Re-enactors Lay Wreath Honoring Fallen Civil War Soldiers VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Lone Caretaker Seeks Help at Soldier's Rest Cemetery
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One man can't do it all.
At least not permanently.
In the past 20 years the Bay City community has rescued an abandoned, weed filled historic cemetery from oblivion.
Neither city, county, state nor any civic group has stepped forward to claim ownership of the cemetery that fell into limbo in 1931 when its last owner, real estate developer George W. Ames, died.
In fact the city, in a monumental display of ignorance and ineptitude, cut the towering weeds and assessed the cemetery $1,500 even though there was no owner as officials certainly should have known. That put the abandoned cemetery on the rolls of the tax sale and eventually in state ownership. The state quickly disavowed any claim and offered the 5-acre grounds to anyone who would take it for $50.
Of course no one wanted the responsibility of maintenance, there was no fund for upkeep of the graves and little space left for burials that might have raised some revenue for that purpose.
But the list of hundreds of individuals, families and groups who have contributed to the saving of Pine Ridge Cemetery, now called Soldier's Rest, over two decades fills a tribute sign at the entrance.
Among groups which have worked at the cemetery from time to time include the Lutheran Children's Home, the former Parmenter Halfway House and New Dimensions.
The Lutheran home suffered staff cutbacks, Parmenter (which did a great job for several years under former director Frank Hoese and Don Girardot) was phased out by the state, and New Dimensions was stumped by federal regulations on its workers.
The Rotary Club of Bay City, interested in history and preservation as its members are, contributed thousands of dollars for signage, improvements and walking tour placards at significant graves.
Devere Woods and the Essexville-Hampton VFW Post restored the base of an 1863 Civil War siege cannon and erected informational placards. Woods crafted and placed a replica cannon and a flagpole at the corner of Ridge and Tuscola. Retired mariner Alan Flood bought a huge American flag for display at events such as last Monday; he raises and lowers it himself.
Keith Markstrom and other volunteers replaced dozens of soldiers' headstones provided by the Veterans Administration at the behest of Jim Petrimoulx.
Green Hut Charities donated signs at the entrance, unfortunately wiped out by snowplows last winter, and local civic leader Dee Dee Wacksman even dipped into her purse to buy a riding lawn mower.
Interest in the Birneys and the Civil War has sprung from the same roots as interest in the cemetery. One result was formation of the 7th Michigan Cavalry Civil War Round Table, honoring the unit in which young Birney served under Gen. George Armstrong Custer. The 7th, including several local and area men, was part of a key battle against Jeb Stuart and his rebel riders east of the town that helped the Union to victory on July 2, 1863.
Ron Graham stands in the background
at Soldier's Rest ceremonies
last Monday.
Graham is a one-man gang, working 40 to 60- hours a week sometimes on the project. He spends his own money for gas, materials and lawn supplies and uses his own riding lawn mower that makes a one-man grooming job possible. It's a thankless task, but Graham did receive public recognition for the first time last Monday.
The 7th Michigan Cavalry Civil War Round Table, headed by Dee Dee Wacksman, held a re-dedication ceremony to unveil a new sign and show off Graham's efforts, right down to the neat multi-colored bird houses he has installed on trees around the grounds.
A 14-minute video of the ceremonies has been posted on YouTube by Marv Kusmierz of bay-journal.com.
A brush tangled woods that offered partyers cover from outside eyes has been totally cleaned out in a massive effort by Graham, helped only by one-day stands of employees from Home Depot, Habitat for Humanity and Chemical Bank.
The evidence of the recent visit by Home Depot workers, volunteering their time, was in hundreds of bags of leaves and trash picked up by the city of Bay City after the philanthropic blitzkrieg.
Graham recalls that when he started several years ago he picked up bushels of broken beer bottles, smashed against headstones in the remote, shrouded section of adjoining Seaman's Cemetery. Then he cleaned out the woods that hid the culprits from public view.
The partyers and vandals have not returned.
The historic nature of the cemetery is inherent in details of its founding in 1858 by James Birney III, son of Bay City pioneer and two-time Presidential candidate James G. Birney, no doubt Bay City's most famous former resident.
Attorney Jerry Pergande first began documenting the Birneys about 40 years ago and wrote to a newspaper reporters about their unrecognized importance.
The late Gordy McAllister, a retired Bay City detective and a Civil War re-enactor, told of the historic importance of the cemetery in a visit to Bay City Adult Education in the mid 1990s. He conducted a personal tour of the Grand Army of the Republic Soldier's Rest and the approximately 200 graves of Civil War veterans.
A small group of volunteers began work thereafter, even enlisting two homeless alcoholics who were making their home in a tent and a garden shed, even spending winters on the grounds. One of the homeless men has since died and the other, a Viet Nam era veteran, is rehabilitated.
Awareness of the Birneys, and the cemetery, has grown gradually over the past two decades. New impetus to the project is inherent in the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce's recently announced campaign to beautify the entrances to the city. It certainly would not do to have visitors greeted by an abandoned, grown over burial area, especially one that has been called "Bay County's most historic site."
The knowledge that the Birney's lived here, formed the basis of the community and contributed mightily to the nation's heritage of freedom through the abolition movement, led to a book by this author published in 2011 by Michigan State University Press. It is called "Apostles of Equality: The Birneys, the Republicans and the Civil War."
Now the world knows a little more about Mr. Birney and the community he helped found, Bay City.
The Rotary Club, recognizing the valor of Capt. Birney at Gettysburg and in the Indian Wars out West before his death in 1870, raised the funds to acquire his dress sword and place it in the Bay County Historical Museum collection.
James G. Birney died in 1857 in New Jersey, his quest to end slavery still undetermined. but his life set an example for mankind: one man's dedication, if fervent enough, can be fulfilled by others who are inspired by his example.
That is, no doubt, what motivates a selfless, dedicated volunteer like Ron Graham. Let's hope before the sands of time consume us, more Ron Grahams arise from among the good citizens of an incredibly historic town--Bay City.
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Opening Salute
Patriotic Songs
Eric Jylha tells story of, then recites Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
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