The History of Mount Hope Cemetery: Mr. and Mrs. Whiting immigrated to Kansas from Vermont in 1856 and were the early day pioneers in Riley and Geary counties before moving to Topeka in 1877 to start the A.B. Whiting Paint and Glass Company. The Whitings moved to Topeka to educate their four daughters at Washburn College. In return for Mr. Whiting’s long term interest in education and his long service as a member of the Washburn College Board of Trustees, the Whitings established Mount Hope Cemetery as a one thousand year endowment trust for Washburn College, the Topeka YWCA, and the Topeka YMCA. Soon after moving to Topeka, Mr. and Mrs. Whiting became very good friends of Mr. and Mrs. E.F.A. Reinisch. Mr. Reinisch was very well-known for the Reinisch Rose Garden in Gage Park and was selected as the landscape architect for Mount Hope. In a sad turn of events, Mrs. Wilhelmina Reinisch died May 16, 1907 and was the first internment in Mount Hope. In less than three months Mrs. Whiting also died on August 11, 1907. Both Mr. Whiting and Mr. Reinisch built large monuments in memory of their wives, and both men spent the remainder of their lives improving and beautifying Mount Hope. Most all sections at Mount Hope have some sort of feature. For example, in the Martin Luther section there is a bust of Martin Luther in the center (right).

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