Cemetery

The very first Cemetery in early Edinburgh was on the slope of the Thompson hill at the west edge of the little village.  Here lie buried Mrs. Joseph Townsend the first white settler to die in Johnson County and Richard Conner their graves forever hidden in the hill which may also contain earlier Indian burials.  Other early settlers were buried on the hill, but most were later moved to the newly established Edinburg Burying Ground.  The Thompson family plot still remains at the top of the hill its future preservation and obligation of the Edinburg School Board in return for playground property deeded to the school by a Thompson heir the late Mrs. Imogene McEwen.

About 1850 it was decided to establish a new burial ground, and on the 22nd of March 1852, the Trustees of the Edinburgh Burying Ground bought land for this purpose from Alexander and Rebecca Thompson Breeding.  The price was $300.00 for four and a half acres this property is now Section A Breeding Addition Rest Haven Cemetery. The notary for the transaction was Charles W. Show, and names of the trustees appearing in the deed are EDMOND MOONEY, JAMES THOMPSON, AUSTIN SHIPP, WILLIAM P. SIMS AND WILLIAM H. MITCHELL.