The cemetery houses the graves of John Sappington and two of his sons-in-law, Meredith Miles Marmaduke and Claiborne Fox Jackson, who each served as governor of Missouri before the American Civil War.

He was a proponent of using quinine in the treatment of malaria and was at the time the largest importer of the drug in the United States.

Two of his sons-in-law, Meredith Miles Marmaduke and Claiborne Fox Jackson, were elected as governors of Missouri.

Grandson John Sappington Marmaduke was a noted Confederate General in the American Civil War; he also was elected as Missouri Governor in later years.

The state historic site was expanded in 2014 to include the nearby "Sappington Negro Cemetery," used initially for the burial of the family's enslaved African Americans before the war.