Posts Tagged ‘Sue Hunter Weir’
Tales from the Cemetery: FAQs
The fish were biting at Cedar and Lake. Twenty-first century kids had the opportunity to play 19th-century games. Photo credit: Tim McCall By SUE HUNTER WEIR Frequently Asked Questions The answers to most, if not all of these questions have appeared in one of the Cemetery Tales that have been published over the last almost-20 years. Here they are all in one place. When was the first burial? Who was it? The first burial took place in September 1853. The funeral was for 10-month old Carlton Keith Cressey. His father was the minister of the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis. Who owned the cemetery? The cemetery was privately owned by Martin and Elizabeth Layman, transplanted New Yorkers. They arrived in Minnesota in the 1850s and built the sixth house in what would become Minneapolis. They had 13 children, all of whom survived to adulthood. Although the cemetery was commonly referred to as “Layman’s Cemetery,” its legal name in its early days was [...]
Tales from the Cemetery August ’22
by Sue Hunter Weir Pictures courtesy Gretchen Pederson, cemetery caretaker. The good news and the bad news...The bad news: Several large tree branches have come down in recent storms and either have been or will be removed by the Park Board. On the Fourth of July, a stolen van loaded with fireworks crashed into the fence near the Cedar-Lake bus stop. The good news: The trim on the caretaker’s cottage has a fresh coat of paint, and the 50-foot-tall flagpole has also been repainted. Elizabeth Avenue, the cemetery’s only road has been seal coated. On July 8th, three new markers, all for infants, were placed. Architects from Miller- Dunwiddie have been surveying the limestone pillars and restoration will begin soon. When a street in South Minneapolis was renamed to honor John Cheatham, Minneapolis’ first Black firefighter, it was a big news story. It was picked up by all of the local television stations, by Minneapolis Public Radio and by the Atlanta Black Star and [...]
Tale of the Tales: Q&A with Sue Hunter Weir
Caption: Anna ClarkCredit: Courtesy of Bob Clark By LAURA HULSCHER and SUE HUNTER WEIR This is your 200th column. How long have you been writing Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery? What inspired you to start? I wrote my first story about the cemetery in September 2003. At the time I was concerned (irritated) about the Phillips Neighborhood being characterized as "crime-ridden" and wanted to remind people that Phillips is a community with a long and very rich history. Ours is a community shaped by migration, immigration, the need for public housing and for livable-wage jobs. Our boundaries were, and are, shaped by transportation routes. Much has changed but much remains the same. We have a great deal to be proud of. What motivates you to continue the series after so many years? I remember reading that no one is truly dead who is remembered. I believe that and these stories are my way of remembering people who I never knew but who deserve to be remembered. They are [...]
