Inscription
St. Clement Catholic Church served as the center of community life for the Belgian, German, Polish, French, and Irish Catholics who settled at Kunrod’s Corner during the mid-nineteenth century. This cemetery originated as the parish’s burying ground, where primarily church members were interred. The earliest known burial dates from March 27, 1854.
More than 800 graves date from the nineteenth century. The inscriptions on the grave markers not only confirm Center Line’s diverse ethnic origins, they reflect the names of some of Macomb County’s earliest settlers and most notable families. Members of the Groesbeck and Schoenherr families are buried here, as are Joseph Buechel, who built the first general store, and Hieronymus Englemann, Center Line’s first postmaster.
Location
Sources
More markers in Macomb
Ray Township District No. 1 School
Ray Township, MI
In 1863, Ray area farmers built what became known popularly as Mill School.
Packard Motor Car Company
Shelby Township, MI
In 1899 brothers James Ward and William Doud Packard founded the Ohio Automobile Company in Warren, Ohio.
St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church
Eastpointe, MI
Erin Township’s German immigrants first worshipped together in a log church amid an oak forest in 1846.
St. Lawrence Parish of Utica
Utica, MI
In May 1866 the Reverend Amandus VanDenDriessche of Detroit recited Utica’s first Catholic mass.
Crawford Settlement Burying Ground
Macomb Township, MI
Revolutionary War veteran John Crawford and his wife, Ann, founded this cemetery in 1837.
