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Elmwood Cemetery Celebrates Arbor Day
35 fourth and fifth graders from Friends School Detroit participated in an Arbor Day Celebration on Friday, April 25 at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit. At 10:00 a.m., the children participated in the planting of three concolor fir trees, learned about the importance of trees in our environment, and toured the cemetery grounds. The children each received a concolor fir tree seedling, and planting and care guidelines, to take home and plant.

“We at Elmwood are committed to the conservation and careful management of our tree inventory. We are proud to have over seventy species throughout our eighty-five acres. Last year, our Board chose the reforestation of the Cemetery as one of our key projects. The donations received from the Elmwood Community and a mini-grant from the State of Michigan made this Arbor Day celebration possible. We believe it is important to share with the children our awareness of the importance of nature and how trees positively impact the environment,” commented Joan Capuano, Executive Director of the Historic Elmwood Foundation. “Here we are in the middle of Detroit, with eighty-five acres of rolling hills, green grass and majestic trees. This is truly a haven of nature that we are pleased to share with our visitors and families.”

Friends’ student and Elmwood Grounds Crew at concolor fir tree.

Elmwood Cemetery Trustee, John S. Snyder, pictured with Friends’ students next to the tree they helped plant.

Friends’ students touching the soft marble of the Waterman monument during their hands-on tour of the Cemetery grounds. The monument, “Veiled Lady”, weighs 20 tons.

Memorial Advisor, Ciara Green-Lowe, distributing concolor fir tree seedlings to the children as a parting gift from the Elmwood community.

Tabloid Tours October 28, 2007 Were you there?

Veterans' Day Observance at Elmwood Cemetery

On Sunday, November 11, the 23rd annual Veterans' Day Ceremony was held at Elmwood Cemetery. Hundreds attended including ROTC cadets from 26 area high schools. Mrs. Beulah Hamilton, Detroit Historic Sites Committee, organized the celebration which included a Frederick Douglas impersonator, a soloist who sang a very moving hymn, and the 102nd Civil War Colored Troop re-enactment group which provided a gun salute as a member of Detroit's Southeastern High School band played taps. All veterans in attendance were called forward and were given a rose. Roses were placed on the tombs of all members of the 102nd and Native American troops. Three wreaths were presented to honor the 102nd Civil War Colored Troops, Native American Troops and all war Veterans. A wreath was later placed at Coleman Young's, a Tuskegee Airman in World War II, resting place. A representative of the Detroit mayor's office presented Mrs. Hamilton with a recognition certificate for her dedication in honoring our veterans.

Memorial Day Observance at Elmwood Cemetery

This past Memorial Day, Elmwood Cemetery was honored to host two memorial services honoring those who served on behalf of others.

The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) held their annual service at 10:00 at the Civil War section of Elmwood Cemetery. Flags were placed on all resting places and members of the distinguished SAR spoke in remembrance of those who fought on behalf of our country.

The Detroit Firemen's Fund held its annual Firemen's Parade. The parade began at 9:00 a.m. at the Lafayette fire station where the firemen's band, honor guard, over 250 firefighters and friends, and fire engines paraded down Lafayette to Elmwood. They passed under a large American flag suspended from two fire engine ladders, and through the grounds to the Firemen's section. Wreaths were placed in the Firemen's section, and this year's deceased were announced and tolled in. Taps closed the moving ceremony.

Historic Elmwood Foundation
Celebrates its Second Annual Donor Reception.

Features 160TH Anniversary Project: Chapel Restoration

Contributors to the Historic Elmwood Foundation were treated to an old-fashioned afternoon on the lawn overlooking Elmwood Cemetery’s pond on September 20, a late summer day with more than a hint of autumn in the air. The 60 guests were greeted and thanked by Elmwood’s Board of Trustees President Francis W. “Sandy” McMillan II and Foundation Board President Terry Peck Book, who noted that $25,000 -- a third of the goal for this year’s major project, the chapel restoration -- has been reached to date.

The Norman Gothic Revival chapel, built of local limestone and timber, is now just ten years younger than the cemetery itself, and an estimated $75,000 is needed to provide it with a new roof, new interior venting and a fresh coat of paint, inside and out. The Chapel plays an increasingly important role in the life of the surrounding community, as a center for concerts, educational programs, lectures, memorial programs and weddings.

At the two-hour reception, which began at 4 pm, the guests also received updates on other Foundation projects, which included new, Victorian-style benches placed throughout the grounds, and new native plantings near the historical marker across from the Gatehouse. The benches were the result of a $10,000 donation from the Mary Thompson Foundation. The landscaping project was made possible by a donation from the Memorial Fund of The Garden Club of Michigan.

