Tombstone Tuesday--Contrasts

This picture was taken in one of my favorite family cemeteries: Alton Cemetery, Vergennes township in Kent County, Michigan.  We don't get the really old monuments, like those in New England, or even on the east side of the state, like in Monroe.  Tall and short, marble, limestone and zinc, straight and slanted, the history of the cemetery is visible, as well as the care still taken to protect it.

In contrast, here in Fremont, the older ones, like the Poor Farm Cemetery, or Surrarrer, or even Pioneer Cemetery have been mostly stripped of their stones.  Surrarrer is an abandoned cemetery, but its history goes way back to the early settlers of the area, and even to the Native Americans who preceded them.
The Poor Farm Cemetery is a sore spot with me.  The cemetery was near the present county medical care facility.  In a misguided (in my opinion) effort to remove the sight of the cemetery from the residents of this home, when the facility was built, the stones were laid down and buried.  Personally, and this is just my thoughts, it would have been more comforting for the elderly at the home to know that these departed had been treated with respect, and honored.
Even Pioneer Cemetery was pretty much abandoned and ignored once the larger city cemetery of Maple Grove was established.  Many, but not all bodies were transferred to the new cemetery.  After falling into disuse, the remaining stones were piled into a corner.  There they remained until a local historian named Harry Spooner started researching the cemetery.  He helped organize the restoration of the cemetery, including the building and dedication of the field stone memorial, shown in the background below.

Today the cemetery is marked by this sign, and on the Memorial day when this picture was taken, our friend, the late Terry Wantz, had made sure the cemetery was marked with flags, flowers and a large sign, listing the known names of all those buried there. 

Tombstone Tuesday--Surrerrar Cemetery

 Yes this really is a cemetery. Surrerrar is a very old cemetery that is no longer actively used. 

Located along eastern Newaygo county, this ancient cemetery is one that predates even our earliest white settlers.  Surrerrar Cemetery is one that was used by Indians long ago.  It was located near the crossways of several Indian trails and while probably not ever a location of a village, it was an area where they gathered and had meetings.
At one time, Indian mounds were discovered in the area.  Some of these old mounds were ones that were very unique in that the bodies were buried vertically, feet down/head up.  Very few of these style mounds were found in Michigan, other than the ones that were found here in Surrerrar.

A couple of our favorite local cemetery buffs helped in the rescue and preservation of Surrerrar Cemetery.  Andy Whitlock, shown above in the green tee, is the originator of http://theoctoberproject.com/, a website that has quite a bit of information on Newaygo County history, including information on Surrerrar and all of the cemeteries.  Most of our pictures are from his collection.  The woman is a descendant of pioneers who were buried here.  And the gentleman in the foreground on the right is Terry Wantz, our favorite local historian.  If you look closely, you will see in his hands the "dowsing rods"  or "witching sticks" that he has used to help determine the boundaries and numbers of bodies buried here.  People may scoff at these tactics but many of his finds have been verified by sonar and x-rays.  Behind Andy, there are some small flowers in a line that marks one side of the cemetery.  In the distance, the hayfield in front of the trees marks the farthest border.

Recent research, much done by Andy, Terry and co-blogger Sandy has determined that the cemetery was larger than originally thought.  Evidence of a homestead in the area has been spotted in the area.

In the past Surrerrar has been neglected and vandalized.  We hope that through the efforts of Andy, Terry and others to protect and preserve sites like this.

Surrarrer Cemetery

Surrarrer Cemetery is far off the main road it is on a dusty seasonal road that follows the power line in Newaygo County. Several years ago Terry Wantz a local historian and friend ask me to help out trying to find names of people buried there. It is a lonely place but beautiful, it is sandy and forgotten and hard to reach.
The prairie was known as a place that many Native Americans called home and was a large village since it was close to the river where it was narrow and easy passing. It was also a rich hunting ground. Many believe the cemetery started out as a Native American burial ground. We also seen signs of burial mounds in the area. The area was also known as a place where two major trails leading to the Mackinaw area crossed according to maps of Native American trails that were found.
We have the names of about 8 people but that list is uncertain. You can see where several more people are buried by the indentations in the ground. Many people were moved to Oak Grove in Croton when the area was abandoned. Searching in the nearby fields you can see where a old building stood. A lilac tree plated there by someone years ago dreaming of what her new home will become. A few of the families who were buried there are English's, Overly's, Saunders and a Mr. Boyd.
When looking for information neither the Newaygo County Goverment offices nor the Brooks Township have any records of this cemetery. It is also believe that Mr. Surrarrer was buried here. Ransom Surrarrer made the first purchase of the land thus its name. On the 1880 atlas shows a Phillip Dickinson and his wife Sophonia Tibbits owning 160 acres on the edge of the prairie. It also shows records that they sold a piece of land for a new school that was to become Dickinson school.
Many families had moved here since it was a logging area and a days trip from Grand Rapids but this area was developing and many families moved on to more fertile land.
Terry has worked for several years keeping the area neat and trimmed up. Cutting the grass over the burial site. Putting a fence along the edge to keep Orv's off the burial area. Building and installing a sign and putting benches to rest on. It was a job that he took on as a sign of respect for his ancestors the Dickinson's.
The spelling has changed many times over the years from Serrarrer, Surarrer, among other spelling hence you will see spelling changes depending on the source used.