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The original two-acre tract of this burial ground was set aside for the pioneer settlers of the area by Daniel Aerl, who is interred here. The establishment of the cemetery on December 12, 1881, was in conjunction with the sale of sixty acres of land to financier Gen. Grenville M. Dodge. He had the property platted for the town of Lorena,which developed along a line of his Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. Dodge named the village for Lorena Westbrook Robertson (1861-1952), also buried here, who was the daughter of local land owner C.A. Westbrook. The first burial at this site was that of Lemuel Crook, the infant son of S.J. and G.S. Crook, who died in 1882. The cemetery was next used two years later for the interment of a nine-year-old boy, Jacky Pool. Other graves include those of pioneer area families, early leaders of the community, and many veterans of military action. Additional land for the cemetery was later acquired from the Westbrook families, and from the family of Walter Evans, Sr. The Lorena Cemetery Association was established in 1914 to provide funds for the maintenance of the site and in 1970 a perpetual care trust fund was set up by the organization. |