Before the reception, Joseph Malburg, Elmwood’s Director of Operations, conducted a tour of the grounds, not only highlighting some of the Cemetery’s more notorious headline newsmakers of the past 160 years, but also explaining the historical and personal meanings behind many of the sculpted images, which might appear simply as design elements to the casual observer.

The Historic Elmwood Foundation was established in 2005 in order to preserve and promote the heritage and beauty of Elmwood Cemetery, and to help future generations to experience and understand the historical significance of those who played a part in shaping Detroit. The Foundation welcomes community participation, with annual memberships on many levels, a volunteer program and donations for specific beautification and restoration projects.

New Victorian-style Landscaping Adds Historic Appeal
to Detroit’s 160-year-old Elmwood Cemetery

The eighty-six acre Elmwood Cemetery has always been graced by majestic groves of trees and lush vegetation that take advantage of the natural beauty and history of the land.

It’s a shaded woodland, home to Chinese and ring-necked pheasants, scurrying black squirrels and a springtime family of ducklings. A rolling landscape studded with a wide and unique array of trees and natural flora. There is a stream which calmly flows through green hills and valley. The historic gardens are serene and peaceful.

During the nation’s bicentennial, the state of Michigan erected an historic marker adjacent to the Gatehouse of Elmwood Cemetery, and today a new landscape design, adding a sense of Victorian ambience, surrounds it. The new design consists of all native plantings, with the dominant element being a multiple-stem paper bark maple, with cinnamon brown bark and russet-red fall color. The tree is surrounded by chartreuse Sum & Substance Hosta fronted by low-growing, drought resistant pink-blooming geraniums. The area is completed by purple-flowering lily turf, with a touch of evergreen provided by dwarf Ward Yew.

The project was designed by Landscape Architect Candace Sweeny, working with Cyndie Baubie Gullickson, Vice President of the Historic Elmwood Foundation. According to Ms Gullickson, the aim of the Foundation’s first landscaping project was to “satisfy two of the foundation’s goals – enhancing Elmwood’s natural beauty, and maintaining the historical significance of the cemetery, which was originally patterned after Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts as designed by Dr. Jacob Bigelow.” Bigelow, New England’s foremost botanist of the era, took his inspiration from western Europe’s first ornamental cemetery, Pere Lachaise in Paris.

The project was made possible by a generous donation from the Memorial Fund of The Garden Club of Michigan. Anna Warren, Garden Club President, said that the donation helps to further three goals of that organization – to “enhance the quality of life through the beautification of the environment, to help preserve the historic garden designs that began flourishing in cemeteries in the mid 1800s, and to commemorate the lives of members and their families who are interred at Elmwood Cemetery.”

The historic marker, erected by the state of Michigan on Robert Bradby Drive, reads:
In 1846 when this was a farm on the outskirts of Detroit, a group of gentlemen formed a corporation and purchased the land for use as a public cemetery. The trustees patterned the grounds after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and utilized the ideas of famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Parent’s Creek, renamed Bloody Run after the battle fought between Pontiac and the British in 1763, serves as the focus in the informal country garden landscape. Albert and Octavius Jordon designed the handsome Gothic Revival Chapel, which opened for services in 1856. The chapel’s limestone walls blend into the natural ravine and tree-lined paths. Famous people buried here include General Russell Alger, geologist Douglass Houghton, and Territorial Governor Lewis Cass.

The Historic Elmwood Foundation was established in 2005 in order to preserve and promote the heritage and beauty of Elmwood Cemetery, and to help future generations to experience and understand the historical significance of those who played a part in shaping Detroit. The Foundation welcomes community participation, with annual memberships on many levels, a volunteer program and donations for specific beautification and restoration projects.

New Benches at Elmwood Cemetery will offer a rest stop for thousands of visitors each year.

After Detroit resident Mary Thompson was buried at Elmwood Cemetery, her will established the Mary Thompson Foundation dedicated to the care of the aging and infirmed.

Now, a $10,000 donation from that foundation has been given to the Historic Elmwood Foundation to provide ten benches to be placed throughout Elmwood Cemetery. Based on a design by Robert Moses for the 1939 World’s Fair, the traditionally styled, iron framework benches with wooden backs and seats and ornamental arms are a major enhancement of the Cemetery during its 160th anniversary celebration this year.

“Offering beautiful views of the landscape design, the benches will provide relatives and friends with opportunities for quiet contemplation and fond remembrances,” said Terry Peck Book, President of The Historic Elmwood Foundation. “The benches are a fitting tribute to Mary Thompson and her husband, whose final resting place is Elmwood.” The benches will also offer comfort and convenience to the thousands of visitors who enjoy the serenity of nature and the many tours, special events and historical tributes held at Elmwood Cemetery each year.

The benches’ locations take advantage of the natural and man-made vistas throughout Elmwood – in the valley by the cemetery’s willow trees, on the main drive with a view of the pond and bridge, near the Norman Gothic Revival chapel, and other convenient areas.

