Cemetery Records

Burial Records in Alphabetic Order

Lists of burial records have been recreated from the information contained in Walnut Hill Cemetery’s original burial books called the Sexton Books. The lists are in alphabetic order by last name.

The burial records for the period of 1855 - 2007 consist of one list for each letter of the alphabet, except for the letter S which is divided into two separate lists. There is also a list of Removals and Other Miscellaneous Information. Burial records for 2008 - Current are shown on one continuous list from A - Z.

Names on each list are searchable within that particular list by right clicking and selecting Find. The lists include the last name, first name, date of death, and burial location within the cemetery. The word ‘Unknown’ behind a name means the burial location was not recorded. See the Cemetery Maps section below to view maps of burial locations within the cemetery.

Since these lists were compiled from the original handwritten records, please note that there may be some misspellings due to the interpretation of the handwriting and to typing errors.

Cemetery Burials in Alphabetic Order from 1855 – 2007

Cemetery Burials in Alphabetic Order from 2008 – Current

If you are looking for additional details regarding a burial, you can view the scanned pages of the Sexton Books. Details regarding the Sexton Books are explained below. Information from the Sexton Books and the Alphabetic Burial Listings is also available at the main branch of the Belleville Public Library.

Genealogy/Sexton Books

The Sexton Books, a series of eleven (11) original, handwritten books, are the burial records for Walnut Hill Cemetery. The pages of these books have been scanned into smaller files and cover the period of April 16, 1855 to December 30, 2014. There is no known whereabouts of the first book which covers burials from approximately 1853 to April of 1855. There is a separate book for Catholic burials from May 1888 through December 1899. All other Catholic burials are included in the Sexton Books.

All the books are scanned as a Two Page View, with the exception of December 1899 through April 1920, which, because of its size, had to be scanned one page at a time. When looking at these years, the first page has the name, date of death, and other information, but the following page will have additional information.

Due to the handwriting and the age of the books, information may be difficult to read. Some pages were taped together and in some instances you may see the inside spine of the book between pages that have separated.

The manner in which information was recorded was modified over the years. Each book is a little different. The year can be found at the top left corner. The following is a list of some of the information you may find depending upon which book you are viewing.

• Date of death
• Name of deceased
• Age (sometimes recorded in years, months, and days)
• Sex (male or female)
• Place of birth
• Place of death
• Place of residence
• Cause of death (sometimes listed as Disease) was recorded until 1982; after that, the person
  that signed the death certificate was recorded under that heading.
  When looking at the cause of death, refer to the list of Old Medical Terminology.
• Location of burial (section, block, lot, grave)
• Undertaker/funeral home
• Type of burial container
• Remarks

Cemetery Burials in Date Order from 1855 – 2014 (scanned Sexton Books) 

Cemetery Maps

View the Walnut Hill Cemetery Maps which include an overall cemetery map, as well as a map for each section. Within each section, the lot number is visible to help locate grave sites.