At the time, the cemetery was located west of the nascent village of Columbus. The first burial at Green Lawn Cemetery was that of a child, Leonora Perry, on July 7, 1849. The second, and first adult, was Dr. B. F. Gard on July 12. The first headstone or other monument in the cemetery was erected the second week of October 1849 by William G. Deshler. It was for his wife, Olive, who had died at the age of 19. The monument consisted of an upright stone slab depicting a rose branch. The bloom itself was carved on the plinth on which the slab stood, and was inscribed "Olive, wife of William G. Deshler, age 19". After Green Lawn opened, most of the families with graves at Franklinton Cemetery moved their ancestral remains to Green Lawn. Franklinton Cemetery quickly fell out of favor as a place to be buried. Those buried at North Graveyard also disinterred loved ones' remains and moved them to Green Lawn. By 1869, about half of those buried at North Graveyard had been reinterred at Green Lawn.