A Church, A Cemetery, and a Surprise!

Sometimes in an effort to learn something more we find interesting new mysteries to solve along the way!

My sabbatical has ended unexpectedly early, so I am likely to not post as frequently, but on my last day before starting back to work, my father and I had a wonderful excursion to Detroit, Michigan. I had offered to take him to the church where Reverend Lyster once preached and has a stained-glass window dedicated to him, and go to the cemetery of his final resting place. (Reverend Lyster is not a relative, but he is someone my father has investigated because he once owned the land–in the 1830’s–we live on in the summers and was quite a remarkable man.)

I was also interested in going because of my maternal grandmother’s grandfather, Rodman Stoddard, who migrated to Detroit in 1829 and once owned 160 acres in Detroit between Plymouth and Joy Roads was buried in the same cemetery. (The darker shaded orange in the map below is the 160 acres he once owned!)

Christ Church of Detroit

One can not assume that a church will be open to visitors mid-week, so it is always wise to contact the church in advance. Fortunately, I had contacted Christ Church over a week before we planned to go and talked with a church secretary. She was lovely and was interested in our reason for touring the church. Since it is an Historic landmark in Detroit, being the longest continuously serving church location in Detroit, they are used to people coming to look at it. She even offered to look in their archives for any additional information on Reverend Lyster in preparation for our visit.

When we arrived she was prepared to show us the “Lyster Window” which is famous not just because Reverend Lyster’s image was used in the window, but is part of a collection of stained glass windows made by Munich company Franz Mayer & Co. in 1905. It is also called “Suffer the Children” window and includes the likeness of several family members.

Christ Church is beautifully maintained and the stained glass windows around the church were an amazing collection that spans nearly 100 years, including two Tiffany windows and a more recent window donated in the 1990s. Our guide showed us another window that had been given in honor of Reverend Lyster that we hadn’t known about. As we toured the building, she provided us other insight about the history of the building and the congregation. She also provided the book, Christ Church, a history of the church by one of the pastors. It was a lovely gesture and my father has thoroughly enjoyed reading the chapter devoted to Reverend Lyster.

Elmwood Cemetery

We then traveled several blocks over to the historic Elmwood Cemetery. This is a beautiful space that is historic but is an active cemetery with recently interred people. Their website provides this history:

“We are the oldest continuously operating, non-denominational cemetery in Detroit. The cemetery was established in 1846 and incorporated in 1849 as a non-profit corporation by an act of the Michigan Legislature. Founded by some of early Detroit’s leading citizens, Elmwood quickly expanded from its original 42 acres to its current size of 86 acres and became the final resting-place of tycoon and laborer alike.” 

In addition, in 1890, Frederick Olmsted (landscape architect who designed Central Park in NYC), was contracted to redesign the cemetery and laid the foundation for its eventual certification as an arboretum in 2016 with more than 75 different species of trees. Elmwood is also significant because it is associated with many important players in the Underground Railroad to Detroit. In fact, in 2016 it was designated with the  “United States Department of the Interior’s National Park Service (“NPS”) recognition of Elmwood Cemetery as a Significant Site for the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom because of those who participated in or supported Detroit’s network and are buried here at Elmwood.” (https://www.elmwoodhistoriccemetery.org/events-tours/underground-railroad-network-to-freedom-tour)

After finding both cemetery plots of the Lysters and Stoddards we went to the records office (often called the sexton) to inquire what records they might have. I have been to many cemeteries over the years, but few had the sexton present on site with access to the record books. Earlier this summer I inquired with a sexton and they searched through their books, but I didn’t actually have access to the original books myself.

This was an awesome experience and I look forward to future opportunities, because I learned that there is so much that can be found out!

The Records and Mystery

I learned two things to ask for. The first is that you can ask for the map of the cemetery plot. This cemetery has a drawn map of those interred in each plot with a list of the names and the book in which their records can be found. The second is for the actual records.

For the Rodman Stoddard plot, I learned that there are 10 people interred there with the earliest being Rodman Stoddard in 1853 and the last was his granddaughter (my great-grandmother’s 1st cousin), Jennie Stoddard in 1930. (A very interesting connection, is that while Dad has been reading his new book of Christ Church, he found that Miss Jennie Stoddard was an active member of the church!!) This is exciting to know because there were not headstones for everyone and some were not legible. No one has been interred since, but apparently there are 4 possible spaces left. I asked, and it is possible for a family member to use those spaces, as long as they can show their lineage to the original owner. I asked for the original books for each of the people interred and it was fascinating the information available. In addition to the name and age of the person, it also included the cause of death, place of birth, place of death, and the person who was responsible for the burial/services. 

What is the mystery? Well, as I was reviewing the names and records of those interred, I cross referenced to my family tree identifying how everyone was related to Rodman and to me. But I came across a toddler, William France, who died from a “concussion of brain fall on end of plank”. The grave was ordered by Jennie Stoddard, who was single and never married and at the time he died was over 60 years old. So who is William and how is he related? Well after some investigation, I know who William’s parents were…his mother was a single woman at the time of his birth and death, but after William died, his mother married his birth father…after his father divorced his first wife. And how are they related to Jennie Stoddard? No clue, but neither the mother or father appear to be related to Jennie. She was a contralto singer and music teacher and William’s father was a musician in a band..so maybe that’s the connection? I guess that’s a mystery for another day.