Waco Cemetery, Haysville, Kansas

Waco Cemetery, part of the unincorporated community of Waco just south of Haysville, Kansas, was established in October of 1870 when a 22-year-old farmer and pioneer settler died here.

Photo taken November 10, 2023.

Arthur Andrew (or Alexander) Bundy, known as A.A. Bundy, was born in Indiana in 1843 and came to Kansas in the late 1860’s or early 1870. Bundy was a true pioneer – he came here young and alone, and would have been just old enough to claim his 160 acres under the Homestead Act.

According to the 1870 Federal census, A.A. was farming a section of land in Rockford Township with Frank Duncan and A.J. Brown, but the agricultural schedule of the same census indicates he had his own 160 acres here.

A.A. Bundy in the 1870 census, taken in June. The tick marks on his row indicate that he could not read, could not write, and was over 21. Source: ancestry.com

A.A. Bundy had improved two acres of his 160 acres, and had five acres of woodland, according to these numbers reported in June 1870. His farm was valued at $200 ($285 if you included his two mules). Source: ancestry.com

It’s not clear what caused A.A. to die in October, 1870. Tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid, and cholera were all common among settlers at the time. So were tragic accidents.

The grave of A.A. Bundy, the first burial at Waco Cemetery. Photo taken November 12, 2023

“Dearest brother, thou hast left us and thy loss we deeply feel. ‘Tis the Lord that has bereft us of one we loved so well.” The epitaph on this stone suggests it was placed by his siblings, not his parents. Photo taken November 12, 2023

Photo taken November 12, 2023.

In 1873, the land surrounding the cemetery was transferred to Joseph E. Bundy, A.A.’s brother. He may have purchased it for the intention of turning it into a cemetery, as only two people were buried there between the time A.A. died and Joseph purchased the land.

Joseph Bundy died in 1877. At the time the 1882 Sedgwick County maps were drawn, at least ten years after the death of A.A. Bundy and five years after the death of Joseph, the 160 acres surrounding Waco Cemetery were owned by the J.E. Bundy Estate.