We are fortunate to have the actual death certificates for Michigan available to us on www.seekingmichigan.org.  Recently, I had someone tell me they could not find their relatives death certificates on the website although they all died in the range of 1897-1939.  I have found that sometimes it is better to put in just a few facts instead of everything you know about the person.  Usually, I start with last name, death year, and county.  This person had added first name, city, and a few other facts.  If the names are spelled wrong in the records, or if the other facts are not accurate, it will come back with zero results, leaving one to think there is no record. 

 

Found in the Detroit Free Press, September 1905:  HOLDS BODY TO GET BILL  Milwaukee, Wis., "They will not get the corpse until my bill is paid," said Undertaker F. W. Mueller this afternoon with much decision.  The quarrel referred to is over the remains of Samuel Hartzberg, who died at the county hospital some time ago.  A fund was raised for the burial.  Later a brother in Indianapolis said he would attend to the matter and the fund was returned to the donors.  Now the brother has disappeared.

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI -- Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with nearly $55,000 in damage done to dozens of headstones at an Independence Township cemetery. 

Michael Thomas Dickinson, 19, of Waterford Township, was arraigned Wednesday, Aug. 26, in Oakland County District Court and given a $20,000 cash/surety bond, while a 17-year-old Pontiac resident is set to be arraigned Thursday. The exact charges he faces were not immediately available.

Police were alerted to the damage Aug. 21 and discovered 30 headstones had been vandalized at the Sashabaw Plains Cemetery off Maybee Road. Damage was estimated at $54,499.

"Through information that came to the Sheriff's Office after several media stories aired, two suspects were found to be responsible for this incident," reads a news release from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

The 17-year-old suspect is not being named because he has not yet been arraigned. A third suspect is sought for questioning. 

"It is unfathomable that anyone could commit a crime against those that have gone before us," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard. "Families often struggle to pay for gravestones that honor the life of a loved one and what these individuals did demonstrates that they have no regard or respect for life."

Detectives with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office substation in Independence are continuing to investigate the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the Oakland County Sheriff's Office at 248-858-4911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP (773-2587).

It has happened again.  A cemetery in Independence Township, Oakland County, was hit by vandalism.  Someone who lacks in morality and has no respect for much of anything decided it would be just fine to knock over headstones, including one dating from 1810.  Here that headstone has stood for over 200 years being challenged by the elements.  Yet it took just seconds for someone with little regard for anything to topple a memorial to someone who came before him and help establish the area in which he probably lives.  I talked to someone a few days ago who is on the board of directors of a large cemetery in this area.  They have had to make the decision to install a very, very expensive surveillance camera system.  How sad is that?

 

People are not always causing destruction in cemeteries.  While doing one of my favorite pasttimes (reading through old newspapers), I found an article in the Detroit Free Press from August 1906, "RAIN EXPOSES 200 BODIES  Great Deluge Causes Damage at Kansas City, Mo.  The washing out of graves at Elmwood cemetery by torrential rains today exposed nearly two hundred bodies to view.  The cemetery grounds, which are five miles from the business ceneter of the city, were flooded.  Monuments toppled over and other damage was done.  Much damage was done in the country districts.  In the city 5.94 inches of water fell in three and one-half hours, a record for that length of time.  The police and fire departments rescued many persons from basements in the north end of town, and in the east and west bottoms, where the water entered many small houses."    

I may have spammed an email requesting research information.  The reason is that if an unknown person emails me and does not put "Woodmere Cemetery" in the subject line, I may end up trashing it.  I had one the other day that just said Help! which was written by someone I never heard of before.  After talking with the staff at Woodmere the following Saturday, it occurred to me that the person was looking for research information.  Please, please, please, to avoid not getting a response from me, put a referral to Woodmere Cemetery in your subject line.  I have encountered too many viruses to take a chance on opening an email that does not give me a hint as to the purpose of the email. 

There is a great website, www.coursera.org, that occasionally may have something that is of interest to genealogists.  Coursera.org is a FREE website.  I recently got this email from them and since we are having to deal with copyright law, and those who do not follow copyright law, you may be interested in this course.  Even though it is geared toward educators and librarians, anyone with an interest in copyright law can take this.  And remember, it is FREE! 

 

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Over the weekend, Woodmere was hit by vandalism.  This isn't the first time, and the way things are going, it probably won't be the last.  A few mausoleums were broken into again, including the Scripps mausoleum.  The Scripps mausoleum was built in 1887 and is not far from the entrance of the cemetery.  The staff has notified nearby scrap dealers that any of the bronze doors taken are not to be purchased by them.  When will the public be so outraged that even scrap dealers would take it upon themselves to notify the police.  I'm sure there are those who really think that Detroit is turning around.  But that is not going to happen until people's attitudes are changed.  And when attitudes are changed, maybe this type of crime will stop.

Why there are those who think it is acceptable to vandalize a cemetery is unknown.  A rather small cemetery in Novi had a plaque stolen.  Even though it is a temporary one (it is plastic with the official bronze plaque to be installed at a later date), it does not lessen the audacity and the lack of integrity required to do such an act.  The plaque belongs to American Revolutionary War veteran, Hooper Bishop.  He was born in Massachusetts in 1762 and found his way to Novi when he was 75 years old.  Enlisting when he was 17 years old, he ended his service in 1781.  When he died in 1861 at the ripe old age of 99, he had lost his eyesight and hobbled on a wooden leg.  Earlier this year, a dedication for this plaque was sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution.  If anyone has any idea who may have done this, please contact the Novi police.

If you want to help restore Philetus Norris' house on Mt. Elliott, you can come to a fundraiser being held August 1, 2015.  This will be held at the 2 Way Inn.  The cost will be about $20 which includes a hot dog, beans, and potato salad.  A cash bar will be available.  There is a small, really small, group that is trying to preserve this historic home.  There's a photo of it in my book, Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery, if you are interested in seeing the condition that it is in.  With all the buildings Detroit and surrounding communities are tearing down in the name of progress(!), it would be wonderful if more people would help out with this great cause.  You can contact Mary at the 2 Way Inn for more information.

What troopers were the folks who survived the elements in the walking/driving tour today!  We started out with a lunch in the chapel while listening to a general history of the cemetery.  Then we toured the rest of the building, including the crematory (no longer works) before raising our embrellas to venture onto the grounds.  We made about nine stops with some of them including just one gravesite to visit and others had multiple gravesites.  It got a little windy at times but the weather was not too chilly to be able to tolerate rain.  After four hours, I think most of us were looking forward to going home, getting out of our soggy shoes, and fixing a cup of hot tea.  Thanks to all of you who were more than kind with your words and actions.  It was a great day regardless of the weather.  

George Hough was a Detroit fireman.  In 1902, he died by falling through the roof of a burning building.  He has no headstone at Woodmere and we would like to have one and have a dedication when it is installed.  We are looking for relatives of George.  We know that he never married and had no children.  He had a couple siblings (Harry and Emma), who lived in Dearborn.  Some of their descendants lived in California, Ann Arbor, and Florida. His parents were George and Candace.  The last member in the family plot to be buried there was Walter who died in 1998. If anyone has information about this family, please contact me.