Being that it’s the middle of Winter in Michigan. I rarely find my self doing any grave hunting, cemetery exploration, and things of that nature, this time of year. With over a foot of snow canvasing the ground on some days. It’s literally impossible to do a successful hunt, without freezing my (expletive) off. I’m not saying I’m absolutely insane enough to do a little graving with a few inches or more of snow on the ground (which I totally am). I’m just saying I usually pass on the adventure because I really don’t feel like freezing my (expletive) off.

Now keep in mind, the weather in Michigan for the most part is unpredictable. We could get 2 ft of snow one day in the middle of January, February, or March, then the next day the sun would be out, with high a temperature of 50+ degrees. As in the case of the unusually mild temps for this time of year over the past week. We had a high of about 47 degrees today. The day before on Thursday it got into the 50s. And being that I’ve suffered from a major case of cabin fever over the past few months. I decided to do the right thing to cure the fever and hit the cemeteries. Which leads me to this blog post.

Yesterday being that it was in the high 40s with no snow, besides the ground being a soggy, muddy mess. I decided to do a little cemetery exploration. As luck would have it a friend of mine from my high school days the enchantingly beautiful, Beth came along for the days adventure. I love it when friends, tag along especially someone as beautiful as Beth is. Because it gives me a chance to teach them a little local history, and give them a hands on experience on what I do when I go “grave hunting”. Who knows when I take newbies/friends with me the hobby might spark their interest, and they might become a dedicated graver like I am.

We didn’t have any high priority goals yesterday per say. We merely just drove around Elmwood & Mt. Elliott for a while, then got out of the car at random times and wandered aimlessly around the area we were in. In the process of strolling around the cemetery Beth, and I found a few gravesites, of somewhat notability. The first gravesite we found was of Russell Alger, who resides in the Alger family mausoleum near the front of the cemetery. Alger served as Governor of Michigan at one time, along with serving in the American Civil War, at the war’s end he was promoted to the officer rank of Major General.

Another gravesite Beth, and I found was of Breveted Brigadier General Grover Wormer. He served honorably during the war, and took part in the pursuit of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan. Unfortunately for Gen. Wormer he died several days before his sixtieth wedding anniversary.

Moving along, while Beth, and I were at Elmwood we stumbled upon the gravesite of Winifred Lyster. I’ve got no idea who she was as for some surprisingly unknown reason she’s not mentioned in the charming and informative book I have on Elmwood cemetery. But apparently she wrote the lyrics to the Civil War era song “Michigan My Michigan” which according to online sources is a tribute to the soldiers from Michigan who fought in the American Civil War. If your interested I’ve posted a video I found on You Tube with a photo montage, complimented with the chorus of the song.

Rounding off the day before heading to Mt. Elliott where we just photographed some random shots. Beth and I found the gravesite of Albert Molitor. He was the illegitimate son of William I of Wurttemberg , he also helped found Rogers City in northern Michigan. To be honest I’ve documented the finding of Albert’s gravesite in the past. But for historical purposes and considering that Beth is a newbie at grave hunting. I pointed out several gravesites we came across who I knew the background of and explained to her who the people were.