OldSchoolHouseCemeteryBrownTwpMI

OLD SCHOOLHOUSE CEMETERY
Brown Township
Manistee County, Michigan

Directions: From the city of Manistee, take Highway 31 North towards Bear Lake. Go past Norwalk Lutheran Church on your left, and turn right at a sign the says "Norwalk"…this is Kerry Road. Proceed East past Collins (Old 31), and start watching for a dirt road entrance on your left. There is a small sign facing the cemetery once you turn in. The cemetery is set back quite a bit from Kerry Road, not much past Collins. Unless you look closely, it is very easy to miss.

Note: I have listed the names as they are grouped in plots, according to location, instead of alphabetically. Hopefully, this might help identify possible family connections. Use your browser Edit/search function to locate specific names more easily. Being buried in a family plot, however, does not guarantee kinship. Sometimes, individual spaces within family plots were sold to friends or business acquaintances.

Family monuments are most often larger than normal ones, and often denote a plot rather than a single burial. But the very old ones are often inscribed. I have made note of these, and also headstones that reflect the burial of more than one person, such as a husband and wife that share a single stone.

I will make a rough map of the cemetery for the website soon, but for all intent and purposes, this is a small cemetery, longer than wide. You enter heading North, and once past the gate there is a circular drive. The majority of burials are inside of the circular drive, very few are on the East. The transcriptions start on the West side of the circle drive. Row 1 is that which borders the drive. Row 2 is behind row 1, and so on. A few headstones have inscriptions facing away from the drive, so be sure to check each side if visiting.

1st Row, West side of circular drive, left to right

HANSEN family monument
HANSEN, H.L. Father, Feb 7, 1849(?) - July 27, 1907
HANSEN, Sarah Johnsen 1851 - 1927
O'BRIEN, Mary Ann Hansen 1874 - 1930
McCURDY, William C. 1871 - 1954
McCURDY, Laura T. 1877 - 1950

HANSON, Hattie E. 1859 - 1927
HANSON, Charles J. 1856 - 1938
(one headstone with both names)

JENKINS Family Monument
JENKINS, Luet. J. S. Born Apr 16, 1826 - Died Sept. 12, 1906
JENKINS, Christina D. Wife of J. S. Jenkins Born Oct. 9, 1826 (date of death not given)

CONE, H. Family monument
WELCH, Adeline 1873 - 1894
"Mother" 1854 - 1917
Henry L. "Father" 1848 - 1943
LINDER, Nettie A. 1883 - 1968
CUNNINGHAM, C. 1857 - 1901

JOHNSON Family marker
Daniel "Brother" 1879 - 1897
Henry "Father" 1831 - 1918
Ellen "Mother" 1835 - 1906

KERREY, Thos. 1830 - 1892
KERREY, John M. 1857 - 1915
KERREY, Frances "Mother" 1831 - 1918
KERREY, Lieut. Thos Co B, 3rd MI (GAR marker)

CROUCH Family monument (with all names, a very old marker that is VERY difficult to read)
Nettie, Wife of C. C.(?) Crouch, Born Feb 15, 1859 - Died Sept 13, 1891
Lottie, Wife of H.(?) Crouch, Born Feb 21, 1866 - Died Feb 23, 1887
Maud H., Dau of H. & L Crouch, Born Oct 28, 1884 - Died Sept 19 1887(?)
Addie E., Dau of C.C. & N(?) Crouch, Born June 30, 1865 - Died Aug 23, 1881
CROUCH, C. C. Born Nov 16, 1827 - Died Feb 19, 1890

GRIFFITHS Family monument
Charles B. Aug 2, 1854 - May 23, 1919
Earl 1881 - 1922
- HANS -, Everette B. Griffiths 1883 - 1945

OLSON, Frank J. 1862 - 1943
OLSON, Sophia 1857 - 1944

JOHNSON, Aaron 1851 - 1929
JOHNSON, Martha 1821 - 1895
JOHNSON, Ole 1865 - 1909
HERMANSON, Anna Johnson 1875 - 1936
HERMANSON, Hartwick 1877 - 1960

Second row, West of circular drive, Right to left:

GILLETTE, Robert William TEC 5 US Army WW2 May 1, 1915 - Mar 2, 1981
GILLETTE, Maxine P. "Its none of your business" June 6, 1919 - May 30, 1996

KELLEY (single stone for both)
Keith F. 1920 - 1993
LaVierre A., 1920 - 1997
(additional placques for both)
KELLEY, Keith F. S Sgt. U.S. Army WW2 Aug 1, 1920 - Nov 13, 1993
KELLEY, Lavierre A. Educator Wife Mother and Grandmother Nov 13, 1920 - Apr 17, 1997

LEVIN, M. Ida "Mother" 1868 - 1938
LEVIN, Charles " Father" 1870 - 1930

HANSON Family Marker
Frank 1860 - 1944
Jennie L. 1864 - 1964
ANDERSON, Vella H. 1887 - 1960
ANDERSON, John W. 1883 - 19__ (exact year of death never added)

Small , very old stone. Cannot read, will come back to try again with the sun at a different angle

JOHNSON. Lottie 1911 - 1917
JOHNSON, Elsie O. 1877 - 1964
JOHNSON, Lewis W. 1866 - 1936
(Elsie and Lewis' stones both read "In the loving memory of Mother/Father" before their names)

3rd Row, West side of circular drive, left to right

Family plot - cement border, all headstones within the border
JOHNSON, Andrew 1815 - 1889
JOHNSON, Anna M. 1817 - 1881
BROWN, Roger A. Jan 27, 1948 - Jan 30, 1948
MATTHEWS, John A. "Father" 1843 - 1932
MATTHEWS, Emma C. "Mother" 1872 - 1944
MATTHEWS, Alfred J. 1897 - 1941

Family Plot - cement border, all headstones within the border

GILBERT, George "Father" 1856 - 1932
GILBERT, Ellen "Mother" 1862 - 1950
Jessie "Daughter" 1886 - 1890
GILBERT, George A. March 5, 1889 - Feb 4, 1985
Evelyn R. April 13, 1892 - Nov 29, 1983

Family plot - cement border, all headstones within the border

GOLENIAK, Ruth Biers 1919 - 1975
Russel L. (Biers?... last name not listed) Nov 1, 1921 - Nov 9, 1921
Franklin A., Jr. (Biers ? last name not listed) July 16, 1923 - July 2, 1924
BIERS, Franklin E. Dec 3, 1880 - June 23, 1947
BIERS, Clara E. Dec 12, 1885 - May 10, 1977
GREVE, Evelyn M. Sept. 27, 1925 -
GREVE, ROGER A. Nov 15, 1922 - Oct 8, 1992
T Sgt US Army Air Corps WW2
Married June 25, 1946
(Evelyn and Roger share a single headstone)
UNDERWOOD, Johanna 1876 - 1968
LYMAN, August M. 1843 - 1927
LYMAN, M. Christine 1845 - 1932
LYMAN, Alphon H. 1889 - 1967
LYMAN, Marceline T. 1899 - 1981
BURCHARD, Tillie E. Dec 3, 1881 - Nov 10, 1915
BURCHARD, Gust A. May 17, 1879 - Oct 2, 1954

To be continued… if this rain ever ends!

Transcription by Nedra Evans, Copyright May 2004. This data may not be reproduced or published in any manner without written permission from the author... [email protected]