Short and Peckering operated a sawmill and planer near where the cemetery is located, also.  Several of the mill hands and their families were stricken with a fever and some died, probably accounting for some of the earlier graves.

The earliest grave marking in the Grannis cemetery is dated 1881, but the name is not distinguishable.  Other old monuments include those of Bee Lee Rouse, 1890; Ira Ellis, 1897; Jessie Bolden, 1898; and Izara Conner, J. W. Nobles and Dewey Patton in 1899.

On August 14, 1899, President William McKinley issued to James W. Hurley, a homestead certificate for 160 acres of land in the town of Grannis.  Mr. Hurley gave two acres, more or less to be used as a cemetery.  This included the graves already on the ground.  This original area was almost full, so Clift Lane gave land in 1970, and an additional piece to the south, consisting of a strip forty fee by three hundred and twenty feet in 1981.

Over the years, the cemetery had become neglected, except for a few graves that local survivors cared for.  In 1968 some concerned members of the community decided that it would require the combined efforts of all interested survivors to keep it permanently in good shape.  A Committee was formed, and annual Homecoming-Memorial date set for the first Sunday in May of each year.  Annual participation was remarkable, and the cemetery became a beautiful place.  Former residents and descendents from all over the nation enjoyed the opportunity to get together for an all-day affair.