This tip has to do with keeping your files organized…

Once you’ve become a grave hunter with some experience you will begin to notice that your map, and other document collection is piling up… Here is a tip to keep those files organized… Your gonna want to keep them all together in a portable business binder type file… These can be found in any office supply place, or stores such as Wal-Mart, Meijer, Target, etc… They are fairly cheap I picked up one for under 2.00 last night… You might also want to pick up a pack of individual file folders to go in that business binder… A pack of those can cost anywhere under 5.00 I think I paid 3 something for a pack…

Now once you got your file thing established your going to want to use about 3 to 4 of the files you bought… I label mine with titles such as “Maps”, “Map’s w/names”, “Misc Things”, and “Name lists”… The “maps” folder will be used for cemetery maps you’ve collected, the “maps w/names” folder will be used for name lists that have a map included on them… The “name lists” folder will generally be used for the documents that just have a list of names of notables be they the ones you created or obtained from the cemetery, and the “misc things” folder will be used for general documents such as cemetery histories, etc…

I’ve found that keeping things organized is a good practice for any grave hunter… Especially in one of those portable plastic folders… That way when your in the cemetery they are easily accessable and easy to put away once your done for the day grave hunting…

Since its been nice out the last few days with Fall approaching I’ve decided to go grave hunting downtown at Elmwood Cemetery… I haven’t been there in several years so it will be nice to be reunited with a cemetery I’ve done so much hunting in.

This cemetery is one of my favorites of all the cemeteries I’ve been too. Complete with rolling hills, a creek which happened to of witnessed a military battle back in the 1800’s, mausoleums built right into the hillside, entombed there are many people who had something or the other to do with Detroit and Michigan history.

Other people buried there include several brewery owners, a distillery owner who was a financial patron of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan back in the 1920s, a big time drug dealer who was murdered in his hospital bed while recuperating from unknown causes, a Wayne State Professor who was murdered because he was involved with a pimp and prostitute, and was also the subject matter in the true crime thriller “Masquerade”, many politicians, people related to royalty, among others…

The peace and tranquility I get by visiting this cemetery is bar none… I love this cemetery some areas of the cemetery you can get a perfect view of the nearby Detroit skyline.

I’ve been grave hunting roughly 11 years now… Aside from taking breaks from the hobby due to bordem among other things here is a brief summary of the famous and/or infamous grave sites I’ve been too… Most of my grave hunting has taken place in and around the metro Detroit and Chicago areas.

Detroit:
Bernard Stroh: Stroh Beer
George Peppard: Actor (A-Team, Breakfast at Tiffanie’s)
Joseph Campau: Early Detroit Settler
Dodge Brothers: Automobiles
Florence Ballard: Musician
David Ruffian: Musician
Frank Nastasi: Actor (Soupy Sales)
James Vernor: Inventor of Vernor’s Ginger Ale

Chicago:
Al Capone (Gangster)
Dean O’Banion (Gangster)
Marshall Field (Department Store Founder)
etc

This is not a complete list… Most of my grave hunting experience is based around the Detroit area granted it all started when I found Al Capone’s grave site in Chicago. I have future plans and desires to make it out west to Southern California… To be in every grave hunters dream come true and go trekking into the cemeteries of Hollywood, and yesteryear and hunt down the grave sites of Rudolf Valentino, Mickey Cohen, Marilyn Monroe, among others… One can only hope…