Author and historian Mary-Johna Wein displays her books on Taylor and Wyandotte Civil War veterans, co-authored with Martin Bertera, with Wyandotte’s historic Oakwood Cemetery as a backdrop.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – Downriver author and historian Mary-Johna Wein, 33, of Wyandotte recently co-authored her second book about local Civil War veterans with Martin Bertera.
The first book, “Biographies of Civil War Soldiers from Wyandotte, Michigan” was published Dec. 16, 2023, while the second, “Biographies of Civil War Soldiers buried in Taylor MI” was released May 21, 2025.
Wein said the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the research that led to the first book.
“We had nothing to do, and so we decided we had no master list of Civil War soldiers, so let’s create one,” she said. “It was supposed to be just a master list of soldiers, but I started reading their stories, and the stories were so good, so I wrote them down.”
Wein said she and Bertera never intended for the list of 142 Civil War soldiers and their stories to become public, but word spread and people were eager to read the stories.
“So, we published the first book, and we gave 100 percent of the profit to the Wyandotte Historical Society for preserving local history and whatever project they have,” she said.
Oakwood Cemetery, established in 1869, near Biddle and Ford avenues in Wyandotte, is the final resting place for some of the city’s Civil War veterans.
Wein became interested in local history while still in high school when she learned that the city of Wyandotte planned to tear down an historic home.
She said she wrote a letter to then Mayor Joseph Peterson and expressed her concerns about “erasing history.”
The mayor called Wein at Roosevelt High School and invited her to the next city council meeting to speak.
“The teacher handed me the phone and said, ‘It’s the mayor,’” she said. “‘Oh, God, what did I do!’ so I took the phone call and he said ‘I’d like to invite you to the council meeting to express your concerns.”
Wein was then invited to tour the Wyandotte Historical Museum and has been on the board ever since.
The historical house was moved and saved. It currently sits at corner of Third and Maple streets near from the central fire station.
Wein served as the Wyandotte Historical Society president for three years and has been the Oakwood Cemetery president for five years.
“I just love local history,” she said.
Wein said the second book, which just came out, covers Civil War soldiers buried in Taylor, with the proceeds funding headstone restoration.
She said they are traveling to Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland in October to clean the headstones of Michigan soldiers.
Wein said she became interested in Taylor Civil War veteran stories after some Taylor Historical Society members helped out at Wyandotte’s Oakwood Cemetery following some February 2024 vandalism.
“So, I thought, well, you know, they are willing to come out and help, let’s see if we can help them with their cemetery preservation efforts,” she said.
Wein said there are five cemeteries in Taylor that have 28 identified graves of Civil War veterans.
“Soldiers Untold: Biographies of Civil War Soldiers from Wyandotte, Michigan” by Martin N. Bertera and Mary-Johna M. Wein, is available on Amazon.com and in the Wyandotte Historical Society gift shop.
“Soldiers Untold: Biographies of Civil War Soldiers buried in Taylor MI” by Martin N. Bertera and Mary-Johna M. Wein, is available on Amazon.comAmazon.com and at the Wyandotte, Taylor and Brownstown Township historical museums.