Posts Tagged ‘Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery’
22,000+ Rest, Undisturbed
Tales of Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery By SUE HUNTER WEIR In the cemetery’s early days, the cost of maintenance and repair was paid for voluntarily by the families of those buried there. By 1919, the cemetery was filled to capacity. Many families had moved away and some were simply too poor to continue to pay an annual maintenance fee. The cemetery fell into serious disrepair. On May 23, 1919, the Minneapolis City Council, at the request of some South Minneapolis residents and merchants, voted to close Layman’s Cemetery to further burials. The ordinance did not condemn the cemetery, which would have required the removal and relocation of more than 27,000 people. The ordinance simply stated that no burials would be allowed after August 1, 1919. Nonetheless, there were rumors that the cemetery had to be vacated and the remains of 5,000 to 6,000 people were removed. The deeds to the graves for those removals were returned to the Layman Land Trust, and became the property of [...]
Have You Heard the One About…
By Patrick Cabello Hansel A lawyer, a pastor and a saxophone player walked into”¦a cemetery? What”™s the punchline? You”™ll have to come to “QUITTING TIME at a Place of Endless Time,” on Saturday, September 18th at 4 pm at the historic Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery at East Lake Street and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis. Patrick Cabello Hansel”™s 2nd book of poetry, “Quitting Time,” is an extended elegy to his father, Walter Hansel. It engages his history from his birth into a German-speaking home in rural North Dakota, through the Great Depression, World War II, and becoming a barber and raising a family in Austin, MN. Patrick retired in 2020 after serving with his wife Luisa for 15 years at St. Paul”™s Lutheran Church in Phillips. He is the author of the poetry collection “The Devouring Land,” and his work has been published in over 70 journals. Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, he has [...]
She waited 50 years ”“ and the city kept its promise
Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery By Sue Hunter Weir 163rd in a Series People often ask whether it is still possible to be buried in the cemetery. The answer is ”“ maybe. It is possible, but not likely. On May 23, 1919, the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance that closed Layman”'s (now Pioneers and Soldiers) Cemetery to future burials. They did so in response to a petition circulated by business owners and neighbors from the surrounding area who complained that the cemetery had become an eyesore and a health hazard. The burial ban went into effect on Aug. 1, 1919. The ordinance did not condemn the cemetery, which would have required disinterring the 27,000 people buried there, but simply said that no more could be added; there was enough misinformation and confusion about what the cemetery”'s future that family members arranged for the removal of more than 5,000 people. More that 22,000 remain. The last [...]
