CLEMENT CEMETERY

Inscription

CLEMENT CEMETERY
ESTABLISHED 1846. AT LEAST 16
VICKSBURG PIONEERS BURIED HERE
INCL. JEANETTE FRASER, OWNER
OF FRASER GROVE, SITE WHERE
SPIRITUALIST CAMP CONVENED.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2025

In February of 1846 the Kalamazoo & St. Joseph Mutual Cemetery Association was established and wrote its constitution. In 1852, the officers drew a map of the early plots and their assigned owners. The plot map includes the names of multiple early pioneers who settled in the area, including John Fraser (1811-1882) in plot 12, Jacob Kimble (1804-1842) in plot 6, Charles Kimble (1784-1852) in plot 7, Lewis C. Kimble (1815-1891) in plot 5, Harman T. Clement (1798-1872) in plot 29, Reuben Smalley (1817-1907) in plot 26, Jeremiah Potter (1804-1871) in plot 10, Charles J. Clowes (1834-1909) in plot 19, and Samuel Shearer (1811-1872) in plot 16.

Other early pioneers are also buried in Clement Cemetery, including Daniel Isaac Fort (1840-1934), Edy (Estes) Fraser (1810-1895), Jeanette Fraser (1851-1934), Nancy (Johnson) Potter (1808-1892), Margaret (Cole) Kimble (1792-1856), Margaret (Adams) Kimble Clement (1809-1887), Almeda (Heffron) Smalley (1824-1910), Fanny (Smalley) Shearer (1811-1881), Mary Jane (Shearer) Fort (1843-1897), and Bessie Ann (Cooper) Fort (1860-1929).

John Fraser (1811-1882) was born in Caldonia, Livingston Co., NY. In 1843 he bought from the government 120 acres of land “nearly all unimproved, and was part of the Indian Reservation”. The land was in Schoolcraft, Kalamazoo County, and John Fraser began settling on it by building a house and converting it into farmland (“History of…”, 1880, p. 507).

Edy Estes Fraser (1810-1895) was born in Marshfield, MA, and met John Fraser in Monroe County, NY where they were married in 1838 before moving to Michigan. She was “a firm believer” in the Spiritualist faith. They had four children, John, William, Simon, and Jeanette (“Vicksburg”, Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph, September 28, 1895, p. 1).

Jeanette Fraser (1851-1934) was the founder of Fraser’s Grove just south of Vicksburg, the site of a significant annual Spiritualist retreat held each summer from around 1883 or 1884 until she passed away in 1934. The “Fraser Camp” lasted three weeks and drew thousands of visitors each year. They had speakers, seances, concerts, dances, and even children’s parties (The Kalamazoo Gazette, July 14, 1927, p. 3; June 19, 1934, p. 11; August 13, 1886, p. 4; July 12, 1892, p. 1; July 07, 1921, p. 3). For more information on Fraser’s Grove and the Spiritualist camps, visit the Vicksburg Historical Society page at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mivhs/vicksburgvillageviewsp5.htm#CAMP.

Jacob Kimble (1804-1842) was born in Wayne County, PA. He married Margaret (Adams) Kimble (1809-1887) in 1826, and they had four children together. They began moving westward in 1836, first trying farmland in Ohio and Calhoun County Michigan. Jacob then “located” 160 acres of farmland on “the Indian reservation in St. Joseph and Kalamazoo Counties”. He built a house, planted an orchard, and came into occasional conflict with some local Native Americans. After his death, Margaret remarried to Harman T. Clement (see below) (“History of…”, 1880, p. 310).

Charles Kimble (1784-1852) was born in Connecticut, but raised in Wayne County, PA. In 1837 he and his wife, Margaret (Cole) Kimble (1792-1856), and six children moved west to Michigan. He “located” a farm on the Indian Reservation and “became ‘a squatter’”, building a house. The next year in 1838 the Pre-emption Act was passed, extending pre-emption rights to settlers on public lands, allowing Charles Kimble to “legitimize” his claim to the land, and he received a deed from the government in 1840 (“History of…”, 1880, p. 310).

Lewis C. Kimble (1815-1891) was Charles Kimble’s second child. At the time the Kalamazoo County Gazetteer was written in 1880, he was the oldest living settler. He served as the Brady Township supervisor for 14 years, as well as its treasurer and justice of the peace. He first married Amanda (Osborn) Kimble (1825-1853) and had four children, then remarried to Elizabeth (Blackman Seymour) Kimble (1811-1894) (“History of…”, 1880, p. 311; Findagrave.com)

Samuel Shearer (1811-1872) was born in Dutchess County, NY, and worked as a farm hand in Wayne County, PA before moving westward starting around 1834. He “located” his land between 1836 and 1840, and “When his land came into market in 1842 he had saved from his earnings money enough to pay for it”. He built his home and began “improvement” of the land prior to buying it. In 1838 he married Fanny (Smalley) Shearer (1811-1881) and they had two children (“History of…”, 1880, p. 311).

Harman T. Clement (1798-1872) was born in Montgomery County, NY. He learned the trade of carpenter and millwright in Watervillet, Albany Co., NY with the Shakers. In 1835 he moved westward to the Detroit area, and in 1841 moved to Kalamazoo County. He married the widow of Jacob Kimble, Margaret (see above), in 1842, and they had one child. He had built mills in Michigan and Illinois and went to build a mill in California from 1851-1853. He was known for having built one of the finest houses in the town (“History of…”, 1880, p. 310).

Charles J. Clowes (1834-1909) is listed on the plot map for plot number 19, and was described in his obituary as “one of the pioneers of this part of Michigan”. He had resided on the farm just south of Vicksburg where he passed away at 75 years old “since early manhood” (Kalamazoo Evening Press, December 28, 1909, p. 7).

Daniel Isaac Fort (1840-1934) was a “pioneer farmer” who is interred at Clement Cemetery (“Daniel Fort Rites at Vicksburg on Sunday”, The Kalamazoo Gazette, March 17, 1934, p. 3). He was married to Mary Jane (Shearer) Fort (1843-1897) with whom he had four children, and then remarried to Bessie Ann (Cooper) Fort (1860-1929) with whom he had one child. Both wives are interred at Clement Cemetery (Findagrave.com)

Reuben Albert Smalley (1817-1907) is listed as interred in plot number 26, and was “a pioneer of Kalamazoo county”. Born in Alleghaney County, NY, he came to Michigan in 1835, according to his obituary (“Nonagenarian Near Vicksburg is Dead”, The Kalamazoo Gazette, June 20, 1907, p. 2). His wife, Almeda (Heffron) Smalley (1824-1910) is also interred in Clement Cemetery (Findagrave.com)

Jeremiah Potter (1804-1871) was chosen as the President of the Kalamazoo and St. Joseph County mutual Cemetery Association in 1852 and is listed as having plot number 10. His wife, Nancy (Johnson) Potter (1808-1892) was also interred in Clement Cemetery, and her obituary called her “a pioneer of this county” (The Kalamazoo Gazette, August 26, 1892, p. 4).

See also our markers for the Fox Sisters in Newark, NY and our Votes for Women marker in Lily Dale, NY to learn more about the Spiritualist movement in America.

Sources:

“History of Kalamazoo County, Michigan: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers”, Samuel W. Durant, Philadelphia: Everts & Abbott, 1880.