Sumnerville Mounds / Sumnerville Cemetery
N 41° 54.737 W 086° 12.296
16T E 565936 N 4640343
Street side park here, low traffic area.
Waymark Code: WMMJN3
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 09/29/2014
Views: 7
Between the first and fourth centuries A.D. Hopewell Indians built nine burial mounds near here. The six remaining earthen mounds reflect the Hopewell culture which flourished in the Eastern Woodlands of North America, primarily in Illinois and Ohio. Sumnerville is one of the few places in Michigan where Hopewellian mounds have survived into the twentieth century. While most mounds have been destroyed by plowing or construction, the Sumnerville mounds have been preserved by the landowners. Some of the artifacts removed from the mounds during the late nineteenth century were acquired by the Public Museum of Grand Rapids. Archaeologists named "Sumnerville Incised," a type of Hopewell pottery.
The earliest marked grave in Sumnerville Cemetery dates from 1830 and bears the name "Emily Markham." Many Pokageon pioneers are buried here, including prominent African families of Ash, Gault, Mithchem and Mitchell. The remains of Cass Counties first white settlers. Uzziel and Anna Putnam, are interred in the cemetery. The Putnams came to Pokagon Prairie in 1825. Charity Thompson, the widow of Berrien County's first white settler, Squire Isaac Thompson, and two of their children are also buried in the cemetery. Veterans, beginning with the War of 1812, are interred there as well as judges, legislators and township officials. Since 1990 Pokagon Township has cared for the cemetery.
Parking nearby?: yes
D/T ratings: 
Registered Site #: S0667
Historical Date: Not listed
Historical Name: Not listed
Description: Not listed
website: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:Take a photo of your GPS at the marker. We'd prefer a photo of you with your GPS, but we realize that sometimes that's just not possible or preferable.
Also include a bit about your visit to the marker.
NEW: Instructions for logging Missing Marker Visits.
If the Marker is missing, but still listed here, you must provide a photo of you at the actual item historically honored. (This should be the waymark's "default" image). Indicate in your log that you took your photo at the Historical Location instead of the marker, because the marker was missing. Please also still include a bit about your visit to the site.