Entering through the broken gates to Pere Cheney - that's my husband and son. There are many stories surrounding the ghost town of Pere Cheney as well as the cemetery itself. Legal. Dick Cheney’s daughter, Liz Cheney, is the eldest daughter of the then-Vice President Dick Cheney and former Second Lady Lynne Cheney. [4][5], Pere Cheney was established in 1873, as founder George Cheney received a land grant from the Michigan Central Railroad company to establish a stop along the railroad. Born in 28 Nov 1825 and died in 24 Aug 1904 Pere Cheney, Michigan James B. O'Dell it would have really spooked me. As for the moss, it grows on a lot of the trees, but I have seen it in other areas of the woods around there so it’s not unique. By 1877 the town had 2 sawmills, a general store, a wagon maker, 2 carpenters, a doctor, a hotel telegraph service, and daily mail. This satellite map of Pere Cheney is one of them. Children Of Liz Cheney And Philip Perry Cheney's father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, worked in the Ford administration as the White House chief of staff. Most of the headstones in the cemetery are gone and of the few remaining some have toppled over or been vandalized. Was the demise of Pere Cheney the result of a witch's curse? The cemetery has been vandalized and the town is covered with a strange mossy grass and no other vegetation grows. A general store was established along with sawmills, carpenters, a doctor, hotel with a telegraph service and a post office. The cemetary was established on about 5 acres, in 1878, located south east from the town. and I came across it by accident. [citation needed] At that time, the land was sold off in a public auction and the town was declared a ghost town. Browse 1,548 lynne cheney stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. The town of Pere Cheney was started in 1873 by George Chaney about 15 miles southeast of Grayling. Pere Cheney hotel deals Luxury hotels (including 5 star hotels and 4 star hotels) and cheap Pere Cheney hotels (with best discount rates and up-to-date hotel deals ) are both available in separate lists. And according to some accounts, the entire town is haunted. But that does not stop visitors from leaving flowers and coins. Where the town once stood there is a lot of moss growing on the trees, they say nothing grows there but that’s not true. Browse 11,801 dick cheney stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. See Pere Cheney from a different perspective. [citation needed] In 1893, diphtheria spread through the town, wiping out a great deal of the town's population. Pere Cheney, also called Cheney and Center Plains, was a village located in Crawford County, Michigan in the late 19th century. It was once a bustling lumber center that was home to 1,500 souls. The photos are not fake, they are not made up, the story that goes along with the photos is far from fake, but an actual account of the visit to Pere Cheney and the events after. The town’s population grew to about 1500 people but two epidemics of Diptheria in 1893 and 1897 killed most of its citizens. The spooky thing to me was, it’s in the middle of nowhere. This locale is all that remains of the once-bustling town of Pere Cheney, which was founded as a lumber settlement in the 1870s before it was slowly abandoned. Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend at Amazon to learn more click HERE, It would mean a lot to me if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan, Do you want to know when I post something new? Stephen G. Ostrander, in George Newman Fuller, Lewis Beeson, eds., Learn how and when to remove this template message, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Pere Cheney, Michigan, "Beaver Creek Township > Services > Cemeteries > Pere Cheney Cemetary", http://www.crawfordcountyavalanche.com/articles/2009/10/21/news/doc4adf40ade927f381451957.txt, http://www.crawfordcountyavalanche.com/articles/2015/03/19/news/doc550974285b5f7444189390.txt, Top 10 Witch Graves in the Midwest – Mysterious Heartland, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pere_Cheney,_Michigan&oldid=975099105, Former populated places in Crawford County, Michigan, Articles with dead external links from July 2017, Articles needing additional references from May 2020, All articles needing additional references, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 August 2020, at 18:50. Ghost town and former village in Michigan, United States. (EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the second part in a series of stories on the ghost town Pere Cheney and its popular cemetery. I heard about this Pere Cheney ghost town and had a few requests to take some pics of it. [14] The only thing that grows in the town is a green mossy grass. Only a few headstones remain in the graveyard and many are broken or have fallen over. Since then all the buildings are gone and there is just a cemetery that remains about a mile south of where the town once stood. Most of the information about Pere Cheney states that people from nearby towns had tried to burn the town down to stop the disease from reaching them, but there is no information to support it. [3] Pere Cheney was the first community in Crawford County, Michigan and was established by lumberjacks who trailed the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad north headed for Mackinaw City. I figure why not stop and get a few pics while I am there. Maps of Pere Cheney. There are reports of lights in the woods and they say you can hear children playing, and sometimes they leave handprints on the cars when you visit. Perhaps the most popular, is the