In Laurel Hill Cemetery, five Confederate soldiers are buried along the front fence line after dying of wounds shortly after a skirmish near Weston; with Union troops encamped in the northern part of the cemetery, they were buried under cover of night and their identities were never discovered. During the Civil War, Missouri was deeply divided over slavery, and the area saw numerous skirmishes involving the Paw-Paw Militia, Bushwhackers, Redlegs, and Union and Confederate troops. The cemetery is also tied to the Houser family, whose patriarch, Nimrod “Nim” Houser, came from Ohio to Weston about 1850, married Mary Blanton, raised four sons, and operated a livery stable on Thomas Street until his death in 1913, while his sons became well-regarded businessmen, husbands, and fathers; the last member of the family died in Weston in 1965. It is also associated with the Murdock family, originally from Ireland, who lived in the Fancy Bottom area northwest of Weston and suffered many early deaths; James William Murdock married Mary Manley, had six children, worked in real estate, served as Weston’s town Marshall for several years, was twice elected mayor, and was president of the Laurel Hill Cemetery Association from 1921 until his death in March 1926. Robert Wesley Murdock farmed in the Fancy Bottom area, once donated a fifty-six pound pumpkin to the Weston Red Cross chapter to raise money for the World War One effort, and held a raffle at five cents per guess on the number of seeds in it; he and his wife, Carrie Rogers, had four children. Charles A. Murdock, Jr. attended Wentworth Military Academy, later became a bookkeeper for Lorillard Tobacco Co. and traveled around the country, then returned in 1940 to buy and run a farm in the Farley area.