34,000 Mysterious Hints of History
Question: What do the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom inclusions, one mysterious marker using only the initial ‘M’, and unmarked sunken sites have in common?
Answer: They are counted among the 34,000 burial sites in Minnesota.
Minnesota has 12,000 burial mounds and 22,000 cemeteries, which equals 34,000 tributes marking the meaning and honor we esteem these people who are no longer with us.
We show respect for our deceased and their grieving families in many ways, but one way is through respectful burial or funerary practices.
Did you ever play the nighttime neighborhood game called, ‘Ghosts in the Graveyard?’
Have you been around a campfire sharing stories about the unexplainable?
Some of the very best campfire stories might involve a nod or two to a cemetery.
Mysteries surround us daily, and that’s especially true if you are visiting one of Minnesota’s cemeteries.
Maryann McFadden’s The Cemetery Keeper’s Wife mystery book pairs very nicely with this subject, should you choose to read a mystery book late at night before or after visiting one of these storied sacred sites.
Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery’s
First burial date: 1853
Commonly known as Layman’s Cemetery, there are 27,000 people buried in this pioneer cemetery.
Of those, over 20,000 are children.
***The National Park Service listed this cemetery as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Three African American Freedom Seekers and one African American abolitionist are buried here.
One of those buried within is the previously enslaved Hester Patterson, who traveled the underground railroad to find freedom in Minnesota.
First, Hester ran away and found the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry during the siege of Vicksburg in 1863.
At that point, Dr. William H. Leonard of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry befriended her and later facilitated her route to freedom in Minnesota.
Once in Minnesota, she worked for Dr. Leonard as a cook until she retired.
After she stopped working outside of the home, she bought two plots of land and built a cabin from scraps of wood that lumber mill workers gave her.
While historical accounts don’t specifically address who helped her build her cabin, it is implied that she built it herself.
Hester Patterson was described by a family member of Dr. Leonard as an independent person who had many friends.
Furthermore, they described her as a leader with a sturdy character.
First burial date: 1834
Located outside of Frontenac, Minnesota, this section of Frontenac was also home to Fort Beauharnais, a French colonial fort and Catholic mission built in 1727.
The original fort was replaced by a new fort in 1730 that was built on one of Lake Pepin’s stunning bluffs.
Among others buried in Vining there is one known only by mysterious square headstone having the initial of ‘M.’
It is located slightly away from the main cemetery, and you may need to search a bit before you find it.
First burial date: 1862
Located outside of Jay Cooke State Park, this is a special cemetery for many reasons.
The first reason will become obvious once you get there.
Step up to the first headstone, and notice that unlike other early cemeteries, these souls remain shrouded by peaceful forests.
In these gravesites, our early pioneers remain at rest within a setting almost identical to the time they were buried.
Please consider stopping to pay tribute within a public cemetery.
Maybe you’ll want to use tracing paper and artist charcoal or lead pencils to shade over granite and marble markers?
Beauty, along with the love felt for these individuals, are timeless.
Appreciation and gratitude are as much a part of these places as the mysteries contained within and now at rest.
Carys
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