Burial Tags

Among other requirements, Rule 17 of the Milwaukee County Rules and Regulations for the County Farm and Almshouse (1894) called for a painted and numbered headboard at each grave. Each grave was originally marked with a wooden cross to which a brass tag was attached. This tag corresponded to a line in the Register of Burial at Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery. These tags are particularly important, as there is no “key” or “map” that links the Register of Burial with spatial locations in Cemetery 2. Links between Register of Burial entries and burials are made using burial tags.

Historical documentation, including contemporary newspaper accounts and photographs, suggests that all surface evidence of Cemetery 2’s existence was removed between 1925 and 1932. Four brass tags were recovered during the 1991 and 1992 excavations; no brass tags were recovered in the 2013 excavation.

In recognition of the important role of the tags in memorializing, remembering, and potentially identifying individuals interred in Cemetery 2, a picture of the recovered brass tags has been selected as a unifying image for our work.