The 1912 Grave Desecration of the Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Poor

Farm Cemetery

Alexander W. AnthonyUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, 15-19 April 2015.

Symposium: People that no one had use for, had nothing to give to, no place to offer: The Milwaukee County Institution Grounds Poor Farm Cemetery

Superintendent Bark

Wisconsin Historical Society

Subadult Burials

An Increasing Need For Space

Adult Burials

Richards Dissertation

The Investigation Begins

Milwaukee Leader 11/22/1912

Report Fennell Smith Testifies in front of the Special Committee

Milwaukee Leader November 21, 1912

Burrowing into the stack I pulled two of the coffins out and examined them. As I held one up, something dropped on my foot. When I picked it up I saw it was a human bone.

Milwaukee Leader 10/30/1912

Martin Sackmeister Testifies In Front of the Special Committee

I came to the almshouse cemetery every Sunday to visit the grave of my little child which the county had buried for me

when I was poor and without work.

Milwaukee Leader 11/15/1912

The Grave Digger George Kuczynski

• Some coffins had been excavated.

• A few human bones were found within one of these coffins.

• A photograph had been taken of the pile of coffins before work was completed. The workers had no intention of burning the pile.

• A skull had been placed on a fence post. No evidence that it had been used for bowling.

• The Board of Trustees held no blame.

The Findings of the Special Committee

• Superintendent Bark previously reported the need for more burying ground. Had asked for and received permission to use plat of land that had been used as a cemetery 25 years earlier.

• Bark had cautioned grave diggers to return found remains to graves.

• Human remains had been found.

• Bark had failed to report finding human remains to the Board of Trustees

• Committee recommended enlarging the cemetery or building a crematory for “the disposal of bodies.”

Source: USGS 7.5 Wauwatosa Quad 1958

1990s GLARC Excavation Maps

“Two years ago Mr. Bark said it would be necessary to use part of the old cemetery…” –Trustee T.J. Driscoll

(Milwaukee Leader Nov. 22 1912)

And lo! The clay cried, ‘Use me tenderly, I was a man myself but yesterday.’

Board of Supervisors 1913A Authorizing Investigation of Grave desecration at the Almshouse. Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Milwaukee for the Year Ending April 8, 1913. Wetzel Bros. Printing Co. Milwaukee. Board of Supervisors 1913B Report of the Investigating Committee on the Charges of Grave Desecration...” Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Milwaukee for the Year Ending April 8, 1913. Wetzel Bros. Printing Co. Milwaukee. Drew, Brooke 2015 Here lies.... You know, Weaver, I've forgotten who we just buried: The Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery Project. Paper presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Fransisco. Khayyam, Omar 1883 The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam. Translated by E.H. Whinfield. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co. LTD., London. The Milwaukee Daily News(MDN) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912 “Almshouse Scandal Under Investigation.” 22 November:14. Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Milwaukee Free Press(MFP) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912A “Says Story is a Fake.” 31 October:4. Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Milwaukee Free Press(MFP) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912B “Human Skull Faces County Supervisors.” 22 November:3. Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Milwaukee Journal 1912 “All Charges Untrue.” 12 November 1912: 10

References Cited

. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Milwaukee Leader (ML) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912A “Baby Coffins Fired like Tinder at Wauwatosa Poor Farm.” 30 October:1,12. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Leader(ML) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912B “Baby Coffins Vanish.” 31 October:1,16. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Leader(ML) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912C “When is the County Board Going to Investigate.” 9 November:1,2. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Leader(ML) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912D “Supervisors Plan to Inquire into Burning of Human Bones in Coffins.”12 November:1,10. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Leader(ML) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912E “Skulls Used As Sport.” 15 November 1912:1, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Leader(ML) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912F “Gruesome Tales are Told to Board Committee Probing at Almshouse.” 21 November:1,2. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Leader(ML) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912G “Leader Charges All True, Say Many Eyewitnesses.” 22 November: 1,2. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

References Cited

The Milwaukee Sentinel(MS) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912A “Poorfarm Probers Hearing Testimony.” 21 November: 1. Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Milwaukee Sentinel(MS) [Milwaukee, Wi] 1912B “Relate Conditions at Potters' Field.” 22 November: 4. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Richards, Patricia B. (Supervisor) 1991-1992 Original unpublished field notes from the Milwaukee Institution Ground Excavation, On File, UWM-CRM, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Richards, Patricia B., Matthias W. Kastell 1993 Archaeological Excavations at the Almshouse Burial Ground, Milwaukee County Poorhouse Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.Great Lakes Archaeological Research Center, Inc. Submitted to Milwaukee County of Public Works, Investigation No. 333. Available at UWM-CRM, Milwaukee. Richards, Patricia B. 1997 Unkown Man NO. 198: The Archaeology of the Milwaukee Co. Poor Farm. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee.

References Cited