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This project is for those who are buried in Sunset Cemetery, Manhattan, Riley County, Kansas.
The city of Manhattan was incorporated in 1857 and in the minutes of the first city council, it was recorded that a cemetery committee was appointed. However, it was not until August 1860 that Clark M. Lewis agreed to transfer 35 acres to John Piper, who was to deed the land to the city for a cemetery, which he did for $610.
The papers for these 35 acres had been issued to Levi Woodman, who transferred it to Otis Wells, who transferred it to Mr. Clark.
When the land was transferred to the city, members of the city council were: Amasa Huntress, N. D. Horton, Charles Waring, Albert Griffin, J. H. Phelps, Charles Briggs, M. L. Essick, Charles Barnes, and R. J. Harper.
In 1870, as part payment for building a stone fence around 20 acres of the cemetery, the city deeded 15 acres to F. B. and J. M. Woodward who later transferred title to George Brown. In 1885, Brown sold this land back to the city, restoring the original acreage.
The first block plotted into burial lots is in the northeast corner of the tract and the second block in the southeast corner. The laying out of blocks proceeded westward until in 1900, when all had been plotted east of the ravine. A $10 prize was offered for the best plan to lay out the area west of the ravine, but there is no record of the city ever awarding the money.
In 1901, the city received 8 acres just north of the northeast corner of the original cemetery from the estate of Benjamin F. Miller, which was to be used for cemetery purposes.
In 1929, the citizens of Manhattan voted to buy an additional 57 acres for the cemetery from Del Wickham.
The circular plot in the cemetery known as Denison Circle was given by Judge and Mrs. Sam Kimble to the Riley County Historical Society, who in 1932, set the granite boulder marker and dedicated it to the memory of the community's pioneers. The Kimbles also gave the land on which the sexton's house stands.
~Pioneers of the Bluestem Prairie, Riley County, pg. 316~
Notable Interments
- John H. Callahan (1845-1913) - Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient
- Nehemiah Green (1837-1890) - Governor of Kansas
- Earl Dennison Woods, Sr. (1932-2006) - Golfer Tiger Woods' Father
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