Why have a web site for a small rural cemetery?

Hello and thank you for visiting the web home of the Laurel Grove Cemetery located in the small town of Waldo, Florida. The purpose of this site is to keep you up to date about the activities of the final resting place of your loved ones and provide you news about the condition of our cemetery. Since we are a voluntary community cemetery and receive no money from city, county, state or federal government, maintenance of our cemetery is left to those volunteers and family members that feel so inclined to help.

There are numerous other sites that provide a thumbnail view of your loved ones buried at Laurel Grove and we in no way intend to compete with them, you can find some of them listed in the Links menu selection of our website. We do however plan to provide a more detailed biographical sketch of everyone intered in Laurel Grove Cemetery as well as geneological research.

We invite you to look at the various links above and go with us on a historical tour of Laurel Grove and it's residents.

A thumbnail view of Laurel Grove Cemetery...

The original deed for Laurel Grove is dated July 13, 1883. Idella and Samuel J. Kennard set aside land for the oldest section for $100 to the following trustees:
George H. Ambrose
T. A. Peck
R. W. Campbell
Ned E. Farrell
Samuel J. Kennard, Sr.

This is the far back section of the cemetery. The original plot indicates there was a chapel on site. The Kennard familyretained a private family area adjacent to this old section. This is the original plat and can be viewed by clicking here.

In 1897 the front and left side section were added and sold to Laurel Grove for $150 by the Kennard family. The five trustees listed are:

George H. Ambrose
R. W. Campbell
N. C. Pettit
T. B. Tillis
Samuel J. Kennard, Sr.

Last fall the cemetery incorporated with new directors: Fred Donaldson, Bill DeSha, and Tom Kennard. Tom recently passed away and is buried in the Kennard section at Laurel Grove.

We will have fundraisers and encourage donations to help maintain and improve our cemetery. Last fall we had a fish try and raised around $500. We will have a yard sale this spring. This will be held in the Donaldson yard (138th St. Waldo) Friday and Saturday, April 18-19. Set up will be Thursday, April 17. If you have any items to donate, please bring them on Thursday already marked. Anyone interested in helping set up or help on the days of the sale please call Judy Donaldson (468-1726). If it rains we will move the sale to May 1-3.

There will be a cemetery clean-up Friday and Saturday, March 7 & 8 from 9 am to 4 pm. We hope you can help on one of these days. Bring rakes, clippers, weed eaters, edgers, shovels, hoes, etc. We have a small group of people in our association so we need your help. Please consider a yearly donation to help pay for maintenance and improvements to Laurel Grove. Since we are a private cemetery, we have to rely on descendants to maintain it. If you have an email address please let us know so we can save on future postage. Email us at judy@laurelgrove.org .

We will feature one of the ancestors in future newsletters and hope to start with the original trustees. If you have information about an ancestor you would like to share let us know. You can contact the Laurel Grove Cemetery at P. O. Box 130, Waldo, Florida 32694.