At the banking house of J.S. Reed & Company, a meeting was called on July 3, 1857 to consider the necessity for a suitable cemetery for Marion county residents. The existing cemetery facilities were in disrepair and located where funerals were often interrupted by passing trains, or by saloons adjoining the property. The Marion Cemetery Association was formed when the following individuals signed the original articles;
John Ault, J.S. Reed, S.S. Bennett, H.A. True, J.J. Williams, B.H. Williams, Patten & Wallace, John Ballentine, J.B. Dumble, E. Peters, J.W. Bain, Bowen & Beerbower, J.H. Goodman and W.H. Series.