Mt. Rest Cemetery: Looking to the past and the future
Ray Parr is a life-long St. Johns resident and current vice president of the St. Johns Cemetery Association. This is the first in a series of articles related to the non-profit organization, and the past and current status of Mt. Rest Cemetery.
By Ray Parr
In the last few years there have been several articles written about Mt. Rest Cemetery in St. Johns and the various activities that have been taking place there.
Many of you have seen and commented about the Avenue of Flags that is displayed on Memorial Day, July Fourth, Flag Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day and during Mint Festival weekend. St. Johns has become known for its display of America flags both in Michigan and nation wide. Many of you have spoken about the appearance of the cemetery and the way that our sexton, Dave Miller, has kept the cemetery in the condition it is.
For the next several weeks, I hope to give you an insight into the history of the cemetery and the things that have happened since 1858; what rules the cemetery is controlled by; how we raise money for operating Mt. Rest; and what is happening now.
First, a little history. The state legislature in 1855 established rules under “An act relating to burying grounds.” Under that act a meeting date was set up in April 1858 for May 3, 1858, and a St. Johns Cemetery Association was established. The first officers were Oliver Spaulding as president, Timothy Black as clerk, G.W.Stephenson as treasurer and James Hungerford as sexton. They adopted the first bylaws for the cemetery.
An early map of St. Johns and the location of the cemetery is available for viewing at the St. Johns city offices in the Clinton County Courthouse. It is very interesting.
St. Johns Cemetery History
When the cemetery was first established, the Village of St. Johns designated as a cemetery that part of the property that is referred to today as the “old part” of the cemetery, located west of the mausoleum. Early records show that burials were made in St. Johns in the early 1840s. It is not known if they were made in what is now Mt. Rest Cemetery. The first recorded burial was in 1855. This was three years before the formation of the St. Johns Cemetery Association.
There were purchases of more land over the years starting in the 1890s, and a couple of more since then. Now, the Cemetery has all the property between North Traver Street and Scott Road, and between East Steel and East Gibbs streets. There are also two parcels of land south off Steel Street. It as estimated that there are enough burial lots to last at least another 50 years.
Did you know that when you purchase a burial lot, you actually do not own the land? What you actually pay for is the “Burial Rights” for that lot. Under bylaws adopted in 1863 no one was admitted to the cemetery unless they owned a lot or were accompanied by a lot owner.
Children had to have a parent with them to get in. No one but lot owners could come in by horseback, and no horse could be left in the cemetery – of course cars had not been invented yet. These were just some of the rules they operated on, and if you did not obey them you could be expelled from the cemetery.
The digging of graves cost $1.50 from April until December, and $2 for the rest of the year. Digging a grave for a child was 50 cents less. It was also the responsibility of the lot owner to maintain the appearance of the lot.
Over the years there have been individual vaults built on the cemetery grounds. One of the first was the “Ella” vault. Ella Perrinn was the daughter of H.M. Perrin who was an early patriarch of St. Johns. She was killed in a train accident in New York and the vault was named in her honor. Other vaults were the Steel Vault and the Hicks Vault.
The Mausoleum, which is situated near the middle of the cemetery, was built when Latchaw Brothers in 1919 promoted its construction. It was proposed to construct a building basically of sandstone with stained glass windows and crypts that would hold 455 burials.
When the contract to build it was given to Carl Brothers of Covington, Kent., all but 100 of the crypts had already been sold. The contract was let in April 1919 and the Mausoleum was finished in late 1920. It was turned over to the Cemetery Association with about $5,000 in endowment funds to keep it in good shape. Of course this fund ran out many years ago.
Back in 1888 a veterans group got together and decided to build a veterans memorial that was to mark the resting place of veterans of the Civil War. By the fall of 1896 enough money had been collected to erect the monument. The Cemetery Association voted to set aside lots with the understanding that any soldier or sailor could be buried free of charge. This Memorial is located west of the Mausoleum.
A newer Veterans Memorial was planned in 1985 to be placed in front of the Mausoleum. It was dedicated Memorial Day, May 30, 1986
As all of you know many changes have been made during the life of St. Johns Cemetery. Some time, and I am not sure when, the name of Mt. Rest Cemetery was adopted and some time in the 1920s or ‘30s a sign was erected immediately in front of the mausoleum. I have a picture of my grandfather, L.D. Parr, and Jim Foley, the sexton at that time, standing in front of the newly erected sign.
The first water lines were put into the old part of the cemetery In the 1890s and for the most part are still working. Dave has been having more problems with them the last few years and they probably will have to be replaced soon.
Mt. Rest Cemetery: Looking to the past and the future – Part 2
By Ray Parr
Many of you may not know how operations of the St. Johns Cemetery Association are financed. Much of the operations of any cemetery are controlled by laws and regulations of the state. The first regulations were established about the same time that the St. Johns cemetery was established way back in 1857.
