By Bob Doane, Belleville
In 1833, Van Buren Township along with Romulus, Sumpter Township, and the present Huron Township were all one township in the territory of Michigan, known as Huron Township in Wayne County.
The same year, 1833, David Dalrymple, a farmer living in the Van Buren area of the original Huron Township, was a highway commissioner for Huron Township.
Dalrymple received his land from the U.S. government in 1831. Other family members also settled in the Van Buren area of Huron Township.
One brother, Adolphus Dalrymple, owned the farmland where Hillside Cemetery now is located, including other land eastward, and was also active in Huron Township government before Van Buren Township was separated from the old original Huron Township on April 6, 1835 and formed its own government. He continued to be active afterwards.
David Dalrymple, shortly before his young death in 1833, along with Amariah Rawson and Abraham Soop, platted a parcel of land in 1832 for cemetery purposes and it later became known as the Soop Cemetery.
David’s brother, Adolphus Dalrymple, married Fanny, sister of Amariah Rawson.
The grave of David Dalrymple and the Soop Cemetery predates the beginning and existence of Van Buren Township by about two years and three years, respectively, and the cemetery, now known as Pleasantville Cemetery is the oldest in Van Buren Township. The cemetery still maintains its dignity also as the Soop Cemetery.
The old cemetery and grave are located slightly over 1-1/2 mile on old Denton Road west of Belleville’s Main Street intersection with Denton Road.
For another route to the cemetery, one can travel west on the South Service Drive from Belleville Road to old Denton Road and turn left.
David Dalrymple
Died
September 26, 1833
Age
27 years and 6 months
For the information for this article, I relied on: Census records, DAR cemetery records, DSGR publications, cemetery records, History of Van Buren Township by S. Robb, and Huron Township records.
Editor’s Note: The late Bob Doane enjoyed researching the history of this area and sharing his findings with the readers of the Independent.