Cliff Mine Cemetary - Allouez

 (Keweenaw Cty,MI).
Rarely will I include a non-Wisconsin location but I feel it's selfish to disinclude this wonderful cemetery.

Many years ago, back in the late 1980s, I was traveling in the UP looking for waterfalls when we came across the Cliff Cemetery. When we were there it was completely overgrown, and the aire it lent was one of loneliness;of history discarded, abandoned. This was on the heels of traveling through some of the poorest country I have ever seen and that is what shaped my perspective.

Funny, it was in 1999 where Patrica Hamp worked on cataloging the headstones.  Now that I am updating this in 2015 and technology has solved a minor mystery:

On the first stone listed it's written as: 
His labors securely laid in this his last retreat, unl???ded our his silent dust we ????? Of friendship ????

The complete phrase, found in the

Bibliotheca Sacra - Volume 6 - Page 222 

His labors done, securely laid in this his last retreat,
Unheeded o'er his silent dust the storms of life shall beat

It is also used in

Christopher Columbus - Page 249 

Life's labors done, securely laid
In this his last retreat,
Unheeded o'er his silent dust 
The storms of life shall beat

04/08/2015: While cleaning up this blog I found a few other sites regarding this history of this cemetery.  Read up on the history in the Cliff Mine Archaeology Project Blog.

I was happy to see that others have been here, but truthfully I had hoped it remained a hidden secret, patiently waiting for my return.

Rienzi Cemetery - Fond du Lac

Rienzi Cemetery, Empire/Fond du Lac (Fond du Lac Cty)

Note: THIS PARK HAS AN AUTOMATIC GATE AND ONLY ONE ENTRANCE.

Local genealogy site has a wealth of information including the care of copying headstone inscriptions, and a link to civil war letters.

A nondenominational cemetery, it holds all the elements of a site worth visiting. I am continually impressed with what I find during research because it illustrates our need to preserve and pass on the knowledge of our families.

It also happens to be my favorite place for driving lessons.  I fondly remember an occasion where my aunt let me drive in a cemetery when we were attending a reunion in Michigan.

Where to find: Outskirts of Fond du Lac. Heading east on Hwy 23, follow it halfway up hill, then take Cty Hwy K right. You will pass my Ledge Homestead haunt, and also the ginormous Lutheran Church. Continue through the 4 way stop and it will be on your left. You can't miss it. It looks like a cemetery.


What to expect: Classic tombstones of the 1800s, veteran site, pet cemetery, pauper's section and also one devoted to the Jewish Holocaust victims. A diverse collection of headstones and a parklike setting. On my Flickr site you will see some headstones that are in the language of that person's homeland, which I have never seen before. Have you?

Lakeview Cemetery - Stockbridge

Stockbridge, Calumet Cty

Only a few will catalog their visit to a cemetery, for good reasons I suppose. Not every one will understand the allure of walking amongst those whose bones have been resting as long, if not longer than Wisconsin's statehood was declared.

A coworker mentioned this small plot and on my first try I didn't find it. As a matter of fact, I completely missed a HUGE county park on a road I swore I drove on. Oy vey, what does it matter anyhow.

A ginormous tree guards the entrance to the cemetery. We don't see too many trees that last this long 'fore weather or disease lays it to waste. Incidentially, this tree is a DNR registered Champion Tree and can be found by searching their database by county name (Calumet).

During my investigation, there are a number of headstones that are broken, felled, and in one corner appears to be several that collided in a great upheaval of sorts, by natural forces or otherwise. If you follow the image link you will see a better image of how many stones there are. It's disturbing to see this in a cemetery. I have always taken for granted that someone is acting a caretaker, and at Rienzi Cemetery, there is actually an effort within the community to volunteer their time and materials to maintain the site.

Cemeteries

I belong to a minority of people who see cemeteries as parks for the living as well as the dead. Funny, my criteria for cemeteries and parks share one condition: a marked lack of people. Most of my excursions are indeed solo, and the less people I come across, the better.

My interest in cemeteries started during a exploring mission on the shores of Lake Geneva when I was knee high to a grasshopper (some contend I still am, but they have been made sorry for saying so). Circling the lake is a public path, unmarked other than where the grass has worn from use. At my young age I did not know this but followed the path as others had before me. Some of the homes on the lake are huge, looming and old, and I had just crossed onto the yard of one when I saw a small collection of gravestones nearby. Nothing sinister, just something that you don't see every day. Even in my young mind I understood that families sometimes buried their own, and that is what creeped me out.