The Mackinac Blog

Via Mackinac State Historic Parks

At 10:00 this morning, November 17, 2010 at the Post Cemetery on Mackinac Island, a headstone was placed at the gravesite of infant Robert D. Walsh over 117 years after his death at Fort Mackinac. The stillborn son of Private Walter J. Walsh and his wife, Fort Mackinac Hospital Matron Caroline Walsh, was buried at the Post Cemetery on Mackinac Island after his death on August 17, 1892 at Fort Mackinac.

“By properly marking this gravesite, we are able to honor the wishes of the family and bring greater historical accuracy to this cemetery,” said Mackinac State Historic Parks Director Phil Porter.

Until recently, the unmarked gravesite was thought to be a stillborn daughter of the Walsh family, who died sometime between February and September of 1892. However, a letter from Walter and Caroline Walsh’s great-grandson, James Hudson of Lake City, Michigan, shed light on the 117-year-old mystery. After reading Mackinac Island’s Post Cemetery, a vignette by Porter, which mentioned the Walsh baby’s unmarked grave in the Post Cemetery, Hudson searched for and found old documents given to him by his mother, the granddaughter of Walter and Caroline Walsh. Written in Hudson’s grandmother’s writing was an entry for Robert D. Walsh in the births and deaths sections of the family record, both showing the date of August 17, 1892.

Hudson wrote to Porter, “My wish is that a headstone, with a now known name and date, be placed on the gravesite. I feel this should be done for the memory of this baby and for Walter J. Walsh, who was a Civil War Veteran, retired with 30 years of honorable service in the army, and for Caroline Walsh, who served as the Post’s Hospital Matron.”

The headstone was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, which has provided guidance and financial assistance to maintain the cemetery since 1990. Because of this funding, tribute has been paid to the small child who didn’t have a chance at life, but will now be forever remembered.

In the future, Mackinac State Historic Parks hopes to continue to install accurate headstones at other unmarked or improperly marked gravesites within the Mackinac Island Post Cemetery.

More Information at Mackinac State Historic Parks Website >>>>