A little north of the now absorbed town of Chilson is the Chilson Hills Cemetery. It is one of the oldest in the county having its beginnings in 1837. It is located at the northeast corner of the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 28 up on a lovely hill.

Genoa Township spent thousands of dollars in putting up a beautiful wrought iron fence and works with the boy scouts and the Sunrise Rotary to restore broken head-stones and clean up debris.

Genoa Township in which it is situated has information that some of the burials include the first settlers of the area. When the original owner Nicholas Kriesler sold the property in 1867, he excluded the three acres on which the cemetery stood. He later sold the burial ground to Asa Rounsifer and it was sold to the Genoa Township Burying Ground Association in 1870. This was then deeded over to the Township in 1924 by the existing board of directors of the association.

As noted above, the Township has made a number of improvements lately including a strong fence to keep vandals out and to protect the heritage of the Township residents residing within. More plans are expected to keep the grounds respectable for any visitors.

The transcriptions of the rural cemeteries of Livingston County by the DAR in the 1940 have included this cemetery in Volume II and data was compiled into a new index.

Genoa Township Herbst Road Cemetery at St. George Lutheran Church Cemetery

Herbst Road Cemetery is located off of Herbst Road East of Door Road.  Herbst Road Cemetery is inside the St. George Lutheran Church Cemetery on the east side of the cemetery.  Genoa Township purchased 122 burial plots on October 3, 2016.  The cemetery is maintained by St. George Lutheran Church.  

Cemetery Rules and Regulations 

The following rules and regulations shall govern the Chilson Hills Cemetery owned, managed and controlled by Genoa Charter Township and  Herbst Road Cemetery managed by St. George Lutheran Church Cemetery adopted pursuant to the Genoa Charter Township Cemetery Ordinance 250519A effective May 28, 2025.

An ordinance to protect the public health, safety and general welfare by establishing regulations relating to the operation, control, and management of cemeteries owned by the Genoa Charter Township (herein after referred to as “Township”), Livingston County, Michigan; to provide penalties for the violation of said ordinance, and to repeal all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict therewith.

A person authorized by the Township and known as the Sexton will install all monuments and make arrangements for all burials. All monuments will need a foundation. Opening and closing of any burial plot, prior to and following a burial therein, and including the interment of ashes, shall be at a cost to be determined by the grave-digger who serves the Township and sets the fees related to his or her service.  A minimum of 3 business days advance notice shall be given of any funeral to allow for the opening of the burial plots.

Cemetery plots shall be sold only to residents or taxpayers of the Township and/or their immediate family which is described as follows: spouse, parent, grandparent, children, grandchildren, step-children and foster children of the original plot owners. The term also includes “great” to the above where applicable for the purpose of the burial of such purchaser or his or her heirs at law or next of kin.

All such sales shall be made on a form approved by the Township Board, which grants a right of burial only and does not convey any other title to the plot or burial space sold. Such form shall be executed by the Township Clerk.

Grave sites may be purchased for $400.00 each for residents and $600.00 for non-residents.  Cremation sites may be purchased for $200.00.  Transfer price $100.00.          

All caskets shall be installed in an approved grave liner so that the grave will not sink and shall be within a standard concrete or metal vault installed or constructed within each burial plot before interment.  Wood rough boxes will not be allowed for any burial. 

Cremation remains shall be interred within an approved container. 

Opening and closing of any burial plot, prior to and following a burial therein, and including the interment of ashes, shall be at a cost to be determined by the grave-digger who serves the Township and sets the fees related to his or her service.  A minimum of 3 business days advance notice shall be given of any funeral to allow for the opening of the burial plots.

The Sexton and Clerk must be notified before any stone is placed.  Monuments will not exceed 30” height x 40” in width per site, or 30” height x 60” width if two sites adjacent to each other are purchased. All markers, monuments, or memorials must be of stone or other equally durable composition and shall be approved by the Clerk.  Please see ordinance for complete rules.

No more than one marker shall be placed at any one grave or one marker or memorial in total where two adjoining spaces share that one marker or memorial.  No marker shall embrace 2 or more graves, except on a 2 or 3 grave plot and then a double or triple grave marker is permitted. 

·         One (1) flag holder is allowed for each grave of a veteran.

·         One in ground flush mount floral vase is allowed per burial site. 

·         No Mausoleums shall be allowed.

·         Grave Curbing is expressly prohibited.

·         Grave ledgers are prohibited.

The maintenance, repair and upkeep of a cemetery memorial, marker, urn or similar item is the responsibility of the heirs or family of the person buried at that location. The Township has no responsibility or liability regarding the repair, maintenance or upkeep regarding any such marker, memorial, urn or similar item.

Unless otherwise provided herein, only one (1) person shall be buried in a burial space, except for a parent and infant child or two (2) infants buried at the same time when approved by the Township.  A single grave site will provide for the remains of one person (full burial) and a cremation.  A single grave site may also provide for the remains of two cremations. 

Grading, leveling, or excavating upon burial space is strictly prohibited without the permission of the Sexton and Clerk. No elevated mounds shall be built over graves and shall not be filled above the grade established by the Township which hinder the free use of a lawn mower or other gardening apparatus are prohibited.

Arches for hanging baskets and urns are permitted only if properly installed adjacent to head stone and/or monument.

Winter decorations must be removed from graves no later than April 15th following the winter holidays.  All grave decorations shall be consistent with the character of the existing cemetery and any decorations inconsistent with the character of the cemetery maybe removed without notice.  All refuse of any kind or nature including dried flowers, wreaths, papers, and flower containers may be removed without notice.

Cemetery plots sold and remaining vacant 50 years from the date of their sale shall automatically revert to the Township.  Please see the cemetery ordinance 250519A for the complete occurance of events.  

The Township will repurchase any cemetery plots from the owner for the original price paid to the Township upon written request of said owner or his/her legal heirs or representatives provided that the original “Right of Burial” is returned or other documents showing the person identified in section 3 has been or will be buried in a different location.

The Township Clerk shall maintain records concerning all burials, issuance of Right of Burial permits, separate and apart from any other records of the Township and the same shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable business hours.  Genoa Township does not keep track of cemetery plots that St. George Lutheran Church maintains.

The cemetery shall be open to the general public from dawn to dusk each day.  No person shall be permitted in the Township cemeteries at any time other than the foregoing hours, except upon permission of the Sexton or Clerk.  Possession or use of alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine is prohibited.

Any person entering upon or loitering within a Township cemetery at any time other than the stated open hours, except with permission of the cemetery Sexton or the Clerk, shall be deemed guilty of trespass on restricted property and shall be subject to penalties for that offense as allowed by law.

Any person willfully damaging or destroying markers, monuments, memorials or any improvements to a Township cemetery shall be deemed guilty of vandalizing public property and shall be subject to penalties for that offense as allowed by law. 

Every person who enters, remains in and travels within a Township Cemetery does so at their own risk.  The Township is not responsible for any injury, accident or other calamity that might occur to any person present in a Township Cemetery.  Furthermore, the Township is not responsible for any damage or vandalism to, theft of or deterioration of any burial monument, headstone, flower urn or other item placed at or near a cemetery plot, burial site or anywhere in a Township cemetery.   Repair and/or replacement is the responsibility of the family of the deceased. 

These are just some of the rules and regulations per the Genoa Township Cemetery Ordinance 250519A effective May 28, 2025.  For a complete list of the rules and regulations please refer to the ordinance or call the Clerks Office at (810) 227-5225.