History: This cemetery is the result of an association that met on January 8, 1862. It is on the border of what was then Maple Grove Township and Brooklyn Township. The founders were part of a family clan that had organized Maple Grove Township 3 ½ years earlier, and included relatives in Brooklyn Township. President Lincoln had called for troops in April, 1861, and at the time of organizing the cemetery some men, such as DeWitt Smith in the First Minnesotans, was fighting, and others were in process of enlisting in the Civil War as Union soldiers. Hence the cemetery's name Brooklyn ~ Maple Grove Union Cemetery. The first burial was the daughter of Hiram Blowers , Lovina Ewing, wife of William, who was buried in her father's lot while her husband was soldiering. William Ewing, a founder of the cemetery, is buried in the first lot with his third wife, Diadema Brown Champlin- widow of Davis Barnes Champlin, who like DeWitt Smith died as a union soldier in Tennessee. There are several other soldiers buried in Union Cemetery and many early civic leaders of Osseo—a village which did not officially organize until 1875. The earliest members of the Hartkopf clan are also buried in this cemetery. Many pioneers who had purchased family lots, abandoned their claims and moved on west or back to Michigan. After WWI, the name of the cemetery was referred to as American Cemetery; in 1969 a civic group installed a flag and conducted a dedication ceremony,
Posted Coords are in front of cemetery, there is 3 ways to enter that I could see so use whichever works for you. As you enter the cemetery you will see a large wooden carving of Jesus that stands tall above the rest. If you stand in front of Him, walk in the direction that His right hand is pointing and just before you reach the big tree you'll find what you seek, a tombstone of J.M.L. & A.L.H. with a ☆ and a 3 letter last name on it.
Final Coords
N 45° 05. ( last # of the year the wife died, # of letters in the wife's last name + 1, last # of the year the husband was born)
W 093° 24. ( the # Infantry served in and subtract 10, Subtract the last # of the year the husband was born from the last # of the year the wife died, # of letters in husband's full name)
