|
Eloise Cemetery was the name applied to cemeteries used by the Eloise hospital complex located in what was then Nankin Township in western Wayne County, Michigan, and is now Westland, Michigan. The patients buried in the cemetery were from the Infirmary Division, the William P. Seymour General Hospital, the T.B. Sanitarium and the Eloise Hospital (Psychiatric Division). In the United States at the dawn of the 20th century, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death, and that was true here. The majority of burials were from the Infirmary Division which was the largest of the three divisional housing up to 7,000 patients at a time. Most burials were of adult males, but there are women and a few infants and children. ==History== The first notation made of an institutional cemetery was in 1892 when the Hospital arranged with Catholic Bishop John Samuel Foley to move bodies which had been buried northwest of the County House to an island in the middle of the reservoir. This move was made to enable the first paving of Michigan Avenue which occurred in 1910. Part of the artificial lake at that time had to be filled in. There were actually two other cemeteries that were used to bury Eloise patients after the turn of the century. The first was on the northeast corner of farmland south of Michigan Avenue and one further south on the farm site facing Henry Ruff Road. The second cemetery is surrounded by pine trees and is the one used from 1910 to 1948. In effect, this was operated as a "Potter's Field", that is a publicly run place to bury the poor unclaimed dead at the public expense. In the early days patients were buried by inmates or employees of the institution. In 1937 the contract was given to Charles C. Diggs, Sr., who founded "The House of Diggs" (reputed to be Michigan's largest funeral home at one time) and a politician, to handle burials in the cemetery and transfers to Wayne State University School of Medicine as state law mandated that these functions be handled or supervised by a licensed mortician. Charles Diggs, Jr., then 15 years old, would drive his mother from Detroit to the morgue which was a red brick building at Eloise called the round house because of its shape and they would prepare the body for burial. White sheets were used to line the wooden coffins and, unless the patient had clothing, they were covered in another white sheet. If family or friends were present there would be an interment service; if not the deceased would just be buried by inmates. About 7,100 people were buried in the Eloise cemetery between 1910 and 1948. These were patients who died at the institution and had no known relatives and/or relatives who were unwilling or unable to bury them. Only numbered blocks identify the graves. After 1948 all unclaimed bodies were sent to the Wayne State University College of Medicine and no further burials were made there. Burial records in the late 1920s and 1930s were especially problematical or nonexistent. For example, "There were only four extant death records for 1934." The names of over 4,000 of the 7,100 people buried in the cemetery were added to Find A Grave. Patricia Ibbotson worked as a nurse at Eloise before it was closed. She is also the author of the book, ''Eloise: Poorhouse, Farm, Asylum and Hospital 1839-1984''. She raised money for the historic marker.〔〔Clem 2007 Observer〕 She also wrote ''Detroit's Hospitals, Healers and Helpers'' which has an entire chapter of captioned photos of Eloise. At earlier times, that is in the 19th Century, the cemetery as the source of cadavers, after body snatching, which were used by medical students at the University of Michigan.〔 From 1948, the laws were changed so that the hospital became a ready source and bodies were sent to Detroit Medical College.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eloise Cemetery」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|