Prior to 1849, eleven people had been buried in it.

In 1853, it was abandoned when a new cemetery was built at Marshall and Western streets, the current location of Saint Joseph's Academy.

[1]: 500  However, with the city still expanding quickly, forty acres of land were purchased for $4,000 ($135,644 in 2023) in 1856.

Bodies were moved to the new location from the Marshall location on November 2, 1856 (All Souls Day) in a solemn procession to the new location, called Calvary cemetery.

[2] The cemetery is currently around 100 acres in size.