The little green pin is a little off.
So this is one of the more fascinating cemeteries I've ever been to.
I've attached a couple links at the bottom for additional reading, but here is some quick background info.
The Michigan Home for the Feeble-Minded & Epileptic opened in 1895, closed in 1991 and was demolished in 1996. It changed names several times, from the Michigan Home and Training School, to the Lapeer State Home and Training School and, finally to the Oakdale Regional Center for Developmental Disabilities.
The "Castle" was the administration building, built in 1902.
(photo taken from a link below)
It started out with 160 acres and 200 beds in 2 dormitories (one for men, one for women). By the mid 1940s, there were over 4600 patients, 98 buildings and 1100 acres! It was the largest employer in the county. It was mostly self sufficient with fine cattle herds and huge gardens.
My sister & I parked at a nearby business and fought our way across an overgrown field before realizing it was criss-crossed with well-used bike trails! We sure didn't expect to see any other people, but we saw a man on a bike and 3 other people with a baby in a stroller! So there was clearly an easier way to get in!
This is the road off the main trail, going back into the cemetery.
Very nicely well kept.
There are only a few headstones above ground.
I send out kudos to "Cindy" on Find A Grave, since she posted pictures of the actual death certificates of a lot of the people buried here. I've listed some of the info here including the cause of death. Most people were from Michigan, but I have pictures here of people from Greece, Poland, Finland and Canada.
280 Nellie Rennard
12 Mar 1908 - 11 Dec 1922
feebleminded & complete cripple
"paralysis of throat - unable to take enough nourishment to sustain life"
Had been a resident for 5 years, 5 months & 15 days.
281 Joe Dixon
24 May 1850 - 13 Dec 1922
282 Leo Alvar Merrillo / Merila
13 Apr 1909 - 13 Dec 1922
Had been a resident for 2 months, 20 days.
300 Margaret Howe
no other info
George Anderson (death certificate says female)
20 Sep 1892 - 17 Nov 1916
"Broncho Pneumonia / Feeble-minded person"
Had been a resident for 15 years, 4 months 11 days.
298 Alta Hazelburg
23 Mar 1899 - 25 Jun 1925
Edmond Napiorkowski
14 Aug 1922 - 29 Apr 1926
no other info - not even family listed.
Poor baby!
398 Frederick Issac Binnier
8 Aug 1918 - 27 Oct 1935
Lianetta Shaw
10 Nov 1915 - 18 Sep 1939
408 Leon Demopolus
20 Jan 1920 - 12 Dec 1938
Comparing the size of the stone to my boot.
George Patrick Grover
12 Aug 1897 - 9 Jan 1937
Had been a resident for 27 years, 8 months, 27 days.
405 Ethel Thuline
15 May 1900 - 18 May 1937
404 Eunice Mickles
no other info
Elmer Crawford
21 Dec 1863 - 27 Mar 1910
"Gastroenteritis"
Had been a resident for 7 months.
Basil Freeman
8 Dec 1904 - 10 May 1910
"Cerebral meningitis / Measles"
Had been a resident for 1 year, 5 months.
Verne Saxton
8 Sep 1894 - 18 Nov 1910
"Small Pox"
Had been a resident for 4 years, 12 days.
Floyd H. Williams
2 Feb 1901 - 11 Dec 1910
"Pneumonia"
Had been a resident for 1 year, 3 months, 26 days.
I'm pretty sure these had been moved. The tops of the stones are gone.
George Fortenis
27 Mar 1913 - 20 Apr 1920
"Gastroentritis / Feebleminded"
Anne Caughey
29 Dec 1895 - 15 Jun 1920
"Lobar Pneumonia"
Feeblminded (lifetime)
Auber Paine
24 Jul 1901 - 15 Jul 1920
"Abscess of lung following pneumonia"
Maggie Anderson
13 Oct 1894 - 19 Jan 1921
196 Orville Mangan
25 Feb 1901 - 23 Apr 1917
"Acute serous fibrinous pericarditis"
Feebleminded (lifetime)
Had been a resident for 25 days.
Ludwiga Vanicka
1847 (Poland) - 30 Nov 1910
"Cirrhosis of liver"
Had been a resident for 1 year, 22 days.
212 Mary Schafer
1861 - 2 Mar 1918
"Hypostatic Pneumonia / fractured leg due to being pushed down by another resident"
Had been a resident for 1 year, 9 months, 8 days.
I thought for sure we'd find something in or around this bush.
We weren't sure what this was, but it's interesting.
372 Elsie Monberg
14 Jan 1914 - 30 Sep 1929
Mamie Diamond
15 Aug 1890 - 19 Apr 1929
"Cancer of the cervix of the uterus"
Had been a resident for 24 years, 1 month, 16 days.
unknown
There are a lot of unmarked graves.
Walter Stevens
Mar 1876 - 18 Feb 1907
"Septicemia (maybe?) / epilepsy (maybe?)"
the handwriting was really tough to read!
Morris C.
no other info
William Houghton / Hoten
unk - 13 Sep 1906 (approx age 36)
"Scalds of lower extremities / organic disease of brain / dementia"
Had been a resident for 10 months, 12 days.
Robert Turner
unk - 8 Feb 1906 (approx age 15)
"Pneumonia / measles"
Had been a resident 6 years, 4 months, 12 days.
George Washington Christensen
25 Dec 1894 - 5 Jun 1906
"Organic disease of brain / early childhood"
Had been resident for 1 year, 5 months, 2 days.
Harrison Sullinger
24 Feb 1878 - 5 Oct 1908
"Typhoid Fever"
Had been a resident for 3 years, 2 months.
Freeborn
no other info
Leroy Stone Benton
1869 - 24 Mar 1914
"Exhaustion from General Tuberculosis"
Had been a resident for 1 year, 6 months, 19 days.
273 Baby Hoadley
no other info
Harry Groh
18 Nov 1888 - 8 Aug 1905
"Epilepsy / congenital idocy" (I've never heard that phrase before!!)
Had been a resident for 4 years, 3 months, 27 days.
Idocy was a progressive neurodegenerative disorder found in children, such a sad yet fascinating place.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Very sad but very fascinating. I'm glad that folks still come out to remember these souls who otherwise would be forgotten. My guess is so many of them were probably placed there so they would be forgotten. A Greek Orthodox friend introduced me to the phrase "May their memory be eternal" which is used as sort of a prayer for those who have died. It's not about their memory on earth but a prayer that God will save them, keep them, and bring them into God's kingdom. It's a comforting thought for these ones. Thank you for sharing this and taking a step to preserve their lives in some way.
ReplyDeleteI came across this page while doing research. Eunice Mickles died when she was 16 as the result of complications from a eugenic sterilization procedure. She lived 20 Dec 1920 - 3 May 1937
ReplyDeleteI came across this page while doing research. Eunice Mickles died as the result of a eugenic sterilization operation. She was 16, born 20 Dec 1920 and died 3 May 1937.
ReplyDeleteThe Lapeer poor farm and Oakdale were two different places. The poor farm cemetery is a separate location but seems to be entirely lost and unmarked. This cemetery is all from Oakdale. There are maps and lists of the burials on the Lapeer library website.
ReplyDelete