Each bench is surrounded by antique paving brick and bears a plaque acknowledging the generosity of the Thompson Foundation. Headquartered in Detroit, the primary aim of the Mary Thompson Foundation is to assist the frail and elderly in Michigan. Its fields of interest include centers and services for the aging, geriatrics, and nursing home and convalescent facilities. The Thompson Foundation is also a patron of the Historic Elmwood Foundation.

The Historic Elmwood Foundation was established in 2005 to preserve and promote the heritage and beauty of Elmwood Cemetery, and to help future generations to experience and understand the historical significance of those who played a part in shaping Detroit. The Foundation welcomes community participation, with annual memberships on many levels, a volunteer program and donations for specific beautification and restoration projects.

TALES FROM THE CRYPTS: Digging up the dirt on Detroit’s past
Elmwood Cemetery tour unearths stories of city’s colorful characters
November 3, 2005
BY EVELYN ASCHENBRENNER
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER
Visitors walk through Elmwood Cemetery on an annual tour that features tombstones and tales of famous Detroiters. Page 4. (ELAINE LOK/Special to the Free Press)

As Detroit’s second-oldest cemetery, Elmwood has become keeper of some of the city’s most interesting stories. And for the past 12 years, its annual tour has revealed some of its most colorful links to Detroit’s past. “It’s a historical tour of people, of the landscape, of the cemetery and the styles of monuments,” said Joe Malburg, the director of operations at Elmwood. “It’s not like other historical tours,” he said. “I tell the good and the bad, and I tell a story,” said Malburg, 47, of Warren, who has guided the tour since it started in 1983.

Dozens of famous Detroiters are buried in the cemetery, which opened on the city’s east side in 1846, and Malburg takes pride in knowing many of their stories. “I dig up the dirt and unearth the skeletons,” he said. Malburg said he also takes pride in the fact that the tour offers visitors a friendly atmosphere in which they can learn about people who helped shape Detroit’s history. “Cemeteries are one of those subjects that no one has the courage to ask about,” said Malburg. “Since the tour is informal, it gives people a chance to ask questions they might not normally feel comfortable asking.” Fortified with Halloween candy handed out from a 1934 LaSalle hearse, the 90 participants on Sunday’s walking tour heard stories whose subjects ranged from Detroit’s founders to the relatively unknown.

Some of the stories are touching; others, just strange. Take, for instance, the case of the cursed tombstone. The marker on Nathaniel Hickok’s grave reads, in part, “Blest be he that spares these stones, and curst be he that moves my bones.” Hickok was originally buried in a cemetery near present-day Greektown, but all the graves at that site were reinterred at Elmwood. None of the workers wanted to move Hickok’s grave, but the stone was eventually moved by an immigrant worker who did not read English. Hickok died of cholera -- but the fate of the immigrant is unknown, said Malburg. One marker, that of Henry Clitz, is unique in that it has a date of birth, but no date of death. Clitz, an Army general, disappeared near Niagara Falls in 1881, and his body was never recovered. Sam Thompson, who played baseball for the Detroit Tigers at the time of Ty Cobb, asked that his stats be placed on his grave marker. Many of the markers are much more solemn, such as that of Jacob M. Howard, a U.S. senator who was one of the signers of the 1865 anti-slavery amendment. Howard’s grave is marked with an obelisk. But unlike many of the other towering, Egyptian-inspired monuments that dot the Elmwood landscape, Howard’s is broken halfway up -- to symbolize a life’s work cut short. He died in 1871.

Folks whose final resting places are on Elmwood Street include prominent politicians and influential businessmen, musicians, soldiers and freed slaves. One of those prominent Detroiters is Joseph Campau, for whom the street is named. Also buried at Elmwood are Lewis Cass, the only Detroiter to run for president, and former Mayor Coleman Young, as well as James Vernor, creator of Vernor’s Ginger Ale, and Bernhard Stroh, the founder of Stroh’s Brewery. The graves of Sunny Wilson, known as the Mayor of Hastings Street, and Fred (Sonic) Smith, who played in the musical group MC5, can also be found there. “I’ve always meant to come to this, because it’s part of our family history,” said Gretchen Thams, 77, of Auburn Hills, who said she has cousins buried in nearby Temple Beth El cemetery.

While Elmwood is a treasure trove of carved marble statues, ornate mausoleums and sarcophagi, part of its charm lies in its steep hills and valleys. “It’s a beautiful cemetery,” said Diane Hassig, 59, of Grosse Pointe Woods, who said she first visited Elmwood when she was in kindergarten. “What I like is the original lay of the land.” Proceeds from the tour benefit Hostelling International, a group that supports economic traveling and youth hostels. The tour enables the group to hold educational workshops about topics such as safe travel abroad.

Posted by permission of the Detroit Free Press.