The money that we operate on comes basically from the sale of burial rites (lots) and the actual work of preparing and taking care of the grave itself. The state requires that 15 percent of the sale of the lot be set aside and then invested to earn interest. The interest is all that the cemetery can use for caring for the lot.
Let me give you an example. At the present time a single lot at Mt. Rest Cemetery sells for $575; 15 percent of that is $86.25. At the present time investing that would only bring in about $1.50 per year. As you can see, this does not begin to take care of maintaining a cemetery lot. The balance of the cost of the lot plus the charge for burial preparations covers those costs but leaves very little for cemetery operations.
In the late 1950s, the cemetery association conducted a fund-raising program selling $100 certificates that could be used to purchase two burial lots whenever they were needed. At the time the lots were redeemed, a $25 fee was charged for endowment. The cemetery board spent a lot of effort to sell the certificates. My father was on the board at the time and was chairman of the building and grounds committee. The fundraiser generated enough money to put in roads and water lines in the ‘new’ section of the cemetery which is now the east side, and do some landscaping.
The next major fund-raising effort was in 1992 and enough money was raised to fix the roof of the Mausoleum and blacktop the roads around the mausoleum and in the new part of the cemetery. This made a big difference in the handling of funerals and made it easier for driving in the new part.
Over the years the cemetery boards have done a few things to save or make money to help maintain the cemetery. About 15 years ago we bought the back-hoe which saved the money to dig the graves. Later, about five or six years ago, a lowering device and tent and chairs for the burial services were purchased.
This brought in money that was previously paid to the company that sold the vaults. These changes did help with the cost of keeping the cemetery grounds in the good shape they are today. However, it did not take care of the major repairs and replacement items that are needed now.
Problems at the Mausoleum
Most of you know Dave Miller is the sexton of Mt. Rest Cemetery and you know of the way he maintains the cemetery at the present time. He along with the veterans’ groups have established the Avenue Of Flags which are known all over the state and have been mentioned nationally in some publications.
But this does not take care of the many problems that you, as residents of the St. Johns area, may not know about.
One of the cemetery’s main problems is the mausoleum. As was mentioned in last week’s article, when the Mausoleum was built in the 1920s and turned over to the cemetery, the builders left under $5,000 to maintain it. Of course that amount has been gone a long time.
Over the years, the St. Johns Cemetery Association has had to replace the roof, fix windows maintain landscaping and keep it clean. Also over the years, the building materials have deteriorated and are now in extreme need of repair. The board has had contractors look at the problem and it has been estimated that it will cost over $100,000 to take care of “fixing” it. We are trying to see if it can be fixed in phases, but even then it will cost over $60,000 to fix the immediate concern.
The major item that needs fixing is the area above the door which has a large crack, and the building material all around the top. Other items include fixing the ceiling inside, cleaning the outside and fixing the roof again
Other problem areas and a dream
Work on the Mausoleum is the major repair that needs to be addressed, but there are other major concerns that could cost another $150,000. Other problems include:
The water pipes in the old part (west section) of the cemetery were installed in the 1890s. Almost every year Dave has had to repair one or more of the connections. An exact cost to replace the old connections is not known.
Through a fundraiser about 10 years ago, we were able to blacktop all of the new section and part of the older part of the cemetery roads, but we would like to finish the rest. This would cost about $25,000.
We will have spent almost $10,000 on repairs on the back-hoe this year and should replace it with a new one. This would cost $40,000 to $50,000.
We are trying to trim, cut down and replace older trees in the cemetery. We have done some of this last winter and hope to continue this winter. The cost of this is unknown.
The newest (far eastern) part of the cemetery needs to have water pipes installed for future use. This cost is unknown. We have a drainage problem in the southern part of the east part of the cemetery and we need to have drainage tile installed there.
If we could do the above items it would cost about another $100,000. So our financial needs keep growing – and we also have several dreams for the future. Many people have already given money and physical help and many compliments about Dave and the way he keeps the cemetery. We also have one dream. We have talked about building a small chapel in which committal services could be held during inclement weather and winter months. It would probably cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000. But so far it is just a dream.
An appeal for help
Now to what you can do. We have been given a gift of 500 to help restore some of the old monuments that have been damaged one way or the other. We have a $5,000 gift specified in a will that we will receive in six months or so. We have another family that wants to donate money to help fix the mausoleum – but we will have to ask for help from many more people.
We are classified as a charitable organization so that any funds that are given us can be taken off your income tax. With all that said, I hope that area residents will consider what they might be able to give to the St. Johns Cemetery Association, PO Box 301, 706 E Steel St., St. Johns, Mich., 48879
Don Rademacher, president; Ray Parr, vice president; Barbara Sturgis, secretary-treasurer; Fraser Mackinnon, Todd Deitrich, Mark Barber, Robert Craig, Arlene Smith, Dan Zuker and Sexton Dave Miller were active in this fundraising operation.
Ray Parr with Dave Miller at a cemetery open house.