In May, 1870, a group of hardy young settlers met in the Locust Ridge school house to arrange for a place of burial against the time of need. They were building a new community on the wild prairies of southeast Linn County. Elmwood Cemetery, established June 11, 1870, was the outgrowth of that meeting.
Erastus Taylor, the grandfather of Don Taylor (who is now the vice-president of the Elmwood Cemetery), donated the land. Other charter members were Walter Bodurtha, Ed Herriman, Jacob Rensimer, Hiram Long, Josiah Phillips, Curtis P. Graves, Christian Braggen, D.P. Beebe, Cephas Kathan, M. Herriman, D.D. Burch, Jacob Minich, and William S. Hayden. Other settlers joined as time passed. Four of these moved from the community.
The first burial in Elmwood was that of Chloe Evelyn Long, the little daughter of Hiram Long, October 31, 1873.
The Santa Fe Railroad came, almost grazing the corner of Elmwood, and Marceline was founded. Soon there was a city cemetery, and as years passed, the few people directly interested in the Elmwood Cemetery were unable to assume the full care and it fell into a state of utter neglect.
In 1950, through the efforts of descendants of the early pioneers, restoration of the cemetery was begun. A trust fund was established which has grown in the intervening years. The income is now sufficient to make Elmwood a place of beauty and a source of pride to the community.
Of the children of Charter members who used their lots, only one, Mrs. Cora Stevens, is living in Marceline. She resides at the Florence Rest Home.