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SOOP CEMETERY
Van Buren Township, just outside Belleville, Michigan

Soop Cemetery is a lovely, little, old cemetery along the banks of Belleville Lake. (I only have 14 ancestors buried there, so I am not biased!) It is the oldest cemetery in Van Buren Township, and it is filled with old gravestones from the earliest settlers of this area. Abraham Soop, along with two friends, Amariah Rawson and David Dalrymple, created the cemetery on his land. Hence the name "Soop Cemetery". After a century of referring to township residents buried there as "being in the Soop", the name was changed to Pleasantview Cemetary. * However, the original name of "Soop Cemetary" has now been restored. The cemetery has a lovely new sign and is kept in great condition.

	My research assistants - G-Granddaughters of 7 people buried in Soop Cemetary!
A Memorial Stone to Abraham Soop	THE PEOPLE OF VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION, DO HEREBY DEDICATE THIS MEMORIAL TO THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM SOOP. WHO IN 1832 GAVE THE LAND FOR THIS CEMETARY. ERECTED MAY 30, 1952

DIRECTIONS:

To get there, you get off the I-94 expressway at Belleville Road and go south towards Belleville. Just after the bridge and before you enter Belleville, turn right onto Denton Road. Going west on Denton you'll first pass the big Hillside Cemetery on your left - this is the main modern cemetery for Belleville. When you pass the apartment buildings on the left, just before the service road for I-94, turn left onto Old Denton Road, a little dirt road. Pleasant View Cemetery will be down the road, on your right.

CEMETARY MAP*:

Click here to view map:

FOOTNOTES:

• Cathy S. Horste * Diane F. Wilson, WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE, A Local Bicentennial History, Commissioned by the Van Buren Township Bicentennial Commission Upon the Occasion of the Nation's 200th Anniversary, Belleville, Michigan, 1977, 2nd Edition 1980
• Photos taken August 18, 2000 by Abigail Omans Lutz