Fairview cemetery is in the city of Manton,Michigan. A transcription which resides in the Cadillac-Wexford Library, Cadillac Michigan says Gertie W. Burdick is the oldest burial found in the cemetery.

On lot 373, section 1, owner L.T. Fenton, according to the book, the remains of Papa’s earliest Michigan ancestors are interred. The lot was probably owned by Allen Lane Fenton, son of the John.

Gertie W. Burdick was the infant daughter of George Washington Burdick and Mary Jane Abbott. She would be a great grand-aunt of Papa, a sister of his great-grandmother, Susie Melissa Burdick. This is a thumbnail, you may see a larger view by clicking.

“John Fenton 1802-1872, A Kind Neighbor, Indulgent Father an Affectionate Husband, a Perfect Christian.” This transcription is in the book at the library. The stone was somewhat readable when I visited and photographed it in September, 2003.

Irving W. and Ethel M. Fenton were children of John P. Fenton and his wife Susie Burdick. Of the Fenton’s five known children, three survived to adulthood.  The stone has been repaired.  This is a thumbnail, click for a larger view.