Tuesday, October 28, 2008

In Oakwood cemetery, located in Muskegon, MI



are the graves of 4 members of the Cogshall family.




Father James Henry



Mother Electra Force



and two of their five children:

son, William Ellsworth



and daughter, Rose Adelle


I do not know where the other children, Jennie May, George Theopholis, and Bela Nelson Lavern are buried.

I am not related to the Cogshalls, nor have I ever met any relatives of the Cogshalls (that I know of) but I know a lot about them.

I know that James had a large department store in downtown Muskegon in the late 1800’s and in his later years ran for a school commissioner position. I know they were Masons. I know they had a son who ran away as a teenager so he could fight in the Civil war and that his mother wrote a letter to the government demanding his return. I know their daughter, Rose, never married. I know what they all look like.

Why do I know all this? Because all this information and more was collected by my grandmother and was inherited by me when she died. I have pictures of them, letters written by them and newspaper clippings about them. I have more pictures of the Cogshalls than I do of my own grandparents.

My grandmother worked for them in the art department of the Leahy Store when she first came to Muskegon. She and Rose, although a little older, became best friends. I can remember her talking about Rose and her family all the time.

Oh how I wish I had listened as she rambled on and on about these people that I had no interest in whatsoever. Because maybe then I would have a clue as to how to track down possible relatives and pass all this information on to them.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Someone tell me not to worry....


Please.

This past summer, I was driving down the road with my 3 ½ year old granddaughter, Dezi, and her brother Bailey. Out of the blue, Dezi loudly announced, “Grandma, I’m ready.”
“Ready for what?” I asked.
“Ready to meet Jesus” she replied.
The hair on my arms and neck rose in direct proportion to my foot easing off the gas pedal. Where did that come from? Maybe something she heard in Sunday school?
I asked her what she meant and she said, “I’m just ready to meet him.”
I drove very carefully home without asking any more questions.

This past weekend, the grandkids stayed with us. On Saturday, we went for a ride looking for a little farm market to pick out pumpkins. Along the way, I stopped to explore a little cemetery that we came across. As I walked along, I realized I could hear Dezi quietly singing. I turned but could not see her. I followed the singing back to her and found her lying on the ground singing Jesus Loves Me. A beautiful song but the memory of the “Ready to meet Jesus” statement came flooding back. TIME TO GO!





The next day, Sunday, we were all looking at funny animal videos on You Tube. All of a sudden, Dezi screamed. I looked over and seen blood all over her face and hands. She had a bloody nose! She didn’t fall or get hit or anything. It just started bleeding. I picked her up and ran into the kitchen to find some towels.

Ok, so as I’m cleaning her up, I’m thinking about her singing in the cemetery, the “I’m ready to meet Jesus”, and Albert Ingalls. Remember Albert from Little House on the Prairie? The adopted brother of Laura who was diagnosed with leukemia on the show? Albert, who's first symptom was nosebleeds?

I am not normally a superstitious person but I was a little uneasy the rest of the day. Then came the final blow. As I was explaining the nosebleed to my son in law he said, “that’s funny, she’s always talking about her nose bleeding but it never has. Maybe she has a sixth sense or something.”

It’s just a series of meaningless, unrelated events… It’s just a series of meaningless, unrelated events… It’s just a series of meaningless, unrelated events… It’s just a series of meaningless, unrelated events………




Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Do you see a cemetery



in this picture?



No? How about now?



Still no? Try this one.




For years I have heard rumors about a very old indian cemetery hidden in the woods . It's not too far from the other Indian cemetery from my previous blog. This past weekend I explored the area and found it. Up these stone steps are the graves of indians who lived on this land that was once a reservation. These particular indians were converted to Catholicism and were given a christian burial.

At the base of the steps lays an assortment of items. A small amount of change, rocks and a beautiful "Dream Catcher" have been left as, what I presume, offerings.



On the top of the hill, the graves are widely scattered although I do wonder if many more are buried that are not marked with headstones. To be honest, I don't know how they buried anyone on this hill. The pictures do not capture it, but the entire hill seemed to consist of rocks from the size of marbles to the biggest boulders I have ever seen around this area.




The grave of Chief Pay-Baw-Me. He died in 1870. His was the only headstone that was engraved with both his indian name and his christian name, Joseph Papahme (or Pabahme, I couldn't tell). All of the other headstones were engraved with only the christian names.





There is also a historical marker about a quarter mile away from this cemetery.





This man drowned in 1871. Note how the grave has an old flower pot at the base.




Together forever.



This area, about 15 feet in diameter showed recent (ceremony ?) activity. Note that the grass is trampled but not quite dead yet. There is a small carved plate and buried under the grass next to the rock was a much older plate from an earlier time.



The activity seemed to be directed to this cross.




This urn seems so out of place.

I plan to return in the next couple of weeks to see if I can get better pictures.