Buried MN history shared

Woman dedicated to bringing stories to life at historic Minneapolis cemetery 

By Patricia Buschette

At the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Lake Street in Minneapolis, there is a beautiful, old cemetery. It appears to be a park at the entrance, with large trees and a distinctive gate. You may even see a deer nose sticking through the steel and limestone pillar fence, looking for a treat. It is called the Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, and is the oldest existing cemetery in Minneapolis. 

The cemetery has thousands of people buried there and they each have a story to be told.  Susan Hunter Weir, 76, has dedicated much of her life to research and share these stories.

Susan is a Minneapolis historian, storyteller, and storehouse of extraordinary and fascinating facts about the cemetery. The retired Coordinator of Advising at the University of Minnesota has become a renowned wellspring of knowledge of the cemetery through years of research. Susan has been interested in the cemetery for years, and attributes her initial interest in it to her mother. 

“My mother was an inveterate shopper. We would travel on the bus, and every time we passed the cemetery, my mother would point it out and say, ‘Look that’s Layman’s Cemetery,’” she said, referring to the cemetery’s earlier name.

Susan is more than  a historian, caretaker, volunteer, and President of the Board of Friends of Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery, as she researches and shares stories of many of the 22,000 buried in the cemetery.

“Knowing history is very important,” Susan stated emphatically. “Some have said that history is divisive and makes people feel guilty. No, it is not. It is healing,” she said unequivocally. “If something is wrong, you go back and fix it. You move forward and do what you can to make it better. You can’t fix something if you don’t know it is broken,” she explained.

“Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 2002. We were the first cemetery in the state to get that honor,” she said. “There are several reasons, probably part of it involves the architectural features. This building,” she said, gesturing around her, “the caretaker’s cottage, made of rough-cut limestone blocks, was built in 1871. It is one of the oldest existing buildings in south Minneapolis.”     

The cemetery was established in 1853 on Martin and Elizabeth Layman’s farm. For nearly 160 years it has provided a final resting place for early settlers, many who made contributions to local, state, and national history, military veterans, abolitionists, escaped slaves, and many children. Its current size is 20 acres. In 1927 the Minneapolis City Council issued $5,000 in bonds to purchase the cemetery and in 1928 it was given its current name.

Susan is gratified that the cemetery was designated by The National Park Service (NPS) as an Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Partner, having a verifiable connection to the Underground Railroad. The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program’s goals are to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight. The cemetery has a strong link associated with documented black runaway slaves. Four are identified as part of the system, and Susan has just identified a fifth.

“They are all remarkable people,” Susan said.

Hester Patterson was born on a cotton plantation in 1801 and was 62 years old when she escaped from slavery during the Siege of Vicksburg. She encountered the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. Their surgeon, Dr. William Leonard, got her on a train to Minnesota. In a file on Dr. Leonard, Susan found something interesting.

“Lo and behold, in his file was a memoir written by his son who was eight years old when Hester moved into their home. In his memoir he writes about Hester who spent several years as a cook in his household. He said that he and his sister loved Hester because she used to sneak bread and butter sprinkled with sugar to them. He tried to teach her to read so she could read the Bible, and told of seeing the scars on her back where she was beaten,” Susan said relating the story of the memoir. “It is all there – in just three or four pages, there you have a real person. That stuff is so important,” she said.

For 150 years, Hester lay in obscurity. On June 15, 2025, a monument marked her grave.

“It proclaims ‘Hester Patterson, Freedom Seeker.’ Those are the stories that tell about this cemetery,” Susan said.

Who intrigues Susan?

“Anna Clark for sure,” Susan said. “She had a rough life as described in one of her suicide notes: ‘I am tired and the sorrow and agony in my heart is too great to bear. Bury me beside papa, if you think I am worthy of it. Goodbye. God bless you, Mama.’” Susan describes Anna as a poet and a beautiful woman; who was now destitute with no resources. She used her last nickel for streetcar fare to travel from her home in North Minneapolis to the cemetery and shot herself on her husband’s grave.

“She was not fooling around,” Susan said. “It was okay for women to be sad; it was not okay for a woman to be angry. Because her surviving son would not support her, she was destitute – she was angry. Bob, her great grandson, who has passed away, said Anna’s son’s refusal to support her, including his grandfather who he called ‘That nasty old shit,’ angered her. Her daughters did the best they could. Anna Clark is a favorite of mine,” Susan said.

Susan has great empathy for the vulnerability of children.

“We have people who died during the influenza epidemic but of the 22,000 resident cemetery, more than half; probably close to 12,000 are children under the age of 10,” she said. adding that this was before there was widespread access to vaccinations.

“Many women lost babies. In 1900, four out of 10 would lose a child before the child turned to five. We have one woman here who lost five children in five years, stillborn. Very likely it was RH factor incompatibility. Today they would do a blood transfusion,” she said.

Susan is more than a caretaker of the stories of fascinating people and a patron of the cemetery – truth is, she is an event planner.

“We are known for having crazy events. The cemetery has hosted outdoor movies as part of its ‘Cinema in the Cemetery’ series. These events are fundraisers held in the cemetery, and are a way to engage the public with the cemetery and its history. People loved it. Buster Keaton films were shown at the cemetery as part of Memorial Day weekend events to raise funds for cemetery improvements.

“There is a school across the street that has programming for special needs and they come in the fall and we identify which markers can be used and students recreate the inscription on the marker. We have papers and markers and they rub away. Then we talk about zombies and ghosts. There is a lot of energy,” she said.

Susan continues to research those who lived lives so different from ours as she writes many articles about the cemetery and those who are part of history, and is a sought after speaker. She spends approximately two days a week at the caretaker cottage, studying and greeting visitors.

The cemetery is closed to further burials unless you own a grave, which have not been sold since 1918, and have a relative buried here. In addition, the City has to sign off.

“Well, Jack Ferman, a member of the Board of Friends of the Cemetery, packrat that he was, had an original deed from 1897. He was the last to be buried here November 20, 2021,” Susan said.

  Entertaining Susan and the groundskeeper, Kevin Bohdan, each day is a herd of deer, the first of which wandered onto the grounds years ago. More arrived later, and now there are about a dozen. From Fern, the first deer who called the cemetery home, to the rest of the herd, some born on site, they are part of the ambiance of the cemetery.

  “We have a couple who come down every day from Coon Rapids, 365 days a year, and bring two bags of apples every day. When the cemetery is closed over winter they throw apples over the fence. Another guy brings potatoes and sweet potatoes and cantaloupe, so the deer eat better than you do,” Susan said.

The lives and lessons of those who lived long ago are brought to life at Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, and there Susan is happy to share what she knows, rewarding those who will stop to listen and learn.