legend of the witch. People have said to have heard children laughing while there and returning to their cars having handprints on them. Different groups want to save this historical site from vandalism which threatens to destroy it. Pere Cheney is a very remote cemetery, and the road is barely passable for a car in many places. Pere Cheney was a small town established by lumberjacks in 1873. Explore {{searchView.params.phrase}} by color family {{familyColorButtonText(colorFamily.name)}} Vice President Dick Cheney photographed from 1975 to 2006 in Washington, DC. [citation needed] There is no sign at the cemetery, and no signs indicating that it exists. Pere Cheney is a very remote cemetery, and the road is barely passable for a car in many places. [12] The cemetery is down a two track road and runs along some railroad tracks, hidden in the woods. In March 2015, it was announced that there are plans to restore the cemetery to its former glory. A tour of the old and heavily vandalized cemetery at the Pere Cheney, Michigan ghost town. 740 W Pere Cheney Rd was last sold on Jan 28, 2019 for $40,000. By the early 1900s, Pere Cheney was deemed a ghost town after the decline of the local timber industry. The Pere Cheney cemetery is filled with ghost stories. In 1912, the local post office closed. Lumber was the only product ever shiped from Pere Cheney. Maphill is a collection of map images. I was there on a cold and rainy day. Cheney, originally de Cheney, is a toponymic surname of Old Norman origin, introduced into England by the Normans. On December 1st, 1874 Pere Cheney received a post office. [13] Some sort of disease; cholera, or diphtheria was said to have wiped out the entire town in the early 20th century. [12] The disease came twice two years apart. Download Cheney stock photos at the best stock photography agency with millions of premium high quality, royalty-free stock photos, images and pictures at reasonable prices. It is located in Beaver Creek Township and was once a small lumbering town. Google Reviews/Ashley Ogg. Find nearby land, ranches, & farms for sale. Help. One of the most popular legends told about the old cemetery tells of the “witch” who lived in the town and was hung from a big oak … Pere Cheney, MI Directions {{::location.tagLine.value.text}} Sponsored Topics. See Pere Cheney from a different perspective. 740 W Pere Cheney Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653 is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,050 sqft single-family home built in 1966. According to local legends, a witch cursed the village of Pere Cheney after being banished to the woods, hence the reasoning behind the mass outbreaks of disease in the area. I don’t believe much in ghosts, but I do like a good story, and I am a history buff. Railroad tracks that pass thru the area and it’s where the town got supplies from many years ago before there were cars and trucks. Very few of the headstones remain, and the vast majority are broken and illegible. [9] It has since taken on the reputation of a ghost town. All Pictures Courtesy Cindi Lee. [8] Michael Wayne Cheney are some of the alias or nicknames that Michael has used. Summary: Michael Cheney is 34 years old today because Michael's birthday is on 12/23/1986. Click on the Detailed button under the image to switch to a more detailed map. Pere Cheney is a remote, spooky place and is the only remaining piece left of the town. Pere Cheney was a lumbering town that was established in 1874 and was one of the largest towns in the region at the time. I always thought that "Pere Cheney" sounded French to me, and this conjured up mental images of the old voyageurs cruising the Michigan forests of old looking for furs in the 1600s. Pere Cheney was originally settled in 1874 by lumberjacks, who believed the site of George M. Cheney’s sawmill was an ideal location to set down roots. [11] Some say that Pere Cheney was a cursed town from the start, as it was built on Native American land. Liz is married to her husband, Philip Perry, with whom she has five children; daughters Kate Perry, Elizabeth Perry, and Grace Perry, and sons Philip Perry and Richard Perry. Ghosts, witches, strange figures, glowing orbs, and mysterious lights in the trees all feature. At least 90 people were buried in the Pere Cheney Cemetery, but, due to vandalism, very few headstones remain. Pere Cheney, which was was a lumbering town established in 1873, is said to have been built on some Native American lands. [7] If I hadn’t known it was there. Three years later, the village was large enough to support two sawmills, a general store and a doctor. Local legend says a witch cursed the … Today, Pere Cheney is all but erased from the earth; depressions in the ground mark the spots where buildings once stood. The population grew to about 1500 people but in 1893 diphtheria spread throughout the village killing most of its population. Today, the cemetery stands as a reminder of what once was. Originally a logging town established in the 19th century and the former county seat, Pere Cheney fell victim to disease and eventually the town was … Before moving to Michael's current city of De Pere, WI, Michael lived in Sterling CO and Las Vegas NV. There are some depressions in the ground and I read online that these are where the buildings used to be. A little farther north is the town of Pere Cheney, which is to be considered a Ghost Town. [citation needed] Diphtheria recurred in 1897, by 1901 the town's population fell to only 25 people and in 1917 there were only 18 people left in this once booming town. The remaining people dragged their belongings to what we know now as Grayling.