Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Resurrection of the Ottawa Poor Farm

Eldon Kramer was a man with a mission.  He was bound and determined to find the resting place of his ancestor, Isaac Kramer.  Isaac came to America in 1845, established himself in the city of Holland in 1849, married in 1855, had seven children, and then tragedy struck.

Isaac's house was leveled in the Great Holland Fire of 1871.  The family became homeless along with 200 other families.  Isaac struggled to reclaim what was lost.  His wife died in 1895 and Isaac sunk into deep depression.  He would neither eat nor leave his home.  Unable to care for himself, his daughter petitioned the Probate Court to declare Isaac "mentally incompetent".

Everything Isaac owned was sold at public auction in order to satisfy debts owed and to pay other expenses.  Isaac, destitute and alone, was committed to the Ottawa County Poor Farm where he remained an "inmate" for three and a half years.

Isaac died in 1899.  He was 74.  Family members attended his funeral but not one of them claimed his remains.  As such, Isaac was buried in an unmarked grave on the Poor Farm property.

The Ottawa County Poor Farm sits on a 229-acre rolling property on the north side of Leonard, west of 68th, in the city of Eastmanville.  This was in a pre-welfare era when the old, the sick, the mentally disabled, and the destitute poor unable to care for themselves, had nowhere to go.  Called "inmates" this was really a generic term meaning "resident".

This was a working farm.  Those who were able were put to work in order to earn their keep. 

Inmates who died at the farm were buried in unmarked graves deep in the property.  They did not want to be buried there.  They did not choose this upon themselves.  They had no choice.

Inmates were no longer buried at the Poor Farm after 1931.  It was then that Louis Peck, the Poor Farm keeper, purchased a lot of 100 graves in the potter's field at Maplewood Cemetery in Lamont at the cost of $1 per grave.

After 1931 the cemetery was abandoned and became overgrown.  Until Eldon Kramer.

He not only discovered the resting place of his ancestor but he set to work to resurrect the Poor Farm cemetery.  Here is how he did this.

This weekend I visited the Ottawa County Poor Farm - now an Ottawa County Park.  While the old housing structures have been razed, the barn still exists.  The County has transformed the property into many walking and horse trails. 

I parked my car, grabbed my gear, and commenced my walk into the field behind the farm.  The cemetery sits about a quarter of a mile behind the farm upon a grassy knoll.

I wasn't certain what to expect as I ascended the path leading up to the cemetery.  I wasn't at all expecting what I discovered.  The cemetery has been landscaped complete with fencing, reflection benches, trees, and gravestones adorning the manicured graves.  Absolutely beautiful invoking feelings of peace.


The graves were discovered using ground-penetrating radar waves and using Eastmanville burial records it was determined who was buried here.  There may be others.  A stone plaque serves to memorialize these forgotten souls.


What a beautiful experience this was.  All of this because of the determination of one man... Mr. Eldon Kramer, who sought after his emigrating ancestor.  Though he does not know which grave is his ancestor Isaac's, in an unselfish manner he brought the resurrection of this humble little cemetery into existence that all may enjoy it.  This is true honor.

Thank you Mr. Eldon Kramer.



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