The BHA saved an early cemetery once referred to as “The Forgotten Cemetery.” Through years of dedication and many challenges, the cemetery was reclaimed and the BHA has re-established its honor and historical significance. Now known as Brown’s Lake Road Cemetery, it was named after Col. Henry Brown, founder of Brownhelm. The cemetery is located on Liberty Ave in Vermilion, just west of the Baumhart Road.

History of Brown’s Lake Road Cemetery

The history of the tiny cemetery along Lake Road in Brownhelm Township starts with the history of the township itself.

In 1817, Colonel Henry Brown made his way west from Massachusetts to ‘Lot Number 6 in Range 19,’ as his deed from the Connecticut Land Company described his property. Brown had purchased this land the year prior as he and his family were looking for a fresh start in what was then the wilderness of northern Ohio. Brown soon sold much of Lot 6 off to other families, mainly from Massachusetts as well, and together they established Brownhelm.

Col. Brown himself chose to build upon a lovely piece of property along the lake shore, just north of the modern day intersection of Baumhart and Lake Road. His friends and neighbors, Stephen James and Levi Shepard, established their farms across the Lake Road and to the west of Baumhart. Sadly, in 1822, Henry’s daughter Charlotte passed away at just 21 years old. His friends, James & Shepard, offered up 1/2 acre each of their properties across the road as a public burial ground for Henry’s daughter and many others who perished along the lake shore in Brownhelm’s early days. The two farmers officially deeded the half acres over to Henry Brown in 1836.

Unfortunately, this is where the tragedy of Brown’s Lake Road Cemetery begins. Although the cemetery land was deeded to Henry Brown specifically to be used as a ‘public burial ground,’ the property was never officially granted to any governing municipality to manage. This error would cause the west and east halves of the cemetery to have drastically different stories over the next 150 years.

The western half acre, originally granted by Levi Shepard, was somehow incorporated into the sale of his property in 1855 to another local farmer. Why the half acre cemetery, which actually belonged to Henry Brown, was not excluded, remains a mystery. From that point until 1948, the property changed ownership at least 7 times, always including the cemetery property and yet curiously, a description of the cemetery was only occasionally included in the property deeds. 1948, however, was a fateful year for the western half of Brown’s Cemetery. It was included in a land purchase by the Holiday Inn Corporation. Their plan was to build a small motel complex on the property, and they weren’t going to let an old, extinct cemetery get in their way.

Known burials occurred within the cemetery until at least the 1860s, even while the property was changing hands from farmer to farmer. But by 1948, the cemetery had lain dormant for decades, if not longer. An affidavit to that fact was even submitted by Allene Miller, the owner of the eastern half of the cemetery who had grown up on the land. Apparently, this was all that the owners of the Holiday Inn needed to hear, as they proceeded simply to bulldoze over the gravestones located on the western half of the cemetery. This eyewitness account was given by Mary Konik, charter member of the Brownhelm Historical Association, who lived in the farm just to the west of the property while it was under construction. It was Mary Konik who would remember this devastating act, and nearly 50 years later she brought her concern for the cemetery to the very first meeting of the Brownhelm Historical Association. Of course, by then, the western half of the cemetery was long destroyed.

The Holiday Inn owned the property until 1998, after which it became the Mackenzie Woods Apartment Complex. For many years, the property has remained vacant and derelict. Thankfully, it was recently purchased by Road to Hope House, Inc., a residential support facility for those suffering from alcohol or drug dependency. The structures are to be renovated, and the property will be maintained once again. Unfortunately, the headstones, and the graves they were meant to mark, are likely long lost.

The history of the east half of Brown’s Cemetery, thankfully, isn’t nearly so tragic. Stephen James sold his entire property, including the cemetery portion, in 1852. Less than 5 years later it belonged to J.A. Braun and remained with that family until 1985. At that point, the land was deeded to another private individual outside of the family.  The Brownhelm Historical Association was formed in 1993, and the restoration of the cemetery became a goal for the fledgling organization. Unfortunately, the private owners would not allow the BHA to perform any sort of serious restoration work on the property without purchasing it first. This was impossible at the time, so the membership waited. In 2000, the property was purchased by Great Lakes Development, Inc. and thankfully, they wanted no part in owning an historic cemetery. Through their generosity and the willingness of all involved to see this sacred place saved, the property was transferred to the City of Vermilion in 2009 and remains in their care to this day.

While the entirety of Brown’s Lake Road Cemetery could not be preserved, the BHA is dedicated to restoring as many stones as possible within the east half of the original cemetery and making sure it is remembered always as the historic burial ground for Brownhelm’s founders.

Surnames of Known Burials

In the 1930s, the Daughters of the American Revolution surveyed the cemetery as part of their research to find graves of Revolutionary War Soldiers. At the time, they discovered approximately 35 stones with the following surnames. Unfortunately, today we have only been able to find 21 of these markers:
BACHMANN
Charles George d. 1861
BACHMANN
Dorothea d. 1847
BARNUM
Leman d. 1827
BARNUM
Minor_ies(?) d. 1830
BELDEN,
Bildad d. 1824
*Revolutionary War Soldier
CLAUS
Philip d. 1857
ENGELBRECHT
Johannes d. 1855
GOODRICH
Charlotte d. 1822
GRUNEWALD
William d. 1859
HAHN
Dorodea d. 1853
HART
Judah d. 1824
HART
Abigail d. 1824
HEUSNER
Jacob d. 1850
JAMES
Stephen Jr.
KLAUS (a.k.a. CLAUS)
George d. 1849
KUCHMAN
Augusta Magdalena d. 1858
KUHL
Anna M d. 1857
KUHL
Georg d. 1862
LEACH
Elisha d. 1840
LOTZ (a.k.a. LUTZ)
Gertrude d. 1859
LOTZ (a.k.a. LUTZ)
Henry d. 1860
LUTZ
Anna K. d. 1854
MUENSTER
Anna B. d. 1849
SCHALLHAUS
Georg d. 1858
SCHALLHAUS
Jacob d. 1850
SCHROEDER
Henry d. 1841
SLY
Thomas d. 1843
SLY
?? d. 1824 .
SMITH
Charles d. 1840
WAGNER
Burkhardt d. 1862
WELLS
Jason d. 1828
WALPOLE
David d. 1818
WINTHROP (LATHROP)
?? d. 1834