Excited docents from the Friends of the Missouri Governor's Mansion will help Jefferson City's Cemetery Resource Board host an informative walk through of the City/Woodland cemeteries 11 a.m.-4 p.m. June 4.
Rebecca Gordon, executive director of the friends group, met with the city board Thursday to set the date and begin the planning process.
She said more than two dozen of the 70-plus docents already have signed up to tell the stories of dignitaries from the community's past buried at the McCarty Street cemetery.
At the same time, the city board hopes to raise awareness about the cemetery's rich history but also donations to restore and maintain the nearly 180-year-old burial ground.
The friends group first got involved with the cemetery after the burial location of governor's daughter Carrie Crittenden was rediscovered in 2014 by board chairman Nancy Thompson. That day, they also will hold a dedication for a new memorial, provided by an anonymous donor, for the girl who died of diphtheria in 1882 at age 9.
"This is just outside of our normal purview," Gordon said. "But as an organization, we felt this gave us an opportunity to participate with the city in a way that honors our governors and their children.
"We're very excited to be partners in this project."
In other business, the board:
• Will research individuals buried at Old City/Woodland cemeteries who may be veterans, to include them in future Memorial Day and Veterans Day honors.
• Will continue to reach out to other history-minded organizations for collaboration, including an information booth at the Historic City of Jefferson's annual meeting March 13 at McClung Park.
• Is helping to correct an informational marker, placed by as a Boy Scout project, at the gravesite of a Revolutionary War veteran.
• Continues to research those who were buried at Hedge Grove Cemetery but later moved from the original site near the intersection of Benton and High streets to Longview Cemetery.