Stop Trying to Identify Forgotten Graves, Group Told

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WESTLAND, MI – Wayne County officials have halted the unearthing of as many as 7,000 graves of the poor, sick and mentally ill on the grounds of the former Eloise hospital and asylum complex.

Officials cited liability concerns and ordered Eloise Cemetery Research Project volunteers, who have been uncovering the graves hidden beneath dirt and sod in an effort to identify the forgotten souls, to cease their work until they can obtain liability insurance, according to media reports.

The volunteers were also directed to work with the Friends of Eloise nonprofit group, which also is researching and preserving the history of the hospital.

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Headstones in the Wayne County-owned cemetery are marked only by numbers. So far, a few people have been identified from the list of 46 names, with burial dates ranging from 1880 to 1949, compiled by local historian and genealogist Fred Kuplicki.

The burial dates correspond with a wave of immigrants who settled in Metro Detroit in the 19th and 20th centuries.

“Many of the earliest burials were from Ireland, followed by people from Germany, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Syria followed decades later by Southern Whites and Afro-American from the South,” Kuplicki told The Detroit News.

Beyond the history of immigration patterns, little else is known about who is buried in the cemetery. Burial records, if they ever existed, haven’t been found.

Kuplicki said he’s “disappointed” with the county’s order Friday, and hopes it will be lifted soon so the project can continue.

Wayne County Department of Public Works spokeswoman Tiffani Jackson said the volunteers are “creating hazardous conditions, not only for themselves, but for the public as a whole,” and are “defacing” county property, MLive.com reports.

The county intentionally covered the headstones, which were not level with the ground, because they damaged lawn equipment. which damaged the headstones themselves, Jackson said.

Volunteer Felicia Sills, of Wayne, told The Detroit News she cried when she uncovered her first grave marker.

“I was so overwhelmed with sadness,” she said. “This was someone’s friend or family member that may have been forgotten. There is a lot of history in this field.”

Byrnes said the volunteers aren’t asking the county for money, but simple dignity for those buried there. He wants the county to recognize the cemetery, tear out overgrown brush and trees, and fence the area so people know it’s a burial ground.

Located at 30600 Michigan Ave. in Westland, the Eloise Complex was established in 1839 as a poorhouse and farm, and at one point grew to a 290-acre complex of 76 buildings before pieces of it were abandoned. The complex, which included both a general hospital and psychiatric hospital, closed in the 1980s.

Legend has it that the Eloise Complex is one of the most haunted places in Michigan.

However Byrnes, who often makes solitary visits to the cemetery, says he hasn’t encountered any paranormal activity.

“It’s very peaceful out here and I feel a sense of solitude,” Byrnes told The Detroit News. “We may never find out who the people are that are buried out here, but many of them helped contribute to the advancement of medicine.”

» Photo via thetalesofeloise.com