By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Atlas — On Jan. 21, the Township Board of Trustees approved an easement for access to the Atlas Cemetery just behind the old Atlas Baptist Church, 6396 S. Gale Road, near the intersection of Gale and Perry roads in Atlas.
The access to the cemetery will be through the north entrance off Gale Road. The one time cost for the perpetual easement was $4,300.
“It means we now have the right to drive in to the cemetery behind the church,” said Township Supervisor Jim Busch.
The historical cemetery dating back more than 250 years, is located on a .69 acre tract of land just behind the old Atlas Baptist Church which is currently privately owned and listed for sale.
In May 2021 the township board of trustees agreed to move forward on the establishment of a permanent easement for access to the historic cemetery. Many of the stones are missing or dilapidated due to age. A survey of the cemetery was recently conducted to determine the location of graves, however many remain unmarked and unknown.
In addition, an iron fence and gate was recently installed to help preserve the area.
Ownership of the Atlas Cemetery had been a question for many years. The township and the old Atlas Baptist Church were at one time thought to have ownership of the cemetery. The church maintained the grounds and at a cost of about $5,000 per year the Atlas along with Horton cemetery grounds were maintained by the township.
Then in about 2015 a title search on Atlas Cemetery discovered that neither the township or the church had clear title or ownership to the cemetery. However, since that time area historian and local resident Dawn Bastian researched the Atlas Cemetery beyond the title search to establish ownership that the property had never left the Davison family.
“The property was a park or common place and later split for a school,” said Bastian. “The public square was given to the church and the Atlas School. There was a stipulation in the deed, that only Davison family and friends along with people of the township could be buried there. It was never attached to the church, it was not a graveyard.”
The Atlas Cemetery and others statewide that are without owners are under Act 113 (Chapter 128.61) of 1915. According to the Act, the township board of each township shall have the authority and it shall be its duty to cause all cemeteries within its township, except private cemeteries and cemeteries owned by cities and villages located in such township, to be property taken care of.