DULUTH — A fourth grade boy attending a “Concerts on the Pier” performance at Glensheen Mansion with his family recently made a startling beachside discovery. Bones. Mark Knutson, an attorney who has volunteered his services to represent the nonprofit Scandinavian Cemetery Association, acknowledged the recent exposure of human remains below the Scandia Cemetery, 3200 London Road.
The find was reported to local authorities several days later at about 1:20 p.m. Aug.
13, according to Mattie Hjelseth, a public information officer for the Duluth Police Department. She said local officers in turn notified the Minnesota state archaeologist’s office and the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office of the discovery, pulling them into the investigation. ADVERTISEMENT Neither agency responded to requests for information regarding the case from the News Tribune on Friday.
While the Scandia Cemetery is located next door to Glensheen, it is not related to or affiliated with its neighbor, said Lynne Williams, chief marketing and public relations officer for the University of Minnesota Duluth, which owns and operates the historic mansion. She said the university learned of the concern and, in cooperation with its chief of police, contacted the city and the county. “That’s really where we’re out of it,” Williams said.
“We said, ‘Hey, this is continuing to be a problem,’ and asked the city and the county to do whatever they could. And I’m not sure what that looks like from their end.” The city and county are still scrambling to respond.
St. Louis County Communications Manager Dana Kazel asked the public to steer clear of the cemetery and the shoreline below it for the moment. ADVERTISEMENT “It should go without saying that people need to stay away from this area,” she said.
“Be respectful that it is a cemetery and the resting place of people's loved ones. It's unfortunate that the cemetery has deteriorated to its current condition, and we feel for people who have family and friends buried here.” Kazel called for restraint, saying: “We understand people will be curious, but for your own safety, and to avoid making the situation worse, we need people to stay out of the fenced-off area.
” Williams said, “It just comes down to respecting the people who are buried there. We don’t want people gawking and trying to get over there through Glensheen’s property.” Scandia Cemetery, one of Duluth’s oldest designated resting places for the city’s dead residents, is located just down the shore from Glensheen, and erosion continues to encroach on lakeside graves.
Knutson said the nonprofit that owns the cemetery lacks the resources to deal with the challenge. The total balance in its accounts amounts to less than $15,000. Scandia Cemetery has turned to St.
Louis County for help, as Knutson notes local government officials have the authority to take over neglected cemeteries in its jurisdiction. “But they’ve been reluctant to do so and start spending a lot of money they don’t have,” Knutson said. ADVERTISEMENT By all accounts, the cost of either stabilizing the shoreline and/or relocating imperiled graves is likely to be immense.
Millions of dollars recently have gone into other less-delicate shoreline reinforcement projects, as the frequency and severity of storms has taken an increasing toll on Duluth’s waterfront. Local officials are working to find solutions, according to Hjelseth. “While the city has no obligation under the law to maintain privately owned cemeteries, we also recognize this is a serious situation that needs attention,” she said.
The county, too, has been active in working to address the issue. “We had staff visit the site yesterday (Thursday) to get a better understanding of the erosion situation, and it was clear that immediate action was needed to limit foot traffic — both from a safety standpoint and to limit further erosion,” Kazel said. She stressed that while the county seeks to help, that should not be misinterpreted as an assumption of duty for the property.
“It is not the responsibility of St. Louis County nor the city of Duluth. However, it's clear that something needs to be done, which is why county staff stepped up to fence off the area.
We let the city know we are doing this as we await discussion with them on options for a long-term solution,” Kazel said. ADVERTISEMENT “We have been made aware that erosion is occurring and that the owners of the cemetery are unable to manage the problem. While the County has no obligation under the law to maintain privately-owned cemeteries, we also recognize this is a serious situation that needs attention now.
We have started conversations with the city of Duluth and have offered assistance through our public works department with erosion control measures and next steps,” she said. John Bredeson, 90, said his great-grandfather helped launch the cemetery. While the cemetery has since closed, except for the burial of family members on reserved sites, Bredeson said he still attends to having the property mowed and maintained.
