Ionia Cemetery lies in the far northeast of Dixon County, above the Missouri, at what was the town of Ionia.
The name is worth knowing. The bluff above the river here smoked and burned, and Lewis and Clark passed it on 24 August 1804 and recorded it. Fur traders saw dense smoke and fire in the same place for years afterwards, and it became known as the Ionia Volcano. It was not volcanic: the scientist J. N. Nicollet explained it in 1839 as iron pyrites decomposing in contact with water, giving off heat enough to set light to whatever else would burn. An earthquake in 1877 revived the old fears, and in 1878 the Missouri undermined the bluffs and a large part of the “volcano” fell into the river. The same flood came near to destroying the town. Ionia's post office closed in 1907, and a Nebraska state historical marker on Highway 12 near Newcastle now tells the story.
Around 40 memorials have been recorded, which is a record of what has been photographed and indexed rather than a count of everyone buried there.
For burial records or plot enquiries, contact the Dixon County Clerk in Ponca. Ownership can also be confirmed through the Nebraska Statewide Cemetery Registry at the State Historical Society.