Riverside Abbey - Historical Albion Michigan

During the week of February 8 workers replaced the tile roof at the Riverside Abbey Mausoleum in Riverside Cemetery with new tiles, salvaging as many as they could of the old ones. This is the first of projects designed to repair this historical structure. Something had to be done before the mausoleum deteriorated beyond repair, thus costing the City of Albion even more money in reinterment costs.

No funds remained for upkeep of the structure, and those who could have paid for it are interred within. We applaud the City of Albion for its leadership in beginning restoration of this structure in this State of Michigan Historic Site.

The Riverside Abbey was constructed in 1914 by W. H. Hamilton of Battle Creek, a mausoleum promoter. An “Open House” was held on October of that year, in conjunction with the adjacent Albion Fair. The Abbey contains 144 crypts, and approximately 120 persons are interred within. The last interment was that of Blair Vaughn in December, 1986. Fearing the worst for the structure, some relatives had the bodies of their loved ones removed from the Abbey in recent years and buried in the ground someplace else in Riverside Cemetery. This week from our Historical Notebook we present a photograph of workers placing new tiles on the roof, and an inside view of the west inside wall of the Abbey.

Have you ever wondered who is “buried” in the Abbey? During my 1995 guided tour of Riverside Cemetery, we went into the Abbey, and the videotapes of that tour are still available from Larry Brooks at Hometown TV. Those interred within the Abbey include: Elias and Juliette Wellington; Joseph and Ella Davis; David and Harriet Miller; Sarada and Margaret Dysinger; Samuel, Mary, and Charles Wilder; Josiah and Louise Kendrick; W. Earl, Lula, Ray, Eva, Truman and Bertha Doolittle; Darleen Wellington Miller; Kate Bedient; Morton B. Fish; William and Clara Rachor; Samuel and Mary Miller; Reuben and Ella Emery; Frederick and Edna Swift; Henry and Mary Wakelin; Louis, Elizabeth and Dorothea McDougal; Myron and Cornelia Snyder; Charles and Vira McGee; Anna and George Harwood; Earl and Lillian Moore; Christian and Hattie Wiselogel; Augustus and Elmira Hicks; Cortland and May Rhinemiller; Jane Gardner; Milton and Edna Burrus; Frank and Mary Cooley.

Also: Sarah and William Stevens; Ida Porr; Mortimer, Mary, and Louisa Talmage; Peter, Emily, and May Ott; Mary Perine; Georgia, Mary Belle, George, and Mary R. Pratt; Edward and Ada Densmore; Franklin, Sarah, and Edgar Spring; Emza and Clarence Michael; John and Maria Dobson; Sarah and Manly Peters; Jay and Kate Cool; Mildred Griffin; Levanchia Cool Welch; Emmet McLaughlin; Miles and Pearl Densmore; Jennie and Abner Winslow; Harold Murphy, William Townsend; Donald, Andrew and Sue Burns; Ora and Dempster Martin; George and Julietta Schneider; William H. and Ara Barney; Julius and Henrietta Hoffman; John and Wilhelmine Schmidt; Frank and Lydia Wines; Fenner and Emma Comstock; Beulah and Norbert Klinger; Luella Orbeck; Charles and Nina Simonds; Leila Land; Julian and Anges Reed; Marie, James, and Nina Elliott; William and Ida Pahl; Elinor Hart; Elijah and Blair Vaughn; and Betty Vaughn Thronson.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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