Security Benefit Association Cemetery in Topeka, Kansas

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Get directions Topeka, Kansas, USA

Coordinates: 39.06310, -95.76066
Cemetery ID:

Members have Contributed

About these numbers These percentages indicate the number of Find a Grave memorials that have a grave photo or GPS coordinates. We don't know the total number of burials in a cemetery, so we cannot calculate a percentage of those with memorials, photos or GPS coordinates.

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Directions: Exit 356 & I-70. Travel north on Wanamaker Road taking the second available right turn and follow the slight curve. The cemetery is on your left in the open field. If you've driven to the KS Wildlife & Parks Dept. Office the cemetery is directly across the street to the south.

The Security Benefit Association Cemetery is a cemetery with no sign or markings of its existence. The graves surround the perimeter of the cemetery with two rows on the west, one row each on the south and north, and no graves on the east perimeter. All the stones are flat and the same style with the exception of four. Two individuals do not have headstones. There are 163 people buried here.
The Security Benefit Association was incorporated February 22, 1892 and named The Knights and Ladies of Security Home and Hospital Association. It was a fraternal beneficiary society that had an elaborate program caring for the elderly, orphans of deceased members, and those members who needed medical and hospital treatment.
The cemetery was later established and most of the deceased from the home were buried here; however, prior to its establishment deceased residents were sent home to family for burial. It was referred to as "our garden of the dead". The first burial was in 1925. A casket and service cost $100 and had been arranged with a Topeka funeral director. The last burial was in 1957.
Records show Delia Hendricks (no dates) was buried here, but she was later removed to an unknown location.
In 1959 the Menninger Foundation purchased the property and in 2003 Menninger's relocated to Texas. Currently (July 2007) the property is owned by an individual investor.