In Warren Township I have found that the oldest recorded cemetery burialswere at the Warren Union Cemetery, followed by the St Clement Cemetery. Butbetween the A Bunert Farmhouse and the C Bunert Farmhouse Just N of Martin Roadand West of Bunert Road, was an Indian mound which was 18 feet tall. It wasmost likely an Indian burial mound but this is uncertain. This mound existedprior to the settlement of their farm in 1849. It had become overgrown withweeds and shrubs so much that it was not particularly recognizable as an Indianmound and was missed on the early surveys. The settlers certainly were not inthe habit of building mounds 18 feet high. The family reported that Indianscame around often in the early days. They would read the sun like a clock andwould disappear when the sun reached a certain angle. Indian artifacts havebeen found in the area. Local legends also give credence to the Indian moundtheory. This area is generally flat and there is no logical geologicalexplanation for a sand mound given the flatness of the surrounding area. Alsoconsidering that there was at least evidence of forty human remains removedfrom this site and that no archeologist was called in to evaluate the site sothat there may have been other evidence that was certainly overlooked. Alsoconsider that at least two dump truck loads of remains were trucked out of thesite before it was discovered that at least one of them contained human bones.The family reported that other families sometimes brought relatives there forburial. I talked with one of the older Weiers and was told that their grandparents told them of a man who carried his dead baby for several miles to haveit buried there as it was the only cemetery he knew about. Around this landmarkearly settlers from several families buried their dead. They probably did notknow or care if it was an Indian mound or not. Whether or not it was willprobably remain unknown as the evidence was destroyed and removed. Earlyfarmers often raided Indian mounds to get pots. There was a road that led fromMartin road directly to this cemetery. I have it on an aerial foto and showingthe mound in the 1960s. I shall call it the Bunert-Indian Cemetery forshortness but it was supposedly registered on the State of Michigan registry asthe Bidell-Green-Weier Cemetery. I saw a 8 mm movie in about 1970 showing threeburial vaults in which bones were being piled to be buried at Clinton Grove. Itis now located on the southern half of the Briarwood school property. I spokewith the undertaker who performed the last removals. I found newspaperarticles. And weirdly also found reports of ghost sightings believe it or not.
By the 1960s it was overgrown with Lilac shrubs that waved in the breeze.The Lilacs were planted by other families to mark the burial places but hadbecome overgrown over the years. The family was forced by economic reasons tosell the property. The school district would have taken the property anyway asthey wanted to build a school there. It was transferred about 1966. Mrs. IdaWeier told the school district that it was a burial ground and wanted allremains to be treated in a Christian manner. Bunert family burials were removedand reinterred at the Clinton Grove Cemetery in Mt Clemens. There were no otherstone markers and all of the wood markers had rotted away and the little stonepebble markers were displaced so it was not particularly recognizable as aburial ground. But she also warned the principal that it was a burial ground.He called her a crazy lady. During construction a skull and other human boneswere discovered. [[Per Tri City Progress 4 14-1967) In May of 1969 childrenplaying in the school playground discovered more human remains. Imagine thelook of shock on the teachers face when they brought the remains into theclassroom. Later the principal went over to Ida Weiers house and wanted toquestion her about the remains. She reminded him that he had branded her acrazy lady for even suggesting that it was a
burial ground. One contractor dug a load of dirt for fill dirt and droppedit off on someone’s property. The homeowner receiving the fill dirt foundsculls and human bones and called the police who contacted the contractor.Imagine asking for fill dirt and getting human remains dropped off in yourdriveway. Wow was he in trouble. It wasn’t very long when that kids were alsoshowing off human remains from the mound. That finally got the officialsattention. The school district wanted everything hushed up so no archeologistswere called in and in fact it was them who hired a funeral director. The schoolcertainly did not anyone to discover that this was anything other than a singlefamily burial plot. But human remains of at least 40 humans were removed fromwhat was left of the mound and the rest of the area was not explored. HistorianWesley Arnold states that he saw movies of this mound being excavated. WilliamDuRoss the funeral director mentioned that Theuts, Greens, Hessels, andSchoenhers were probably buried there. So it was for sure a pioneer cemetery.Whether or not it was also the remains of an Indian burial ground had not beendetermined by scientific investigation and will never be never known as theevidence has been removed and scattered. And even though a few bones wereremoved the balance of the remains of those pioneer families remainunderground. This historian does not believe in ghosts but must report many ofsightings over the years by homeowners adjacent to the Briarwood Schoolproperty. Several families and even children have reported sightings andstrange happenings there. As a historian I am honor bound to tell the truth.Strange. This historian feels that a plaque should be erected at least on theon a bench on the grass next to the paved path that goes around the ball fieldthat would and mark this as at least a pioneer cemetery.http://geocities.com/ourlocalhistory/History/CemeteriesForgotten.html