Cemetery's Ties to Minnesota's Anti-Slavery Movement

Elizabeth Layman
Photos courtesy of the Layman family

Martin Layman
Cemetery's original owner

We don't often associate cemeteries with political movements, but the connection between Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial (formerly Layman's) cemetery and the anti-slavery movement is undeniable.  The cemetery was founded in 1853 by Martin and Elizabeth Layman who were among the earliest members of the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis.  In its early days, the church's members met in Fletcher's Hall, which was owned by Dr. Hezekiah Fletcher, one of the church's founding members.  The hall was also the gathering place for abolitionists, many of them members of the church.  Nine of those early church members,  relatives of Dr. Fletcher, were among the earliest people buried in the cemetery.

The Layman family's association with the Baptist church sheds light on why their privately-owned cemetery was never segregated, something that was almost unheard of in the 1850s and 60s.  The first recorded burial of an African-American occurred in May 1867, when an infant, identified only as the baby of Mary Johnson, was buried in the cemetery.  That child was the first of perhaps as many as several hundred African-Americans to be buried in Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery.

These include William Goodridge, an activist on the Underground Railroad, and John Cheatham, who was one of the earliest (if not the first) African-American firefighters in Minneapolis.  Slade Robinson, who founded an African-American chapter of the Masons, is buried there as are eleven veterans, both African-American and white, who served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War.

Memorial Day - A Sign of the Times

A sign of indeterminate age

We found this wonderful sign tucked away between an old-fashioned safe and a storage cabinet in the caretaker's office.  The sign is a framed, hand-painted piece of wood. On the back, there are hooks with pieces of string still attached, undoubtedly left over from the last time that the sign hung on the cemetery fence.

It's hard to tell when the sign was painted, but looks like it dates to the 1940s or 50s.  Up until 1971, when the National Holiday Act established the fourth Monday in May as Memorial Day, the holiday was celebrated on May 30th, regardless of the day of the week, so a single sign could be used year after year.  

As luck would have it, Memorial Day is May 30th this year.  Memorial Day won't fall on May 30th again until 2016.

As the sign says, the Memorial Day service will be 10 a.m., and everyone is welcome. Please join us.

Fence Unveiling - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3 p.m.

Phase I of the restoration of the cemetery's fence is complete.  The steel and limestone fence, which was built in 1928, had deteriorated so badly that, in 2008, the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota designated the cemetery one of Minnesota's Ten Most Endangered Sites.  Fundraising began in earnest in August 2009.  Grants from the state and city have been critical in getting this restoration project under way.  Neighborhood residents, local businesses, and family members of those buried in the cemetery have played an important role in letting funders know that the cemetery is valued by the community at large.  Many organizations, including a number of veterans and civic groups have been generous donors, as well.

These two photos are a sneak preview of the difference that all of those grants and gifts have made:

Before

After

The fence is 1,853 long and contains 3,510 steel pickets.  If you would like to adopt a picket for $30.00, you can make your donation at www.friendsofthecemetery.org or by mail at Friends of the Cemetery, P. O. Box 7345, Minneapolis, MN  55407.  So far, 554 pickets have been adopted.  Friends of the Cemetery has 501C-3, tax exempt status, so all gifts are tax deductible.

Join us on Tuesday, May 17th, at 3 p.m. for the Grand Unveiling of the cemetery's newly-restored gates.  Council Member Gary Schiff; Chad Larsen, Chair of the Heritage Preservation Commission; Joyce Wisdom, Executive Director of the Lake Street Council; Britta Bloomberg, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer; and Winnie Layman Fernstrom, great-granddaughter of the cemetery's original owners, will be on hand for the celebration.  And, there'll be cake from the Salty Tart.

        

Setting Asa Clark Brown's marker

As part of this years Memorial Day observance, the Minnesota chapter of the Daughters of 1812 will dedicate a new marker for Asa Clark Brown, War of 1812 veteran.  His old military marker was set in 1932.  Wind and weather have taken their toll, and the carving is no longer legible.  Like his old marker, the new one is a 42" tall white  marble tablet and weighs about 220 pounds.

Brian Orth digging out the original marker

One of the things that we've discovered in working with old markers is that nothing's ever easy.  This one was no exception.  We knew that the marker had a concrete apron around it (not typical for upright military markers) but had no idea how big that apron was. And, we certainly didn't know that there was a huge ball of concrete below that.  Our best guess is that the old marker and its setting weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 pounds.  It all had to be dug out before the new marker could be set.  Brian Orth, a professional stone setter, did the heavy lifting on this one, with help from a winch on the back of his truck.  Without the right equipment, it would have been next to impossible to get the original stone out.

220 pounds of marble and about 800 pounds of concrete

It took 20 bags of sand to fill in the hole where the old marker base had been.  The original (some might say "historic") dirt was replaced.  With a little grass seed and some good weather,  we'll be all set for Memorial Day.

Brian and Mike Barth, cemetery caretaker, put clamps on the new marker and get ready to set it.

Please join us in honoring Private Asa Clark Brown at 9 a.m., Monday, May 30, 2011.