Jeremy Jackson had little to work with when he was asked to identify remains from a long-abandoned cemetery near Hastings.

An avid genealogical researcher, Jackson works with the state archaeologist’s office to eke out information from forgotten and unmarked graves throughout Minnesota.

When construction in Nininger Township turned up human remains, a text message with the location’s address offered the only clue: the property had once been Rose Hill Cemetery.

Within two hours, Jackson was able to track down the name “Robert Caleff.”

That name, according to a Dakota County sheriff’s office report, was engraved on a nameplate found among the remnants of a casket.

This nameplate helped Jackson and a team of researchers identify the remains of two out of at least four individuals the excavation uncovered.

Among the living relatives Jackson located are brothers Paul and Fritz Morlock. Their great-great-grandfather was Robert Caleff’s brother.

LOOKING FOR CLUES

Although Jackson works full-time as a recruiter, Hamline University contracted him to work on the Historical Human Remains Project. This five-person team of researchers and scientists aims to identify remains from undocumented graves and, if possible, locate descendents.

“A lot of times, like this particular cemetery, there’s no records,” Jackson said. “No one knows where the records went, no one knows exactly how many people were buried there, when those burials occurred.”

Unmarked graves of early Minnesota settlers pepper Minnesota’s landscape.

State Archaeologist Amanda Gronhovd, who also works on the project, said rapid development near the Twin Cities metro area has led to more of these remains resurfacing.

Construction crews digging the foundation for a sign at the Hastings CVS store discovered the grave of a woman in 2014.

Gronhovd and Jackson worked with a forensic science professor and graduate students from Hamline University to piece together a possible identity.

From just a few bones and scattered buttons from deteriorated clothing, the team tracked down potential family members who live in St. Paul. DNA testing is underway in an attempt to confirm her identity.

“It’s really interesting and it’s really cool that we have the tools now to reunite people,” Gronhovd said. “In the modern world where we’re always moving things and digging here and there, we don’t always know where things are.”

The project’s success helped the team secure more than $100,000 in Legacy Grants from the state in April.

And their work has just begun. Related Articles GOP expecting Trump to tap Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court

Ginsburg makes history at Capitol amid replacement turmoil

Man, 38, dies of apparent natural causes at Ramsey County jail

COVID cases rise in the US heartland, home to anti-mask feelings

Minnesota Firefighter memorial event to be held online Sunday

Hamline University’s osteology lab houses the remains of more than 100 individuals awaiting identification and reburial, if possible.

The process will take time and money, but Jackson said he finds satisfaction in uncovering life stories that might not have otherwise come to light.

“Really, it’s not just a name anymore; suddenly they’re people,” Jackson said. “Then you have documents that tell more of their story.”

USING ‘REVERSE GENEALOGY’

Gronhovd’s office was the first stop for those seeking identity of the Rose Hill Cemetery remains.

RELATED: Construction turns up 1850s-era cemetery near Hastings

Her tasks include cleaning the skeletal remains and making sure everything from bones to clothing remains intact.

Next, the remains head to Hamline for a forensic anthropologist to study the bones for clues to the person’s gender, date and age of death, and physical traits indicating pregnancies or illness.

Jackson said each detail helps him narrow the scope of potential identities using recent technological innovations.

“I couldn’t do this job five years ago,” Jackson said. “The tools I use are now available on the internet — digitized newspapers, genealogy websites.”

From there, Jackson can often track living descendants through a process he calls “reverse genealogy,” discuss options to confirm their lineage through DNA tests and make burial arrangements.

“Many times, they’re very skeptical, very nervous,” Jackson said. “I can imagine how I’d feel if I got that phone call, but I’ve got to build that trust and explain what I’m doing.”

ST. PAUL CONNECTION

Fritz Morlock, a St. Paul resident, described the process of learning about Robert Caleff as strange but meaningful.

“It’s something unexpected,” he said. “We certainly have been familiar with the fact that our part of the Caleff family had been a part of that community.”

Although the Caleff surname appears frequently in the area’s historical records, Morlock said he knows little about the mysterious couple.

