The Cemetery is OK
The grave marker of two Elizabeth Jennings, one the wife of one of Cliff’s earliest mine Superintendents, Captain Edward Jennings. The other his and Elizabeth’s daughter (also named Elizabeth). The wife Elizabeth died in September of 1852, while the daughter dies just one month later. Capt. Jennings moved on to take charge of the newly started Rockland mine in Ontonagon County at the end of the year, most likely to get away from the location of this tragedy.
Over the weekend there was a rumor that the Protestant (aka- Hillside) cemetery had been vandalized and that some of the monuments had been removed. I went out to check this out and it is all a false alarm. The fact is a tree has fallen right where you usually enter into the cemetery and this has obscured the monuments. If you walk beyond the tree you’ll find everything is right where it’s supposed to be.
Three wooden grave markers. These are extremely rare in the Upper Peninsula and are just one more reason why the Cliff is so special (and needs some sort of preservation plan).
Sean Gohman
Timothy James Scarlett
That is such good news! My children and I trekked back there and were very disappointed not to find anything. when I knew the graves were there 15 years ago. We looked around inside the wire fence and did go as far as the large fallen tree but did not see anything past that. That will be an adventure for our next trip. Thank you for checking it out and confirming that the cemetery is still there, I agree that it is a very special place and hopefully someone locally will take an interest in removing the fallen tree and preserving what is left of this unique hjistorical and sacred place. Thank you also for an excellent presentation on Friday and for the very informative public tours. Look forward to seeing more in future blogs.
Excelent post.