Oxford Township is considering taking ownership of an historic cemetery run by descendents of the residents who founded it prior to the mid-19th century.
Concern over the cost of perpetual care and who will take care of the cemetery in the future, prompted the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Association to attend the township board meeting last week and reluctantly ask officials to take over the approximately 7-acre cemetery their families have managed for generations.
‘Our parents and our grandparents and our great grandparents helped take care of this cemetery,? said Hadley Township resident Calvin Mott, a trustee with the association.
There’s not one paid position in the cemetery association. It’s all run by local volunteers.
According to a 1990 book by the North Oakland Genealogical Society, the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery was established by ‘the people of the northwest part of the township? because they had ‘no public burying ground.?
Although it’s not known the exact year the cemetery was established, Mott said, ‘I know there’s one tombstone in there from 1847.?
Early association records were destroyed by a fire so available records only date from about 1890.
The ongoing cost of perpetual care, for which there is no extra charge when someone purchases a lot, is greater than the cemetery’s income. This is weighing heavily on the association’s finances.
For instance, it cost the association $5,200 to mow the lawn ($650 each time) this year. But so far, only six or seven lots have been sold in 2006.
Last year, four lots were sold.
‘Some years you’ll go through and sell maybe 10-15 lots,? said Association Treasurer Art Baldwin, of Hadley Township. ‘Then you’ll go along and only sell one or two lots.?
Lots sell for $350 each. There is a $500 opening and closing fee for each grave, of which $100 goes to the cemetery association.
‘The only way we get any money is when you buy a lot,? said Baldwin, noting that some of the oldest lots were sold for $2 or $3 each which included perpetual care.
‘We’re losing about $2,000-$3,000 a year,? said Mott, who’s family has helped manage the cemetery since moving to the area shortly before 1914.
‘That is eating us up, but if you don’t keep the cemetery up, you can’t sell lots,? explained Baldwin, who’s the fifth generation of his family to take care of the cemetery. ‘It’s kind of a Catch 22 for the Association.?
The township had been giving the cemetery association $500 annually to help cover its costs. That contribution was increased to $1,000 this year.
‘We appreciate that,? Baldwin said.
None of the other surrounding townships ? Brandon, Hadley and Metamora ? have offered any financial aid, even though they all have former residents buried there.
‘We’ve approached them and never got anything from them,? Baldwin said.
If the township agreed to take over the cemetery, the association is prepared to give the government the approximately $43,000 in its treasury.
Oxford Township currently owns and cares for cemeteries on the north and south sides of W. Burdick St. and on N. Oxford Road. The government charges $400 per lot.
Finances aside, the Mt. Pleasant association is concerned about who’s going to manage the cemetery in the future as many members of the next generation either live outside the area or outside the state.
‘We don’t want to wait until there’s no one there and just turn the light switch out,? Baldwin said. ‘We’ve got a pretty good group right now, but you can look at our age.?
Township officials asked for some time to think over the association’s proposal and requested more information about the cemetery and its finances.
Treasurer Joe Ferrari wants to find out if there’s any possibility of acquiring more land adjacent to the cemetery and adding to Mt. Pleasant.
Having more plots to sell would help pay for the maintenance, he noted.
Right now, the cemetery has a little under four acres that are plotted, but haven’t been sold, according to a letter from Mott to township officials.
Anyone interested in purchasing a lot at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery can call Pat Bliss at (248) 628-3101.