Fairview Cemetery is located 0.4 mile south of the Village Park and 0.4 mile north of Interstate 90, on the east side of River Street (S.R 528). The Madison Cemetery Association which began in 1854 at the old Centreville Cemetery, felt this new cemetery should become the resting place of the bodies of the earlier cemetery. It was not officially property of the Village at that time, but in 1875 the land, then on Thompson Street, was conveyed by deed of trust to the trustees of the Incorporated Village of Madison and has been maintained by the Village. Several expansions have been acquired, and this cemetery is still being used, and expanded. It is the only cemetery being used in the Village proper.

It is not known when this cemetery began, as the early stones may have been from other cemeteries. However, the 24 Mar 1875 deed transaction ( Lake Co. Deed Record Vol. 6, pg 40) states that this land was occupied by the Madison Cemetery Association as its cemetery grounds, known by Tract No. 4, lot 4 and subdivision lot No. 4, a part of a lot O.C. Tarrow sold to John Kellogg. This property contained 2 74/100 acres. Another piece of land was mentioned, but not described. Also transferred was the drive which was originally purchased by the trustees of the Madison Cemetery Association from Asa Talcott and his wife for $50.00. (Lake County Deed Vol. 1 pg 306) This drive was 24 rods of land, leading from Thompson Street (now River St.) to the burial grounds.

This "original" burying ground covered the area now known as sections B2, B3, and the south part of section BB. It also included a strip on the south side of section A2.

On the 1874 landowner's map, the cemetery seems to be set quite far back from the road, with a drive in the center back to it between the properties of Mrs. Talcott on the north and R.B. Dayton to the west. To the east of the cemetery was A. Allen. The long part of Section A1 was purchased from Lydia E. and Horace Allen for $800.00 and consideration of a lot, being 2 ½ acres of land (Deed Vol. 35, pg 513). The northeast corner was expanded, making it L shaped with the purchase of 0.159 acres from Carl E. And Katherine Passerell for $10.00. (Lake County Official Record Vol. 1105, pg 1141 and Vol. 1112, pg 101) The oldest stone in this section is 1925. Lydia and Horace Allen are buried in this section.

Section A2 is the largest section, made up of four separate purchases. The first is the northwest part purchased 16 Jan 1899 from Sylvia E. Cady for $106.00 containing 53/100 acres of land. (Vol. 29, pg 210). The 17th of January the same year, M.A. Kellogg sold one acre of land in the north east of section A2 to the Village of Madison for $148.00. (Vol. 29, pg 211) The small southeast corner was part of the deed in section B4. The oldest death date on a stone in section A2 is 1830. Again, it is not certain if this was a moved grave.

No deed was found for section B1, but it was a more recent acquisition, the first stone being 1871, the next, 1902. It was considered "the new section" in 1929.

Section B2 is part of the original burying ground, with the oldest stone being 1816. There is a large number of pre-Civil War monuments in this section, as well as many Civil War flagholders. Stones are predominantly marble.

Section B3 is also part of the original burying ground, and its oldest stone is 1834. This section is also predominantly marble, with many Civil War flagholders.

BBS is the inscription reading designation for the southern part of the L shaped BB section. The front half of this narrow strip along the road is granite stones of early to mid twentieth century beginning in 1923. The back half is mostly flat sod-covered marble stones, the earliest dating 1811.

Section BBE, the east side of the L shaped BB section was purchased from Blanch and Samuel D. McKim 1 Nov 1879 for $100.00 and contained 58 rods of land. The vault which is of sandstone in the style typical of the 1880s was used for holding bodies during bad weather, but is now for equipment storage. The stones in this section are all granite of various colors and mostly of the slant type, the earliest being from 1947.

Section B4 is known as the Kimball Lot. It appears to be a large family plot, all of the markers being rather massive grey granite. The earliest death date is 1890. The property, 1/8 acre, was acquired 16 June 1877 from Almarena and Wheaton Allen for $30.00.

Sections C, D, E, F, G, H, and G2 are the single largest land acquistion, apparently acquired from the village of Madison School District which was purchased in Deed volume 111, pg 449 fort the school district. Earliest stones, mostly granite, for each of these sections are as follows. C 1937, D 1935, E 1941, F 1949, G 1961, G2 1998, H 1966 plus 1 in 1950, possibly moved.

Sections J, K, L, M, O, and unused P were acquired 31 Dec 1985 from "Martha E. Behm and Timothy E. Behm, trustees per agreement dated 13 Dec 1979 Vol. 896 pg 429", for $10.00 plus other valuable consideration containing 3.567 acres. (Official Record Vol. 187, pg 38) Earliest stones, all granite, for each of these sections are as follows. J 1990, K 1992, L 1987, M 1990, O 1984. Section P was developed in 2001, but had not yet been used.

In 1990, records began the process of being computerized and were completed by 2001, with the exception of the maps, which are being worked on in 2002. Original cemetery deed books date back only to about 1900, and some other records were lost in a fire in the 1980s.

Inscription readings were updated and proofed as of the following dates:
Sec. A1, A2 3 Nov 2000
Sec. B1 12 Nov 2000
Sec. B2 10 May 2001
Sec. B3 14 May 2001
Sec. B4 7 Nov 2000
Sec. BBS 15 May 2001
Sec. BBE 12 Nov 2000
Sec. C 25 Oct 2000
Sec. D 25 Oct. 2000
Sec. E, F 25 Oct 2000
Sec. G 27 Oct 2000
Sec. G2 25 Oct 2000
Sec. H. 29 Oct 2000
Sec. J, K, L 3 Nov 2000
Sec. O 25 Oct 2000

Disclaimer: The dates of earliest stones are death dates taken from a quick glance through the readings. They may not be accurate. The deed records were not all found, especially the original burial ground and the school property. Therefore there may be slight errors in size or dates of those sections.