Cemetery History:

NETTLETON CEMETERY

    The first Catholic to come to the Greene area was William Nettleton, who came from Davenport
in l855.  The following spring, James, Lawrence, Thomas and Patrick Hagarty (brothers-in-law of 
William Nettleton)  came also to the Greene area.  In 1857, in the log cabin of Mr. and Mrs. 
Nettleton, a Mass service was offered by Father Durant.
    At the same time he baptized the oldest child of the Nettletons, which was the first 
Catholic baptism in the community. For some time, Masses were read in neighboring homes and 
there soon was talk of building a church.  Work began in l87l on the thirty acres of land 
donated by William Nettleton, which was across the road from the Nettleton homestead in the 
northeast corner of Section 25 of Coldwater Twp.	
    This church was the first church built in Butler County.  
    The first burial in the cemetery adjoining the church was Captain Charles Coffee, a 
veteran of both the Mexican and the Civil Wars, who was an engineer and the contractor of 
the church.  In the process of bringing a load of lumber from Clarksville to the church site, 
the horses became frightened and he lost control of the wagon which hit a stump and overturned 
on him. The injuries resulted in his death.  His funeral was held in the Nettleton home.
    The first burial from the church was that of Mathew Higgins, another Irishman, and the 
service was conducted before the interior of the church was finished.
    Services continued from the church until 1900, at which time the church was closed.  
It remained vacant until 1923 at which time the building was sold to W. M. Lovell and 
dismantled by him.  The cemetery, over the years, has been maintained by members of the 
parish of the Greene Church, although the last burial in the cemetery was that of 
Theresa Doyle, who died on December 31, 1937.  A tall wooden cross stand along the west 
side of the cemetery.  A plaque on it reads: "In Memory of the Pioneers who Kept the Faith". 
    Another plaque has been placed on the spot where the first Catholic Church once stood.  
It reads: "Site of St. Mary's Catholic Church Est. 1872  First Church in Butler County".
    The cemetery is located between Greene and Allison, east of Hwy 14 and just north of C23.

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Burials

Row 1 is at the West end of the cemetery and go numerically East.