Their graves, however, offered subtle clues.

The nameplate from Robert’s casket indicated he died around 1860 at age 56.

Researchers determined female remains found nearby belonged to Henrietta.

According to historical documents the team uncovered, he died from “consumption,” or tuberculosis. The disease would claim Henrietta’s life three years later.

Gronhovd said this may explain Henrietta’s intricate, but unusual, casket. It was an iron casket with a glass window near the face.

Bodies of the dead, according to the World Health Organization, can sometimes transmit diseases like tuberculosis to the living.

Concerns over spreading the often-fatal disease may have prompted special burial accommodations like the heavy-duty caskets, while the window may have offered family members a safer opportunity to say goodbye.

The order of death, Gronhovd said, may also have been a factor.

Henrietta’s casket, she said, cost about $300 at the time, while most caskets cost about $1.

When Robert died, Gronhovd said, his wife made the funeral arrangements and might have opted for a more frugal burial in a less extravagant wooden coffin.

When Henrietta died, her son was in charge of the burial, which could have different sentimental value.

Although Robert and Henrietta had five children, including some from other marriages, only one son survived.

The surviving son never had children, and Gronhovd said the team couldn’t find census records for him.

A CIVIL WAR ROMANCE

Although the relocation of graves and headstones near the turn of the century erased most records of remaining Rose Hill burials like Henrietta’s and Robert’s, the Caleff family’s history in the area is well-documented.

The couple appears in Andrea R. Foroughi’s book “Go If You Think It Your Duty,” which compiles letters exchanged between Elizabeth Caleff Bowler and James Madison, the Morlock brothers’ great-grandparents who married in the midst of the Civil War.

Bowler, Robert and Henrietta’s Niece, lived on the couple’s Nininger farm when the young woman wrote many of the letters to a husband she dearly missed.

A cousin of the Morlock’s mother discovered the letters in a family trunk with a note from Elizabeth to destroy the letters.

Instead, they were handed over to the Minnesota Historical Society, which published Foroughi’s book and produced a theatrical adaptation in 2013.

Hundreds of letters chronicled four years of the couple’s life as Madison served in the third Minnesota Volunteer regiment. They spent only 12 weeks together during that time.

While Elizabeth admired Madison’s dedication to the war efforts, she later lamented his absence while she was pregnant.

In an 1864 writing, she urged her husband to consider returning to his family, “while others who have had the comforts of home take their turn in the battlefield.”

HASTINGS CONNECTION

The Caleff family’s mark on the community remains today.

The Tree House, which serves as a storefront for Law’s Nursery, greets motorists entering Hastings on U.S. 61.

Elizabeth Bowler Caleff and James Madison’s grandson established the nursery in the mid-1950s. Paul Morlock, who had long worked at the nursery with his brother when they were younger, now owns the business.

The brothers said their family, including other Caleff Bowler-Madison descendents, hope to relocate their late but newfound relatives in Oakwood, where other members of their family have been buried.

Two family members from Iowa who are pastors and Caleff descendents, the Morlocks said, hope to honor the reinterment with a graveside ceremony.

“It certainly would certify that we as a family have been close enough that we would like to see remains taken care of in a proper fashion,” Fritz Morlock said.

The remains of at least two other people, however, remain unidentified. Related Articles Hastings bar owner: $7K state fine for alleged mask violation is ‘outrageous’

South St. Paul parks and rec director laid off amid budget pressures

Oakdale man sentenced to 30 years for death of West St. Paul father shot as 2-year-old son slept beside him

Dodge Nature Center kicks off $40 million sustainability, accessibility campaign

Seasonal disease kills 4 reindeer at Minnesota Zoo, sickens 4 others

Jackson said although he’s compiled a lengthy list of potential candidates, determining their age of death would help pinpoint an answer.

“That’s our goal: give them their names back,” Jackson said. “I think it’s human nature to want to solve the mystery, but in this particular case, it’s very honorable to perhaps put them back where they’re supposed to be, give them back to their family.”