Chelsea Cemetery, El Dorado, Kansas

Chelsea Cemetery was the first public cemetery established in Butler County. The cemetery originally served the county’s earliest settlement, Chelsea.

South entrance as it appeared on March 22, 2025

Located on the northern edge of El Dorado Lake, Chelsea Cemetery is one of the few remaining reminders of Chelsea, a town that was once a strong contender for the county seat, but lost the popular vote to El Dorado in 1867.

An original land claim on file with the Bureau of Land Management says Nathaniel Storrs was the owner of the land when the cemetery was established. His Butler County land claim certificate was issued under the authorization of Abraham Lincoln in 1861, the year the first burial occurred here. The original cemetery started as a 100’ x 85’ section on Nathanial’s land, but he is not buried here.

The cemetery eventually grew into three and a half acres to meet the needs of the striving community. However, after three different attempts to keep it on the map, Chelsea and all the homesteads that surrounded it were ultimately flooded to make El Dorado Reservoir, permanently removing the community.

Sunset over El Dorado Lake. The trees that once shaded this valley and the town of Chelsea stand dead in the water.

Even though the town was flooded, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) came up with a plan to leave Chelsea Cemetery intact and above water. A dike was constructed on the cemetery’s eastern edge, right over the top of lots that were once part of the potter’s field. No one was believed to have been buried there because there were no gravestones and no records to indicate any burials.

The USACE also purchased about 600 burial spaces, or approximately one acre, in the center of the cemetery, which is the lowest area, for drainage purposes. There will never be burials in this area of the cemetery.

Many of the trees at Chelsea Cemetery were planted by the earliest settlers and are over 150 years old. The trees here were impressive enough to be mentioned in a 1934 article by Victor Murdock.

“Some of the cedars appear to be over sixty years old and some of the gnarled oaks impressive in girth and spread, are still older, probably close to seventy-five years.” Victor Murdock in The Wichita Eagle, September 5, 1934

Chelsea Cemetery stands as a lasting tribute to a vanished town that played a pivotal role in the early history of Butler County. It is still an active cemetery, and has a bit of space left for additional burials.

Chelsea, Kansas

The most comprehensive history of Chelsea, including an in-depth reading of the cemetery as of 1990, can be found in John D. Milbourn’s Chelsea: The Town, Township, Community and Cemetery.

The now extinct town of Chelsea was first established in 1857, and it moved three times. Old Chelsea (1867-1868), New Chelsea (1869-1878), and South Chelsea (1924-1950) were in different locations in the same township, but are all collectively considered Chelsea.

“A” marks Old Chelsea, “B” marks New Chelsea, and “C” marks South Chelsea. Chelsea Cemetery is also marked. Image from John D. Milbourn’s Chelsea: The Town, Township, Community and Cemetery.

Nathanial Storrs, the man who claimed the land where the cemetery was established, was one of the signers of the articles of incorporation for the Chelsea Town Company. Prince Gorum David Morton, known as “Pegleg” because he had a wooden leg, was also one of the signers. Pegleg owned half of Original Chelsea, and he’s credited with giving the town its name.

“[Pegleg] Morton named Chelsea. He wanted to call it Boston or New Boston, because he was from Boston. We compromised on Chelsea, which is a town near Boston, and Chelsea it is even to this day.” Butler County’s Eighty Years 1855-1935

After a series of different setbacks, it was ultimately the dam project and El Dorado Lake’s construction in the 1970s that was the final nail in Chelsea’s coffin. Residents were forced to move from their land and many of Butler County’s first homesteads, and part of its history, went underwater.

Burials at Chelsea Cemetery

Some of Chelsea’s earliest settlers and founders are buried here, as well as “regular” people who mattered just as much.

The Donaldson Family

The first burial at Chelsea Cemetery was believed to be an infant of George and Eleanor Donaldson, who were among the first to settle in Chelsea. The little boy was born and died in Chelsea in 1861.

Infant Donaldson. They also buried two more children here in 1867: twins Lizzie and Johney.

George Donaldson was one of the first settlers in Butler County, arriving in 1857. He was a founder of Chelsea and he and his family lived just west of Nathanial Storrs and the original cemetery square. George was Chelsea’s first postmaster, first legislative representative, and the host of the first county commissioners meeting, which was held in his home. Before that, he was a captain of a Free State company and active in the Bleeding Kansas border war, to the point that the border ruffians offered $500 for his capture, dead or alive. George was killed in Chelsea in 1869 when a log he was hauling fell off his wagon and crushed him.

