Garfield Cemetery lies ten miles north of Ainsworth on Old Highway 7.
It began as the Lessig Cemetery, named for the several members of the Lessig family buried there. As more homesteaders and neighbours died the ground was opened to everyone, the Garfield Association was formed, and in March 1890 the association bought three acres of Nebraska school land. The land was legally deeded to the association on 28 March 1908 and has been the Garfield Cemetery ever since. When the Highland Grove church was built two miles or so to the west, some in the community began calling it the Highland Grove Cemetery, and it is indexed under that name on Find a Grave — but the legal name is Garfield.
Around 36 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 Brown County Clerk in Ainsworth. Ownership can also be confirmed through the Nebraska Statewide Cemetery Registry at the State Historical Society.
