Archives West Finding Aid

The original Helena Cemetery Association was incorporated on June 11, 1887, by Andrew J. Fisk, Ansalem J. Davidson, William Muth, and others, in response to a lack of space available in existing cemeteries. A year later the Helena City Council appointed a committee to study the matter. In May 1890, after several years of considering various proposals for locations and facilities, F.R. Wallace, as trustee for the City of Helena, purchased the present site of the cemetery from Evan and Amelia Harris for $22,220. In August 1890 a second Helena Cemetery Association was incorporated by P.D. Grommon, John B. Clayberg, A.M. Thornburgh and E.C. Richards to acquire land; improve and beautify it; lay out and construct lots, roadways, and water systems; sell lots; and all other acts "connected with the maintenance and operation of a Cemetery..." The Association was incorporated for $250,000 and stockholders included many of the most prominent names in Helena society. One of the first acts of the new Association was to purchase the property for the cemetery from trustee F.R. Wallace, for "$1 and other valuable considerations" among which was the full $250,000 worth of capital stock. Wallace then transferred back to the Association $61,000 worth of stock to be sold as needed to finance improvements. One such improvement was a street railway to the site, constructed by Peter Winne. Under the leadership of Winne, who became President in December 1892, the association developed the site, installed a water system, planted trees and shrubs, and sold lots. A permanent Endowment Fund and a Perpetual Care and Improvement Fund were also established.

The Helena Cemetery was renamed the Forestvale Cemetery around 1901. The Helena Cemetery Association's corporate charter expired in 1910, but the affairs of the Association were never formally closed. The Association continued to meet until 1913. Secretary and Manager Henry Winter had by this time acquired, through direct ownership and proxies, control of over 99% of the stock. He assumed personal management of the property. In May 1918, in response to rapidly rising lot prices, poor maintenance, and accusations of mismanagement, William Muth and other trustees of the Permanent Care and Improvement Fund and Endowment Fund filed suit against Henry Winter and other trustees to force them to account for the funds. Muth and other lot owners and relatives of people buried in the cemetery met in June of 1919 to form a new association. They selected the name Forestvale Cemetery Association and proceeded to file a condemnation suit to force Winter to sell the property. The court eventually set the price at $35,000 and the property was conveyed to the Forestvale Cemetery Association. Over the years the endowment funds which were based on a percentage of the original lot purchase prices became inadequate to maintain the cemetery, which fell into serious disrepair.

In 1965 a concerted effort was made to clean up the grounds by removing excess trees and shrubs, improving the irrigation system, filling sunking plots, etc. However by the late 1980s the cemetery was again in poor condition. In a special election on April 2, 1991, School District #1 voted to fund a cemetery district to provide permanent upkeep by Lewis and Clark County.