SQ - Conner Creek Detroit Grosse Pointe Cemetery
Near the intersection of I-94 and Conner is an area of land that many people have seen over the years as they drive past it, but most of them probably have no idea what the the significance of the fence and boulder is, what the history is here, or why any of it is an important part of the City of Detroit.
This area is not just a strip of land with some trees and grass, it has a history and some secrets that may never, ever be revealed. This area was once farmland, back when the density of population of the City of Detroit was still a few miles away, unlike nowadays when the spot is contained within the sprawling metropolis of the metropolitan area.
This strange little configuration of streets and service drive access is part of what had once been a playfield and baseball diamonds, prior to the I-94 freeway being built in the 1950's and 1960's. The baseball diamonds, tennis courts, swingsets, trees, and picnic tables were here until the freeway was built. Most people that had played, picnicked, and enjoyed this nice little piece of land probably had no idea that this was once something completely different. It was a part of a forgotten piece of something more important...a Detroit City Cemetery, also known as the Conner Creek Detroit Grosse Pointe Cemetery.
Commemorative boulder & plaque at GZ for the cemetery.
The CCDGP Cemetery was situated near what is now the intersection of Gunston and Hern streets and part of the history of this location includes two long-gone cemeteries in the eastern portion of whats now Downtown Detroit. Those two cemeteries were Russell Street Cemetery which was located near the intersection of Russell Street and Gratiot Ave. and the Clinton Cemetery which was near Clinton and Gratiot.
Russell Street Cemetery welcomed it's first permanent resident in 1834 and quickly added many more residents over the next few years due to the various health issues that were around at the time. Some of these issues included a cholera outbreak that claimed many lives and filled many of the local burial locations. At Russell Street, Catholics were buried in one half and Protestants in the other half and the burials were from early European settlers and did not include any Native Americans in any of the local cemeteries.
Cemeteries in the 1800's were a little less organized and well-kept as they are nowadays. Those folks that were interred there may not have had the same amount of respect given to them as they are nowadays either. "Big Cities" such as Detroit, were still trying to work-out the details of such things as they expanded both geographically and in their populations. Most cemeteries had some sort of caregiver, but usually their duties for the cemetery were in-addition to other town or city-related services.
The City Sexton was the official grave digger and was responsible for the maintenance of the cemetery grounds. Individuals buying family lots in the City Cemetery, after acquiring a certificate, were required to go to the city Treasurer to pay for the lot. They were then expected to take this certificate marked as a receipt to the City Clerk, who would authorize the purchase of the lot.
Sexton Certificates (from Chicago)
Some Common Council records indicate that the City Sexton sometimes exhumed bodies to city-owned lots from unpaid family lots. Also, records indicate that sometimes an individual with a newly-acquired cemetery lot would find a body already buried in their lot. As a result of such occurrences, an early cemetery ordinance forbade individuals other than the City Sexton to conduct burials in the City Cemetery. From 1841 to 1863 in Detroit, sales were made by the City Clerk's Office, and after 1863, the City Controller was in charge of the care of the grounds and the sale of lots.
In the mid 1850's, things were not well with the city's responsibilities when it came to it's cemeteries. A letter in 1857 to the Common Council from the City Sexton, Peter Cleisen, regarding Russell Street Cemetery stated that there had been many bodies removed, but whether they had authority or were doing it properly, he wasn't sure and believed that the bodies "should not be dug up except under (his) direction." Where those bodies went is anyone's guess.
General Henry A. Morrow (1829-1891)
A few years later General Henry Morrow (who had served in the Civil War and was appointed Collector for the Port of Detroit) wrote to the City Council regarding Russell Street Cemetery:
It is little short of disgraceful to Detroit that its cemetery should have been allowed to fall into the ruinous and dilapidated state in which we find it at present. It was once the place of interment for the whole city and in it are deposited the remains of many worthy and respectable people. When the city sold lots in the cemetery, it was with the implied pledge that the grounds should be and remain sacred for cemetery purposes. This pledge has been entirely overlooked or disregarded. Not only has the ground been neglected and the fences allowed to go to ruin, but a portion of the land has been appropriated for other purposes. The city has the power, without doubt, to prohibit further interments in the city cemetery, and it would be its duty to do this if the public health or convenience required such a step. But it is still used for the almost sacred purposes of burial, and yet all care of it is neglected.
On April 20, 1869, it was ordered that burials be stopped at Russell Street because the property was still being very poorly managed. Things were really a mess, and what’s more, the land was starting to look too good to waste on the dead. People were already selling hay and wood at market nearby, and Gratiot Avenue was the perfect conduit between the city and the country.
In 1877, the first removals of bodies from the cemetery began to occur and they would be re-interred elsewhere. In 1879 a Circuit Court ordered the Cemetery to be completely vacated because the land was considered more valuable for business and commerce than it was for a cemetery, considering the farmers and their haywagons were conducting business directly next to it already. The House of Corrections and the Hay and Wood Markets were the first buildings located on the sites of the previous graves. Later on, Eastern Market covered the entire area.
The City Council began searching for a suitable location for a new cemetery. A few areas were investigated and evaluated, and most were suitable and available for the purpose of a cemetery.
1876 Atlas of the area with City of Detroit owned-land highlighted.
The location that eventually became the CCDGP Cemetery location was originally a 34-acre parcel purchased in 1872 by Frederick Ruehle from Antoine Joseph Dubay for a total of $3,000. It would later be purchased by the City of Detroit for twice that amound and the City made plans for the construction of a hospital to care for victims of the Smallpox virus. This area was chosen because it was four-miles further away from Detroit and the acreage was sufficient for the hospital needs of the time. Unfortunately, Grosse Pointe Township blocked the plan for the hospital, citing concerns for the public health and well-being. So the City of Detroit decided to re-purpose a portion of the land for the cemetery instead and plans and construction went-forward for that purpose.