Boller, Frederick P.  b Nov 23, 1883  d May 10, 1884  son of F.W.  Boller    Row 3
Coffey,  Capt. Charles   Co. H  23 Ill. Inf. (Killed when his team ran away while hauling
                 lumber to build the church in l87l, first person to be buried in Nettleton Cem.)
Collins, Mary V.  dau of  F. and C. Collins   d July 13, 1873   6m 6d   Row 7
Collins,  ?   d May 6, l873   55y 6d  stone badly damaged   Row 7
                (two small stones, no dates,  near above stone)  Row 7
Cronin, Julia A.  d Mar 26, 1874  36y  wife of Jeremiah   Row 7
Cronis, Jeremiah   no dates   no stone   Row 7
Doyle, Elizabth  d Feb. 4, l896  76y  Row 5
Doyle, Mary Emily  d June 22, l895 37y  Row 5
Doyle, Matilda Saunders  d June l, l873  31y  Row 5
Doyle, Richard F.  d Nov 2, l899 31y  Row 5
     Five small stones directly behind Doyles that read Robert, Emily, Matilda, 
          Father, Mother     Row 6
Doyle, Teresa  l850-1937  wife of James   Row 8
Doyle, Robert  d Dec l, l888 73y  Row 5
Hagarty, Mary L. l847-1917  wife of James   Row 8
Hagarty, James  l839-1898  Row 8
Hagarty, Francis  l879  infant son of Mary L. and James   Row 8
Hagarty, Mary  d Apr 22, l876  80y  Row 3
Hagarty, Thomas d Aug 4, l874  52y  Row 3
Hagarty, Eliza  l837-1927   Row 3
    One small stone  no markings   Row 3
    Two small stones directly behind Hagartys  Row 4
Hanley, Mathew  l869-1939   Row 6
Hess, Mary  d Sept 6, l889  25y 9m 3d  wife of  W.D. Hess   Row 9
Jemerson, Thomas J.  d  Nov 29, l875  29y  Row 7
Kean, Sagela  dau of   R. W. and M. Kean  d May 27, l882?  Row 8
Kohlas, August   1 week old
Kohlas, Albert  10 days old  (both known to be buried here but no markers found)
Lynch, Susan  l835-1911  Row 7
   Two very badley damaged stones:
   ???  died May 6, l873  55y 6d  Row 7
   ???  top of stone gone  57y  Row 7
Lynch, John E.  b June 10, l853  d Sept. 20, l883  Row 1
   Small stone   Father   Row 1
Marlow, Ann  d Oct 6, l893  69y 3m 9d  wife of Wm.  Row 8
Marlow, John  d Nov 20, l887  41y 6m  Row 8
Marlow, Charles A.  d age 7y 10d  Row 8
Marlow, Ellen  d age 2y  Row 8
Marlow, Elizabeth J.  d age 2y 7m 7d  Row 8
     (John, Charles, Ellen and Elizabeth were children of Ann and William Marlow)
Marlow, Thomas  d Feb 3, l888  30y 23d  Row 9
McGee, Rosanna  d Mar 4, l882  72y  Row 3
   Two small stones on the McGee lot marked:
          Mary  no dates   Row 3
          M.M.M.  no dates  Row 3
McMahon, Francis Peter   d Feb 29, l880  5y 5m 20d  son of J.S. and E. McMahon  Row 3
McMahon, Clara Agnes   d Dec. 31, 1885  3y 4m 16d  dau of C. and M. McMahon  Row 3
    One small unmarked stone on McMahon lot   Row 3
Murphy, Ellen  b Sept 29, 1820  d Nov l9, l876   Row 1
  Five small stones near Murphy lot  
           E.M.  no dates  Row 1
           Unmarked   Row 1
           Three unmarked   Row 2
Nettleton, Mother Maria T.  l825 - 1900   Row 9
  One small unmarked stone on Nettleton lot   Row 9 
Newburn, Wm. C.  d Oct 27, 1903  53y  Row 9
Newburn, Catherine  d Feb 13, 1909  69y  Row 9
   Two small stones on the Newburn lot
     Catherine   Row 9
     William   Row 9
Neal, Lucy A.  b Aug 20, l862  d Nov 24, 1887  Beloved wife of Joseph N. Neal  Row 6
McNutty, J.  l827 - 1880  GAR - 1861-1865  Row 7
   Medium size stone (unreadable)  Row 7
   Small stone  no markings  Row 7
O'Brian, Patrick  d Mar 28, 1876  34y  Row 3
O'Brian, Mary  wife of Patrick  d Apr 10, 1900  51y 10m 21 d  Row 3
O'Brian, Catherine   d July 5, l867   65y  Row 3
O'Brian, Timothy  d Jan 27,  l864  74y  Row 3
O'Brian, George  d Mar 11, 1881  48y  Row 3
   Three small stones directly behind the O'Brians   Row 4
O'Brian, William  d Aug 8, l908 84y  Row 6
O'Brian, Alice  dau of W. and A. O'Brian  d Sept l5, l878  11y 2m 15d  Row 6
O'Brian, Anna Currie  wife of  Wm.  d age 60y 5m  Row 6
Payette, Louise  l882-1879  Row 3
Payette, Henry  l873-1880  Row 3
Payette, Alexina  l871-1880  Row 3
Payette, Prime  l866-1880  Row 3
Reed, Rosanna  d Jan 3, l88l  68y  Row7
Reed    no dates   Row 7
Reed  (only bottom of large stone standing)  Row 7
Reed,  Our Gracie,  A Little Angel  Row 7
Ward, Owen  d Mar 2, l912  83y  Row 6
Ward, Mary  d Jan 16, l880  wife of Owen  76y 3d  Row 5(?)
Ward, Agnes B.  d Oct 18, 1871  child of Mary and Owen  16y  Row 6
Ward, Charles  no dates    child of Mary and Owen  Row 6
Ward, Elizabeth   no dates  child of Mary and Owen  Row 6
Ward, Owen   small stone   no dates   Row 6

stones without surnames:
    Morene M.   small stone   no dates   Row 6
    Agnes D.  small stone  no dates   Row 6
    M.M.  small stone   no dates   Row 6
    D.W.  small stone   no dates   Row 6
    B.H.   small stone   no dates   Row 7
    M.H.  small stone  no dates   Row 7

Page Online:  18 Sep 2018