Cemetery History

Cedar Bluff Cemetery Association was formed on February 18, 1847. Founding trustees were E. H. Potter, Willard Wheeler, Bela Shaw, Selden M. Church, Hollis H. Holmes, and Lucius Clark. Final organization was made on November 28, 1851. Twelve acres were purchased from Bela Shaw for $400. The tract was surveyed by Duncan Ferguson, April 13, 1853 (History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois, Charles A. Church, 1900). About 1905 - 1910, the cemetery nearly doubled in size by acquiring property east of Davis Street.

In an article in the Rockford Morning Star of June 11, 1905, it was estimated that there had been approximately 4,000 burials in Cedar Bluff Cemetery up to that time. In the Rockford Daily Register Gazette of December 22, 1923, someone came up with an estimate of 13,080 total burials, a badly exaggerated guess. Based on records available to the compilers of this index, it is likely that the total number of burials at Cedar Bluff through 1999 is in the range of 12 - 13,000.