Capt. George Donaldson

“Our Mother” is Eleanor Donaldson (née Vaught), George’s wife. The history books don’t profile her, but she was also one of Chelsea’s earliest settlers, and even though she isn’t an official founder of Chelsea, she was there as George’s supportive partner. On the open prairie, she cared for her husband and their infants and children (and buried them) without any of the comforts of home. Before arriving at Chelsea, she was one of the first white women to live in Kansas. During the border war, she was kidnapped by the border ruffians and “driven like cattle,” forced to walk fifteen miles with one of her children. She died from typho-malaria in 1883 at age 51.

Eleanor Donaldson

Charles Donaldson was George’s brother, and he came to Chelsea around the time that George died. Charles was the town trustee for Chelsea and a good farmer. He died in 1888 at age 47 from heart trouble. He’s buried here with his wife Ella (née Kinsey) and three daughters.

Charles Donaldson

In his book Chelsea, John Milbourn noted a cedar tree with a 71 inch girth in the Donaldson lots.

The plot outlined with concrete curbing is George Donaldson and his family; beyond that in the shadow of the tree is Charles Donaldson and his family.

The Vaught Family

John Vaught, born in 1792, has the earliest known birth date among those buried here. He is the only veteran of the war of 1812 to be buried in Chelsea. He was an avid reader, and it was said he owned the largest collection of books in Illinois, where he lived prior to relocating to Kansas. His daughter was the aforementioned Eleanor Donaldson, and his son Martin first camped here in August 1857. Grandson Alvah Shelden grew up to be the editor of El Dorado’s Walnut Valley Times.

John Vaught

Little Nellie Vaught, granddaughter of John Vaught, died in 1868. Her parents Eliza (née McReynolds) and Martin Vaught settled here in 1857 and played a vital role in the founding of Chelsea. Her stone was carved by Thrapp & Stout of Topeka, Kansas.

Nellie Vaught

Times must have been tougher when Eliza and Martin lost two more children, Karl in 1879 and Ida in 1889. Nellie received an expensive gravestone shipped from Topeka, but Ida and Karl have homemade markers.

Ida Vaught and Karl Vaught

Infant son Chittendon is a grandchild of John Vaught. His daughter Margaret married Horton Chittendon in January 1870, and later that year they buried their first child here.

Infant Son Chittendom

The Harrison Family

William Harrison, an English immigrant, came to Butler County in 1858 with his wife Mary (née Huff) and settled along Harrison (now Bemis) Creek. He served as a probate judge and also ran a farm that included cattle, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, and peach and cherry trees. He fathered at least ten children with Mary, including a set of twins. William died of “paralysis of the brain” at age 77 in 1890. Eight members of the Harrison family are memorialized on the family stone, including William. His second wife, Emily, was a spy for the Union and recently received a military gravestone at Highland Cemetery in Wichita.

William and Mary share this gravestone with their children Albert, Edward, Emma, William Henry, and two unnamed infant girls.

The Ellis Family

Ann (née Tiernan) and Archibald Ellis settled here in 1859 when there were only fifty people in the entire county. Archibald served as both county commissioner and county treasurer, and the couple was described as “generous and kindly beyond expression.” The Ellis family was originally buried on their family farm (with a few non-family members), but they were exhumed in 1924 and reinterred in Chelsea Cemetery.

In 1885, Chelsea resident George Ellis found a murder victim buried on his farm. The victim Oscar Kruzen was murdered by his cousin Orlin Larriway, who was having an affair with Oscar’s wife. Orlin was later sentenced to death for the crime. It’s not clear if Oscar’s final resting place was here or somewhere else.

The Scott Family

James Scott Jr. was Chelsea’s “old reliable milkman.” He and his wife Jennie (née Best) came to El Dorado around 1875 and purchased seventy-five acres around the cemetery in 1885, which included a house (possibly built by Nathanial Storrs) that had a view of the cemetery from the front door. James was likely related to Tom and Dave Scott, the first Scott family to come to Chelsea in 1857, but I struggled to find the connection.

Jennie’s mother Sarah Best also lived here and was buried here too. At one point, Jennie managed a home with five children, a father-in-law, and her mother.

Harry, George, Charlie, and Grace. Not pictured: Lee.

The Berg Family

After her husband Ananias Berg died, Martha (née Bergeson) purchased James Scott’s land, so for decades she was the one who could see the cemetery from her house.

The house was still standing in 1978 when it was removed by the USACE, and the railroad tracks, relocated as part of the dam project, were laid where the house once stood. Martha’s final resting spot has a nice view of El Dorado Lake.