He remains somewhat skeptical that the recently discovered remains came from the Scandia Cemetery, suggesting that they most likely would have remained in a coffin and would not have been scattered loose, as they were found. Bedeson also noted that most graves were set back at an adequate distance from the shoreline to resist erosion. Glensheen’s marketing manager and 2nd District Duluth City Councilor Mike Mayou, also noted that the cemetery predates the mansion and that no members of the Congdon family were interred at Scandia but were instead laid to rest in Forest Hill Cemetery.
Scandia Cemetery dates back to 1881 when it was established by members of the now-defunct First Norwegian Danish Lutheran Church. The oldest-known grave belongs to Jacob Adolf Carlson, a 9-year-old who died that same year. Mayou represents the impacted district on the city council and said he wants to make sure the city and county pull in the right partners, whether that’s on the state or federal levels, to address a pressing issue as Lake Superior continues to gnaw away at the cemetery, potentially exposing additional graves.
“This is a long-term problem,” he said. “We’re dealing with the effects of an extreme climate, and Lake Superior has become increasingly volatile compared to maybe 50 years ago. We’re looking at bigger storms, bigger waves, and it’s cutting away at the shoreline up and down the lake.
” ADVERTISEMENT Mayou said he has been in talks with County Commissioner Patrick Boyle, who also represents the neighborhood, for more than a year about the future care of the eroding cemetery. But the recent discovery of exposed human remains has given those discussions a greater sense of urgency. Boyle explained that as a nonprofit, the cemetery association is unable to step away and let go of the property through a more typical tax-forfeiture process.
“So, they’re in limbo,” he said. “That being said, we still understand the super-unique situation of a cemetery that’s on the side of Lake Superior, where erosion is getting more intense. Something needs to happen.
” “It’s not a small endeavor by any means,” Boyle said. While the situation at Scandia is rather unique and unusually pressing, Boyle noted that numerous abandoned and neglected cemeteries dot the state. He suggested there may be an opportunity to create a wider safety net to protect these graves in Minnesota and across the country.
But Boyle observed that St. Louis County does not boast the luxury of time. “The November gales are coming,” he said.
“We have to act now. We have to figure this out.” ADVERTISEMENT Boyle stressed that families must be assured the remains of their loved ones are treated with respect and noted that numerous children and veterans were among those laid to rest at Scandia.
Wealthy or poor, he said the dead deserve the same deference. Tom Johns has eight relatives buried in the Scandia Cemetery and has five more grave sites reserved in hopes of his own family members being laid to rest there alongside their ancestors in the future. He said his great-grandfather, Capt.
John F. Johns, a mining immigrant from Cornwall, is among the dead interred at Scandia. He views it as important for future generations to be able to trace their regional history through local gravesites, even though personally speaking, Johns said he has little fear of his own future grave site being swept away.
“What do I care when I’m dead?” he asked. Nevertheless, Johns said he would be disappointed if steps are not taken to preserve Scandia Cemetery. Mayou said recent events have accelerated discussions about how to preserve the cemetery.
“I think the timeline has really been moved up, just given what we’ve seen happen in the past two to three years. It has certainly changed,” he said. Boyle said doesn’t hold anyone to blame for the current dilemma personally.
“Looking back 140 years, I think that this was a nice, peaceful place that was put up before Glensheen was even built, and people had no idea what would happen, in terms of erosion with that great lake of ours,” he said. “We need to pay respect to those lives lost. And all cemeteries deserve to be treated with the same significance for the loved ones buried there,” Boyle said.
Mayou, too, said the erosion issues at Scandia cemetery must be approached with due respect. “There is a real legitimate human component, as well as a historical aspect to this problem,” he said. While there are numerous neglected cemeteries across the state, Mayou said the situation at Scandia is unique in the pressing need to address its advancing deterioration.
“We don’t ever want to have a circumstance where people are just washing away,” he said. More than 1,550 individuals are interred at Scandia Cemetery, according to records, and Mayou said some additional undocumented hurried burials are likely to have occurred there, particularly during the deadly outbreaks of typhoid fever and influenza that struck the region in the late 1800s and early 1900s..
