A Grave Subject (or A Grave Site Rediscovered)

As a young boy in the 1950s, I loved playing in the woods, including those woods on the west side of Ruth Lake. I clearly remember marveling at the coldness of the ice-house at Fagan’s Resort in mid-summer. My friends and I shared many adventures, one of which included finding the remnants of an old whiskey still.  I later discovered that the former owner, an East Gull Lake resident, served time in the penitentiary for “banking irregularities.” 

Our biggest discovery, however, was an old, lone tombstone deep in the woods.

Some sixty years later as a retiree living on Ruth Lake, I thought about that lonely gravesite again.  After talking to several people my age and a bit younger still living in the area, I learned that that tombstone was an important memory in their lives as well. They’d held séances there and visited a few of the old abandoned cabins nearby.  They spoke of the haunted woods and possible ghost sightings. I decided I had to revisit this site, if I could find it.

After the big storm of 2015, the woods west of Ruth Lake became one huge quagmire of twisted and broken trees and stumps. Former landmarks were gone, replaced by huge brush and log piles which made finding old haunts difficult.  But after enlisting the help of the current property owners and their neighbors, I managed to find the old grave site again.

After a brief search, a neighbor and I found the old tombstone in plain sight. The granite stone was larger than I had remembered.  The marker had fallen from its granite footing, and lucky for us, it was face up since it weighed a ton. I brushed off years of dirt and debris, measured it (42 ½” high and 25” wide) and wrote down its inscription:

                                        THE

                                 SETULA FAMILY

                                    FANNY E.

                                  1879—1950

                               THE 1^ST. CHRISTIAN

                               SOUL IN CEMETERY

It also contained intricate, carved filigree, and had obviously been an expensive grave monument.

I later returned with a scrub brush and water to clean it, took a couple of pictures and paid final respects.

When our history committee interviewed Wiljo (“Bill”) Toumi (an early East Gull Lake mayor, now deceased) a few years back, I asked him if he knew about the gravesite.  He did, indeed, since he helped dig the grave for his friend Mike Setula (husband of the deceased) whose log cabin was right on the shore of Ruth Lake.  He also told us that the body had later been exhumed and placed in a registered cemetery.  The stone was left behind to attract and intrigue sojourners such as myself for years to come, resurrecting memorable childhood adventures.

(A photo of the gravestone can be found under the 'Photos from Stories' in the History section of this website.)

                                                     Jack Hickerson

                                                      East Gull Lake

                                                       Nov. 5, 2016