Mary Anna Berg was probably the daughter of Martha and Ananias. She was one of eight children living in the household on the 1895 census.

The “sweetheart” footstone is probably for John Reddick, who is buried here with his wife Mae Reddick, a grandchild of Martha and Ananias Berg.

The Pearse Family

Susan (née Smelie) and her husband Henry Pearse were early settlers in Chelsea. Henry was a Butler County commissioner, while Susan graduated from medical school in 1881 and was a doctor who practiced in both Kansas City and Chelsea.

The couple built a two-story frame house, several barns, a sawmill, and an ice house on their Chelsea homestead.

Source

The Shough and Rayburn Families

William Shough was a son of Martha (née Rayburn) and John B. Shough. John founded Chelsea Hotel in 1870 while William was working at home on the farm.

Frank Shough was another son of Martha and John Shough. He only lived in Butler County for a few months, and was actually living in Economy when he died, but was buried here at Chelsea near his brother.

Martha and John ended up burying seven of their children before their own deaths, and four of them are buried here, including Robert Shough, who died in 1871. His gravestone is deteriorating in the elements.

Rebecca “Jennie” Rayburn (née Shough) was just 20 years old when she died. She was married to William Kerr Rayburn and had two children who died before her. She may have died in childbirth.

“Tintie” Jimmie and Uly were Jennie’s two children that died before her. They share this double gravestone that has mirrored lambs and two doves drinking from a large chalice or urn.

Jessie Trusdal Case

Jessie Case’s stone was called “one of the most inspiring stones in the cemetery” by John Milbourn. John repaired the stone in 1989 after it had fallen or been pushed from its base. The rubber duck has been tied around the lamb’s neck since at least 2014.

Jessie was the daughter of Allie (née Zuel) and William Case. Allie was one of the surviving orphaned children of the Zuel family buried in Leon.

Nathan Canfield

The gravestone of carpenter, probate judge, and early Butler County settler Nathan Canfield was also repaired in 1989 by Rex and John Milbourn.

“This stone is about eight feet tall. The spire part of it had fallen years ago, and it was broken about 30 inches from the top. This piece weighed about 200 pounds. In July 1989, the author and his brother Rex drilled a hole in the center of the break, installed a steel pin and reset the stone. The stone was discolored by lying on the ground for so long, but after weathering for a short period of time, it should again look its age. The break was just above the clamp. Rex makes a final check on plumbing the stone below.”

Photo from Chelsea: The Town, Township, Community and Cemetery

The break is still visible, but the repair by the Milbourn brothers has held up for over three decades. As a bonus, Nathan’s footstone is still here, in its original spot.

Nathan’s wife Lucy (née Blair) chose two touching inscriptions for his gravestone: “My kind husband” and “We miss thee at home.” It also includes an epitaph that reads: “A loving friend, a husband dear, a tender parent lieth here. Great is the loss we here sustain, but hope in Heaven to meet again.”

The gravestone was carved by T.C. Brandy and Co. in Marion Center, Kansas.

Maggie May Williams

In 1890, 15-year-old Maggie May Williams fell down the stairs working at Pirtle’s Restaurant in El Dorado. She cut her hand on broken glass in the fall, nearly severing three of her fingers and her thumb. Her injuries were so bad that her thumb had to be amputated.

Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado, KS, Jul 18, 1890

May developed lockjaw (tetanus) and died about three weeks after the fall. She is the only member of her family buried here.

The Taylors

Consider Arms Taylor and his wife Sophronia (née Brackett) probably have the most unique names in the cemetery. The couple, both in their mid 70’s, died from pneumonia one day apart in 1881.

They share this gravestone, which was broken and repaired sometime after John Milbourn documented it in 1989 because the photo in his book does not show a break.

Lewellen Daughters

Three daughters of Kansas pioneer Doctor Lewellen are buried here. Louisa Rodwell, lifelong Kansan who married “Fiddling Bob,” Sarah Cooley, mother to thirteen, and Virginia “Birdie” Fox, recognized by some as the first white child born in Wichita.

Agnes Hamm

Three (or four) children who died of diphtheria were said to be buried near the Durachen Creek on Grover Prewitt’s farm sometime around or before 1890. Their mother, Agnes Hamm, is buried at Chelsea Cemetery in a plot purchased by her husband, known only as Mr. Hamm. He apparently left not long after Agnes died, leaving her alone in a family plot. If the children were moved from the Prewitt farm to be by her side, there isn’t a record of it.