Mikhailovka Cemetery Site - Arran District, Saskatchewan

Mikhailovka Cemetery Site - Arran District, Saskatchewan

The following is an overview of the Mikhailovka Doukhobor Cemetery Site located 6 miles northeast of Arran, Saskatchewan. Rural Municipality of Livingston No. 331. Land location: NW 36-34-30 West of First. Latitude: 51°57.887. Longitude: 101° 35.549. Compiled on September 2, 2006 by Jonathan J. Kalmakoff with Fred Petroff and George Negrave.

View of the cemetery site (bluff of trees, right of center) from the south facing north. Note

Thunder Hill in the left foreground.

Historical Background

Mikhailovka Cemetery was established in 1899 by the Doukhobors of Mikhailovka village near Arran. After the abandonment of the village in 1917, the cemetery ceased to be actively used. In the 1980's, the cemetery site was inadvertently destroyed. It is privately owned.

Layout

According to tradition, the cemetery was approximately one acre in size. The cemetery contained approximately 50 interments in one or more rows facing east-west. The graves were unmarked. When the site was inadvertently cleared in the 1980's, all traces of the cemetery were removed. It is now grown in with scrub and brush throughout.

Driving Directions

To access the cemetery, travel east from Arran on Highway No. 49 for 4 miles (6.4 km). Turn north on the grid road and continue for 6 miles (9.6 km). Then turn east on the dirt road and continue for 1 1/4 miles (2.0 km). The cemetery site is on the south side of the road, across a cultivated field, a 1/4 mile (.4 km) from the road allowance. This cemetery is on private property and permission to access should be obtained by the owners.

Burials

There is no burial register, cemetery plot map, death certificates, grave markers or other records for the Mikhailovka Cemetery site. However, the following families resided in Mikhailovka village and may have members buried at the Mikhailovka Cemetery site: Cheveldayoff, Doobinin, Gritchin, Hadikin, Ivin, Jmaeff, Kooftinoff, Laktin, Makasaeff, Markin, Nechvolodoff, Obedkoff, Ogloff, Reibin, Sherstobitoff, Stoochnoff, Swetlikoff, Zubkoff.

View of the cemetery site (bluff of trees, center photo) from the northwest facing southeast.

Notes

This is a work in progress. If readers have any comments, corrections or additions with respect to the Mikhailovka Cemetery site, please contact Jonathan J. Kalmakoff.