Page 4 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

Silent cities speak history

The earliest known death in what
has become the City of Wayne hap-
pened in what was known as John-
son's Tavern built in 1824. Stephen
Gifford Simmons who purchased
the tavern from George M. Johnson
in 1825 with his wife Lavina, and
two daughters moved to the frontier
of the Territory of Michigan to oper-
ate the Johnson's tavern. In one of Streets North of Michigan Avenue
his jealous and drunken rages in West. Given almost 200 years since
1830, Stephen Gifford Simmons their deaths and burials, I trust that
beat his wife, Lavina to death. He no remains or the exact locations of
was captured by local authorities, their burials could be found today.
brought to trial in Detroit, was found This author likes to believe that the
guilty of the charges, and was sen- heirs chose the high ground on the
tenced to death by hanging. On Sep- western edge of their property to in- Historic Glenwood Cemetery
tember 24, 1830 in Campus Martius tern the remains of their parents.
the sentence was carried out. What This leads us to the next burial prac- sidered to be health hazards by the that the lots were well organized,
you may not know is that Wayne's tice: late 19th Century. Given Wayne had with rolling terrain, planned vista's
own resident, Stephen Gifford Sim- the Michigan Avenue Cemetery, it and walkways, three dimensional
mons was the last Michiganian to be Burial plots wasn't until after the Catholic church statues, vaults ( McGee, Stellwagen-
sentenced to death under Michigan Burial Plots are similar to Fron- was established that a churchyard Collins, and King) and tombstones
law. The specter created by his hang- tier Graves as they typically are rest- was also created, that being St. that were works of art. In fact, many
ing in 1830 Detroit, was the catalyst ing places set aside on the owners Mary's Catholic Cemetery. The land families picnicked on the burial site
which sparked the debate regarding property for family members who for which was donated by Jeremiah of their beloved relatives who had
the death penalty and resulted in have passed. The Old Wayne Michi- O'Connor, the Irish immigrant who passed on, they left flowers, pebbles
Michigan becoming the first state in gan Avenue Cemetery began as the was instrumental in founding St or coins on the markers to show
the country to ban capital punish- family resting place for Ezra Derby's Mary's Parish. St. Mary's is now their love and affection for the de-
ment. With that background I begin first wife, Sarah who died in 1832. closed to new burials, though living parted.
the History of Wayne Cemeteries Derby selected the hill at the west persons who own a plot can be While many cemeteries main-
starting with: end of his property just north of the buried in it when they pass. Like tained a section for the poor, the
Chicago road (Michigan Avenue), many cemeteries in towns, church Eloise Cemetery in Westland is a spe-
graveyards became landlocked and
cial municipal cemetery as it was en-
Frontier graves [perhaps it was chosen since Lavina are closed to new lots being pur- tirely a Potter's Field for poor
and Stephen Simmons were already
The practice across all American buried on this hill two years prior]. chased and used - they simply are deceased patients whose families
frontiers was that people were In fact, three of Ezra's five wives are full after decades of burials. could not afford to transport their
buried where they died. It is pre- buried in the family burial plot. loved one's body home for burial, or
sumed that Lavina Simmons was NOTE: Ezra Derby bought the John- Rural Cemeteries - those whose bodies were never
buried near where she died. As son's Tavern from Stephen Gifford Municipal claimed.
noted in the book by David G. Char- Simmons' children. He constructed Other rural cemeteries were cor-
davoyne, "A Hanging in Detroit - the first sawmill, frame house, store (Township, Village, City) porately owned.
Stephen Gifford Simmons and the and blacksmith shop in Wayne. The & Potter’s field
Last Execution under Michigan Law" Western half of the Old Wayne Michi- As referenced in the discussion Cemeteries - Corporate
The author states " We do know, be- gan Avenue Cemetery was deeded to about St. Mary's Cemetery, by the Businessmen took notice that
cause of a claim against Stephen's es- the Village of Wayne by the James later quarter of the 19th Century, as money could be made in death. "Fu-
tate, that a local [Detroit] cabinet Clark Family whose acreage was im- villages grew, they closed off land for neral Homes removed the health
maker named William Durell mediately to the west of the Derby burials within village limits. Again fears of hosting the services for your
charged the Simmons estate a total property and whose burial plot was during the latter quarter of the 19th deceased family member in your
of thirty-six dollars 'for making [a] adjacent to the Derby Family Burial Century, the thoughts were that front parlor, to having the body dis-
coffin and taking the Boddy of the de- Ground. In 1918, the village closed cemeteries posed health risks and played and services conducted in
ceased to his farm for burial." This burials with the last known burial were utilizing valuable urban land, these "funeral homes". Their hearses
account is recorded in the Wayne happening in 1917. so the municipalities created rural were some of the first ambulances.
County Probate Case 440 (Account cemeteries away from the urban Corporations were formed to pur-
of Levi Cook). Presumably, upon ar- areas. Municipalities created ordi- chase land for cemeteries and they
rival at Johnson's Tavern, the Sim- Churchyards nances forbidding the burial of peo- typically hired a local attorney as
mons heirs buried Stephen there, on Churchyards became popular ple on village residential or their "Agent" to promote and handle
the homestead, perhaps next to Lev- during the 17th through 20th Cen- commercial lots. To this end, the vil- the sale of lots in their corporate "for
ina or perhaps not; there is no evi- turies and as their title suggests, they lage of Wayne opened Glenwood profit" cemeteries. The Merriman
dence of where either of them are were typically next to the church and Cemetery in 1871 out in the rural Family Burial Grounds and much of
buried. If this was the case, Lavina were near town centers. As villages countryside far away from the popu- their farm was purchased by a
and Stephen are buried somewhere grew, churchyards became land- lated city center at that time. These
between Second and Elizabeth locked, overcrowded and were con- cemeteries were more "park like" in See Silent, page 13
4 · April 2024 · The Wayne Dispatch