SMALLPOX CEMETERY

Georgetown Twp., Ottawa County, Michigan

The following death records due to smallpox were found in the Ottawa County Death Records. It is believed that this cemetery was begun due to smallpox deaths in the 1870’s. There may have been more burials after this date but the death records were searched for Georgetown Township from 1867 - 1879 for smallpox deaths in particular. Below this first list you will find some persons who lived in the area of the cemetery and are not recorded in either the Georgetown Twp. Cemetery or the Hanley Cemetery.
The Smallpox Cemetery was located on Van Sloten family land.  The property was sold in 1943 with little sign of the cemetery.
A gravestone was found in 1964 on property near Vos Street and 10th Avenue.  Bones reportedly had been unearthed during the paving of 10th Avenue and names of known smallpox victims were later traced to the burial site.
In 1984 Anna Van Sloten Brinks campaigned to save the cemetery from development when sewer and water lines were installed..  The cemetery was referred to as the smallpox cemetery and the Indian cemetery.  In 1994 Virginia Timmer approached the township to preserve the site. The developer agrees to leave an area of the cemetery untouched and a 30-square-foot piece of property was deeded to the Jenison Historical Society and they had the waste and debris removed.  A marker was purchased listing the known names of those buried there.  In 2006, the stone was moved to the Tiffany House museum and an explanatory marker placed at the cemetery.

According to the 1876 Ottawa County Atlas for Georgetown Township,

C. Vander Vene owned land in the NE1/4 NW1/4 and part of NE1/4 of Section 13
and also E1/2 NW1/4 of Section 23
A. Closterhouse owned land in the NW1/4 NW1/4 of Section 13
P. Nordhouse owned land in the SW1/4 NE1/4 of Section 14.

The cemetery was probably located in the south part of the Closterhouse land in Section 13. Possibly near the border of the Vander Veen Land.

 

DIED

NAME

AGE

BORN

PRS

REMARKS

  Bronkema, Sena        

10/22/1872

Closterhous, Heman

16y 5m 3d

Mich

Wilby Closterhous/Eba ?

Smallpox

10/23/1872

Closterhous, William

28y 1m 2d

Neth

Wilby Closterhous/Eba ?

Smallpox

10/28/1872

Klosterhous, Jacob

12y 4m 9d

Mich

Wilby Closterhous/Eba ?

Smallpox

  De ----, Gertrude        

9/17/1872

Mackies/Mackus, Boena (female)

16y 6m 3d

Mich

Nicholas Mackies/Mary ?

Smallpox

9/23/1873

Mackies/Mackus, Herman

1y 6m 10d

Mich

Nicholas Mackies/Mary ?

Smallpox

10/5/1872

Noordhuis, Hendrick

21y 9m 5d

Neth

Eldred Nordhuis/Annie ?

Smallpox

10/20/1872

Vander Ven*, Seirt

16y 11m 21d

Mich

Serit Van Dewen*/ ?

Smallpox

9/19/1873

Vander Wan/Ven*, Coy

42y 6m 10d

Neth

Setsie Vander Wan/Lucy ?

Smallpox

10/3/1872

Wierenga, Annie

14y 3m 3d

Mich

Reimis/Hettie Wierenga

Smallpox

 

DEATH

NAME

AGE

BPL

PARENTS

REMARKS

10/30/1880

Bush, Anna

20y 11m

Mich

Michael Bush/Abitje ?

Childbirth

Jun, 1889

Bush, Anna

32 yrs.

Mich

----

Consumption

10/25/1893

Bush, Michiel

63 yrs.

Neth

----

Dropsy

6/7/1879

Houseman, Nicholas

28 yrs.

Neth

----

Consumption

8/22/1868

Klosterhouse, Willie

2y 10m 3d

Ggtn, MI

Wilbur/Aapke

Worms

July, 1876

Klosterhuis, Abbie

53 yrs.

Neth

----

Dropsy

5/28/1886

Knapen, Ind(ependent)D.

87 yrs.

Mich.

----

Old Age

5/8/1885

Knapin, Miami

70y 7m 24d

----

----

----

6/21/1872

Smith, Erastus

76y 3m

NY

 

Palsey

8/29/1872

Starkey, Luman

30y

Neth

 

Typhoid Fever

7/7/1884

Van Coeveringe, Christ.

46y 3m 10d

Neth

----

Asthma

11/22/1869

Vander Veen, Catharine

24y 3m

Neth

Gosse Sholtens/Mary ?

Dropsy

6/6/1868

Weatherwax, Clara M.

11 yrs.

Ggtn, MI

George/Huldah ?

Spotted fever

5/15/1876

Weatherwax, Jacob M.

83y 11m 19d

Clin.Co.NY

----

Lung Disease

4/11/1867

Weatherwax, May Franks

7 days

Mich

Henry/Hildie?

Heart Disease

Transcriber: Evelyn Sawyer
Created: 1 May 2002