The CCDGP Cemetery was dedicated on August 27, 1880 and that same year the City removed 1,493 remains at a cost of $2,019 and moved them to the newly created CCDGP including the gravestones, monuments, iron fences, and decor that had made-up Russell Street Cemetery. In 1881, an additional 1,668 bodies were removed and in 1882, the last 1,357 were removed to be re-laid to rest at Elmwood Cemetery. The City then was able to repurpose the land as Eastern Market.
Zachariah Chandler (1813-1879)
Notable folks that were buried in the newly created cemetery included Maj. Hunter Holmes who was a veteran of the War of 1812, and Detroit Mayor Hugh Moffat, as well as Zachariah Chandler, who was also Mayor of Detroit and served in the U.S. Senate During the Civil War. His opponents labeled him as a “radical abolitionist. He also presided at the impeachment trial of Andrew Jackson. Chandler Park, once called Campeau Woods, was also named after Zachariah Chandler.
These individuals were all later moved to Elmwood Cemetery and the history of these folks has been preserved, as was their remains carefully disinterred and later reinterred at Elmwood.
Chandler's grave marker at Elmwood
Several years went by and CCDGP Cemetery began to suffer the fate of poor-management that had began at Russell Street. Widespread neglect, abuse and desecration caused this cemetery to disappear from record, although the City of Detroit recreation department had been responsible for its maintenance. Unfortunately, many bodies in the Conner Creek Detroit Grosse Pointe Cemetery were never re-interred properly or documented as to their whereabouts when they had supposedly been moved to CCDGP. Needless to say, when the City neighborhoods finally reached around the area surrounding the cemetery, many folks and City Management didn't even realize it was here.
Some graves had been moved from CCDGP Cemetery to elsewhere but those bodies that remained that had already been moved once include now-unknown veterans of the War of 1812, the Mexican American War, the Civil War as well as other ordinary citizens who had been buried at Russell Street and Clinton cemeteries. Those remains that were left and never moved were at the mercies of the City of Detroit's Grave Diggers during the times of mass-removal. It's likely that there was nobody left to mourn them or care about their final resting places since the initial burials had taken-place so many years before.
Map of the area from 1921 with no mention of the Cemetery.
They would become the John and Jane Does of Detroit history. It can be said that these people were victims, even after death, of municipal incompetence and short-sightedness. Originally, those "John and Jane Does" may have gone to their final resting places separately, but could have become packed together during the moving.
Eventually the responsibility for City-owned cemeteries was turned over to the Recreation Department, of all things. The department unfortunately didn't do such a good job of keeping track of everything and the CCDGP Cemetery had somehow disappeared from view and from record between 1918 and 1925. In addition to any "official" records of this being a cemetery being lost or misplaced, all of these artifacts that had been moved here from Russell Street Cemetery had disappeared from the cemetery. It's altogether possible that they were all taken for baseball stops, boat ballast, or for other purposes by the residents of the area.
It's assumed that widespread neglect, abuse and desecration caused this cemetery to disappear from record and its failure to be remembered as a cemetery meant its eventual dissolution as such and was converted into use as a playground and used as such through the early-to-mid 1950's.
Aerial view - 1949
The area was rediscovered In 1950 when the discovery of human remains shocked the workers that were digging a utility trench along the west side of Gunston, near the curb for the street. They unearthed bones and a broken gravestone and the incident was investigated, however work continued on the trench and little was done over the next few years.
In 1958, during the construction for the I-94 Freeway, remains were again unearthed in the former playground area. The development and construction in the areas surrounding the land revealed no more remains and based on these findings, it was concluded that the most-likely location for the CCDGP Cemetery was between Conner, Gunston, and the I-94 Service Drive. These areas were believed to be untouched by any of the construction and the freeway construction would continue. At that time, it was asked of anyone with records from Grosse Pointe that may show municipal burials to please contact their local State Senator and provide that information so it could be properly documented. As far as what was documented, nothing ever was submitted to the government regarding this cemetery.
Aerial view - 1961
Since 1977, there has been little change here, except for the neighborhood that is nearby. Most people see what's here and probably think of this as a very small park. Little do they know that the small island with a few sections of fence on it and a boulder is an interesting and historic part of the area, which is why it's been designated as a historical area for people to remember for years to come.
N 42° AB.CDE ~ W 082° VW.XYZ
A: The first digit of the day of the month the CCDGP Cemetery was dedicated
B: Second digit of the "last amount" that were removed for re-interment at Elmwood Cemetery.
C: Count the number of "pointed verticals" in each of the sections of fence at GZ (there is the same amount in each section). This is a two-digit number and you must take the first digit and add to the second digit to get "C".
D: Second digit of the day of the month that burials be stopped at Russell Street due to poor management
E: Total grave markers that are now present at this cemetery.
V: Third digit of the year there was a letter to the Common Council from the City Sexton
W: Second digit of the year that Interstate 94 was being constructed
X: Last digit of the year the parcel was purchased by Frederick Ruehle
Y: Total number of boulders at the location of GZ
Z: Second digit of the total amount of letters in the top circle of the plaque at GZ.
This is not a difficult puzzle.
You must read the history and maybe learn something
of this area to be able to solve the puzzle. Enjoy! :)