Randolph lived. The sentence that Keith Cemetery is Catholic needs to be corrected. The old Catholic Cemetery has stones still standing.
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A note from your webmistress:
Our thanks go to Ms. Fuerst for her kind correction.  As everyone knows, the information we post is only  as good as the information we receive. It is only  because our visitors take the time to let us know  when we err that we are able to correct our mistakes!

 

 

 

 

 


© 2000 Rhonda Stolte Darnell