Mt Olivet Cemetery (Intro), Buena Vista, Chaffee Co, Colo MT. OLIVET CEMETERY Researched by June Shaputis Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Project (http://www.usgenweb.org)Archives and by the COGenWeb Project Archives (http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm) by the Author: June Shaputis - June 1997 Copyright (c) 1987 by June Shaputis from book CHAFFEE COUNTY,COLORADO, BURIALS. All rights reserved except permission granted to reproduce or distribute to not-for-profit individuals or organizations. USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial researchers, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for presentation in any form by any other organization or individual. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist. This cemetery has been called various names over the years: Doyle's Cemetery, Catholic Cemetery, City Cemetery, Buena Vista Cemetery, McPhelemy's Cemetery, as well as Mt. Olivet Cemetery. It is located on the southwestern edge of the Town of Buena Vista, just south of Colorado 306 on County Road 321. (Section 17, Township 14 South, Range 78 West of the 6th P.M.) The cemetery was actually started prior to April 24, 1891. On that date Francis McPHELEMY transferred a parcel of land which was to be used for cemetery purposes to Rt. Rev. N. C. MATZ, the then Catholic Bishop of Denver. The deed specifically excluded "ground already occupied by graves" and "a small tract which is believed to be the McPHELEMY Family grave plot." This parcel was eventually conveyed to the Pueblo Arch Diocese of the Catholic Church. The Arch Diocese, in turn, recently deeded the land to the Town of Buena Vista. (This portion of the cemetery is described as the "Tier Section.") On June 24, 1893, McPHELEMY filed a "Plat of Buena Vista Cemetery" for land adjoining the above-mentioned "Catholic" parcel. He transferred this section of the cemetery (described as "Old Cemetery") to the Town of Buena Vista on July 22, 1907. The southern portion of the present-day cemetery (consisting of about ten acres) was acquired on August 10, 1928, when C. DOYLE, Undertaker, deeded it to the Town. The earliest marked burial in this cemetery is that of Mary MAHONE in 1875. Her tombstone was vandalized in 1993 and broken in half. There are a number of "colorful" people buried in the cemetery, along with several which were moved from McPhelemy Cemetery and Leadville Hill Cemetery. There is also a section for State Reformatory prisoners whose bodies were unclaimed at death. Mike Fimminello, an Italian railroad worker, who can claim the dubious "honor" of being the only person legally hanged in Chaffee County, was buried here in 1888. He was a section hand on the railroad and was convicted of stabbing Casey, an Irishman and Granite railroad section man in Granite. A cemetery association has been formed to help maintain the present location, and recently the town of Buena Vista has voted to participate in its upkeep. The cemetery records and maps are currently located at the Buena Vista Town Hall, Buena Vista, Colorado 81211. The Buena Vista Heritage Museum located on East Main Street in the old Courthouse building, also has some early maps and sources of burials. Since many Buena Vista residents died in Salida, records of some deaths may be located at the Salida Town Hall. Those records were not available for extraction. Records for missing individuals may be found in the Salida or Leadville newspapers or in local church records. Sources of information follow the names and dates if known. Buena Vista Town Hall Records Minutes Book # 4 Aug 1911 to Dec 1918 on inside of flyleaf cover it has handwritten note Buena Vista Cemetery Book 144 page 129 Chaffee Co. Record. Frances McPhelemy to Town of Buena Vista 5 1/2 ac situated in extreme sw cor NW1/4 NW1/4 Sec 17 Tp 14 S78W as plotted. To review the various sections of this index and this cemetery, please return to the Chaffee County Archives page and select the section you wish to review.