Oldest cemetery in Minneapolis has some stone-cold stories to tell

Cemeteries have a particular place in the legends and symbolism of Halloween. Wraiths rising from the graves. Tombstones standing stark in the moonlight.

If you want to stroll past the oldest cemetery in Minneapolis, you’d best hope no spirits disturb your visit. It’s the Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, and as the name suggests, those ghosts would be hardy souls.

The Hennepin History Museum (2303 3rd Av. S., Mpls.) has a new exhibit on the cemetery titled “In Memoriam: Residents of Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery” and it’s a tidy, compact assessment of the sprawling grounds that line Lake Street between Cedar Avenue and 21st Avenue S.

Pioneers and Soliders is not an upscale expanse like Lakewood, which has fine sculpture dotting its rolling hills. Nor is it in a middle-class location like Oak Hill, which has headstones ancient and new. Pioneers and Soldiers is as old as the state, and holds the bones of the immigrants who came across the ocean to make a life in a new land, then join it in death. And it’s closed to new applicants.

It was previously known as Layman’s Cemetery, named for the couple that owned the land. They got into the cemetery business in 1858, the year of statehood. Since they had a substantial property, and since there was always a need for a cemetery, they entered the graveyard business.

The Laymans both died in 1886. The graveyard continued to accept new residents until it was full in 1919, with a population of 27,000. Looking at it now, it doesn’t seem full. The headstones are widely spaced, as if the residents are keeping a respectful distance from one another. Many graves are unmarked, with only a faint depression in the earth to tell you to mind where you are treading.

The city of Minneapolis took over in 1928, and build a fence around the 27-acre property.

About 7,000 residents were removed and reburied elsewhere in the 1920s, and only two have been buried in the cemetery since 1999.

The name Pioneers and Soliders doesn’t reflect a large portion of the residents. Historian Susan Hunter Weir, who has devoted a great deal of time researching the stories of the cemetery, compiled some statistics that indicate the hard character of life in the early days. Pioneers, yes; soldiers, yes. But many, many were children. More than half of the residents died before they reached the end of their first decades of life.

While most of the residents are indeed pioneers and soldiers, some notables are buried in the grounds.

The dreadful bones of Harry Hayward, a high-society rake infamous for arson and murder. In 1895, he was convicted of killing Catherine Ging, a dressmaker who’d lent him money, and was sentenced to be hanged. A few hours before his death, he spoke to his cousin, confessing to all sorts of ghastly deeds. Hayward was possibly Minneapolis’ first serial killer.

The History Museum exhibit displays the handcuffs he wore, and a piece of the rope with which he was hanged.

Citizens of a better example also rest at Pioneers and Soldiers. They include William Goodridge, an abolitionist and prominent figure in the Underground Railroad. The National Park Service has nominated the Pioneers and Soldiers cemetery for listing in its “Underground Railroad Network to Freedom” program. Many Black veterans are interred here, as well, including Oscar Vaughn, a Civil War soldier from the 16th United States Colored Infantry.

If you’re thinking about heading to the cemetery on Halloween to stroll among the old stones and perhaps catch a glimpse of an old ghost, you can’t. It closed for the season on Oct. 15. It will open for one day on Nov. 11 for Veterans Day, and the gates will swing wide again next April.

You can, however, walk along the gate, and consider the iron bars the equivalent of the barrier betwixt our world and theirs. It is more permeable than you think. On a bright Saturday afternoon last weekend, some deer were strolling among the stones, grazing, stretching, enjoying the peace and quiet. There were the only living things passing through the invisible streets of the city of the dead.