Friends of the Cemetery, Minneapolis Pioneers & Soldiers Memorial Cemetery

https://alleynews.org/2024/06/small-newspapers-help-tell-the-vaders-story/

https://alleynews.org/2024/05/catherine-and-jerry/

https://alleynews.org/2024/01/a-life-in-six-paragraphs/

A Life in Six Paragraphs | the alley Newspaper It’s been almost 150 years since Jacob Hodnefjeld died. Cemetery records have little to say about him. His burial permit notes that he was buried on November 14, 1875, but not the day that he died. His birth year was recorded as 1841 but doesn’t give a precise date and doesn’t mention where he...

https://alleynews.org/2023/12/tales-from-pioneers-soldiers-cemetery-dec-23/

Tales from Pioneers + Soldiers Cemetery – Dec. ’23 | the alley Newspaper Much, perhaps too much, has been written about Harry Hayward, the most notorious person buried in the Cemetery. Less has been written about his family. Harry was the youngest of William and Lodusky Hayward’s three sons. He was their golden boy, the son who could do no wrong—except that he orches...

Our Annual Holiday Story

This article originally appeared in the Phillips Alley Newspaper, December 2004.

By Susan Hunter Weir

Civil War Captain Befriended by Mortician Receives a Holiday Orange...a wonderful winter evening story...

The story of Captain Samuel C. Howard's death was front page news on December 20, 1908. It was a human-interest story—a holiday story about kindness and generosity, and a story about friendship between two strangers. Because of that friendship, Samuel Howard, who had no known connection to the city of Minneapolis, came to be buried in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery.

Samuel C. Howard was a 72 year old Civil War veteran traveling from Olympia, Washington, where he lived in a veterans' home, to Boston for Christmas. During the Civil War, Mr. Howard had served in the *Eleventh Independent Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery. The Tribune's reporter described him as a “grey-bearded warrior,” who was “still proudly wearing the Union blue and prouder still of the little bronze G.A.R. button on his faded lapel.”

Harry Hurlburt, a mortician from Minneapolis, boarded the train in Miles City, Montana. He noticed Mr. Howard, huddled in a corner, surrounded by workmen on their way home for the holidays. Mr. Hurlburt persuaded the other passengers to make room so that Mr. Howard could stretch out, and he bought him an orange.

An orange seems like such a small gift, but in 1908 an orange in December was a luxury that many could not afford. On the day that Mr. Howard died, the Tribune ran an article announcing the arrival of the first boxes of Christmas oranges from Arizona; they retailed from $6 to $7 a box. In comparison, ham cost 11 cents a pound and a 98-pound bag of flour cost $1.90. In 1908, oranges were among the most prized of holiday treats.

When the train arrived in Minneapolis, Mr. Hurlburt ordered an ambulance for Mr. Howard and rode in it with him to City Hospital. Mr. Howard was still holding the orange that he had been too weak to eat. After getting him settled in at the hospital, Mr. Hurlburt told Mr. Howard that he and his wife would be back to visit after dinner. By the time that they arrived, Mr. Howard had died. The cause of his death was kidney failure.

Mr. Howard had made his own plans about where he wanted to be buried. Among the papers that he was carrying was a deed to a cemetery plot in Turnwater Cemetery in Olympia, Washington. He also had a list of people to be contacted in the event of his death, including the name of a son in Springfield, Massachusetts. For unknown reasons, none of the people on Mr. Howard's list claimed him, so the arrangements for his burial fell to a man whom he'd known for less than a day.

Harry Hurlburt was only 27 years old when he met Samuel Howard. He lived for almost forty more years. Harry Hurlburt died on January 13, 1946 and was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery.

*As a side note to this story, during his military career, “Captain” Howard never reached the rank of Captain. This was a common honorary title used when speaking of elderly military veterans. Samuel first enlisted in Company K, 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry on July 28, 1863 and was discharged on September 15, 1863 due to disability. He then enlisted in the 11th Massachusetts Light Artillery on October 22, 1864 and was mustered out at the end of the war on June 16, 1865 with the rank of Private.

https://alleynews.org/2023/08/tales-no-213-freed-family-embraced-freedom-across-u-s-haiti/

Wondering how to give to the Max?
https://www.givemn.org/organization/Friends-Of-The-Cemetery

https://alleynews.org/2023/11/with-no-vaccines-and-antibiotics-thousands-died-of-diphtheria/

No Justice for Martha.

Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery: #211 | the alley Newspaper Gilbert Seashore, the Hennepin County Coroner, ruled Martha Rossa’s death as an “intentional homicide.” But despite the fact that Nick Piritano, the man who shot her, confessed, her case never went to trial. Instead, the county prosecutor devoted his efforts to prosecuting Piritano for killing...

Survey on returning 3rd Precinct building to south Minneapolis now online A survey is now online for people to share their thoughts on a new location for Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct building.

https://alleynews.org/2023/03/tales-from-pioneers-and-soliders-memorial-cemetary-209th-in-a-series/

https://alleynews.org/2023/03/208_southsidedestructor/

https://alleynews.org/2023/02/tales-from-pioneers-soldiers-cemetery-207th-in-a-series/

https://alleynews.org/2022/12/unknown-perhaps-unwanted/

Unknown, Perhaps Unwanted | the alley Newspaper There are 78 people buried in the cemetery whose last names were recorded simply as “unknown.” They might more accurately have been called “unidentified,” since it’s likely that someone, somewhere must have known them. But no one stepped forward to claim them and most, though not all, were...

Our annual story: A Winter Tale of Friendship and Kindness
https://alleynews.org/2021/11/a-winter-tale-of-friendship-and-kindness/?fbclid=IwAR3sB1v1o3F14Dwg04s_RA5vQrjfNOHxXUuVLPCFkxQ3cTnYRyxHDdWorjo

https://alleynews.org/2022/11/tales-from-pioneers-and-soldiers-memorial-cemetery-public-health-policy-saves-the-lives-of-mothers-and-babies/

Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery: Public Health Policy Saves the Lives of Mothers and Babies | the alley Newspaper Julia Abrams was just 22 years old when she died after giving birth in 1874. Julia is only one of 110 women buried in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery who either died during childbirth or shortly afterward from complications caused by their pregnancies. There are undoubtedly more....