1) Brief History of Maple Grove Farm                                                          1 page

The information from the Maple Grove Registration Book, 1895-1913, covers the following categories-

1) NAME The name of the inmate

2) AGE The age of the inmate

3) GENDER Whether the inmate is male or female

4) RESIDENCE Residence of inmate at the time of admittance

5) NATIVITY Place of birth of inmate

6) RECEIVED Date of admittance of inmate

7) DISCHARGED Date of discharge of inmate

8) CAUSE The reason for admittance of inmate

9) FRIENDS/REMARKS This category includes names and addresses of relatives or friends, further death information as to whether they were buried on the farm or were taken elsewhere by friends or relatives, places to which the inmate was transferred, and other remarks such as if they were placed in Maple Grove by the township Supervisor, County Poor Commission or City Poor Commission. Every time the inmates left Maple Grove, even if only for a short family visit, they had to be re-admitted. Some of the spelling of the names is probably incorrect. Where there were similarities, comparisons were made and the name spellings adjusted.

The following are abbreviations found in these records -

B=Born                               D=Died                                     RE-ADM=Re-Admitted

BRO=Brother                     FH=Funeral Home                     SEP=Separated

BUR=Buried                       FR=Father                                 SIS=Sister

BUR-F=Buried on farm      FRACT.=Fracture                      STEP-MR=Stepmother

C-Colored                         KALA.=Kalamazoo Hospital      SUPT.=Superintendent

CH=Chinese                      MR=Mother                                 SUPV.=Supervisor

CO=County                      NEPH=Nephew                           TFR=Transfer

FEDERAL AND STATE CENSUS RECORDS FOR MAPLE GROVE FARM

The United States Federal Census records included in this index are for 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1920.

The Kent County State Census records included in this index are for 1884 and 1894.

As the Registration Book, 1895 - 1913, covers the 1900 and 1910 census years, these were not included.

There have been changes over time in the way the cemetery graves and lots were recorded.

1) Early burials were just identified with a grave number, i.e. GR#12

2) Later, there were Blocks by alphabetical letters and graves by numbers, i.e. BLK A, GR#22. Blocks A, D, and E were used. You will find this method used in the 1895 - 1913 Registration Book.

3) In October, 1949, the cemetery was surveyed and sectioned off by rows. The rows were numerical and the graves were alphabetical, i.e. ROW 20, GR-D.

In trying to compare the burials from the 1895 - 1913 Registration Book, those burials were added to the cemetery records from the map.

You will find duplications but in looking at the map, there doesn't seem to be any logical way in which changes were made.