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Take a tour of three historical cemeteries in Rochester and Rochester Hills (formerly Avon Township).  Visit the cemetery where the pioneers of the village of Stony Creek are buried, then tour Rochester's Mount Avon Cemetery, the first platted cemetery in Oakland County, and finish with Brewster Cemetery, where the pioneer families of western Avon Township and the congregation of Oakland Baptist Church were laid to rest.

Nathaniel and Sally Millerd sold 1.7 acres of this land in March 1839 to multiple Stony Creek residents with the understanding that it would be "forever used as a public burying ground." Millerd was a prominent settler and community leader in the village of Stony Creek; he had built a gristmill in 1824 and operated a general store and the Stony Creek Post Office out of his home. He also served as Oakland County's second probate judge. The lot owners in the cemetery organized an association to care for cemetery business in 1861. By the turn of the century, the appointed trustees were all deceased and the affairs of the cemetery were being neglected. In 1909, the cemetery's lot owners met to form a new association to administer the Stony Creek Cemetery. The Detroit Free Press said on March 18, 1909:[begin quote]Lot owners of Stoney Creek cemetery, east of Rochester, have set about to form an organization which will hereafter insure the care and maintenance of the cemetery. Interest in the affairs of the association lagged for years until it was finally discovered that all the trustees were dead and there was no organization to care for the property.. Action has now been taken looking to an organization and a first meeting held. Necessary steps will be taken to carry out this plan at a meeting March 20.[end quote]The lot owners ceded control of the cemetery to Stony Creek Masonic Lodge No. 5 in 1924. The Grand Lodge of Michigan deeded the cemetery to the Township of Avon in 1981. A monument erected in 1929 by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Michigan pays tribute to the Stoney Creek Lodge - the only one in Michigan to hold meetings throughout the anti-Masonic fervor that lasted from 1826 to 1844. The Rochester Era reported on June 1, 1928:[begin quote]During the afternoon session, Tuesday, May 22, Charles A. Donaldson of Grand Rapids, junior past grand master, chairman of the Stoney Creek Lodge Memorial Committee, recommended that a 'plain bronze tablet bolted to granite rock mark the site where those sturdy Masonic pioneers kept the light of Michigan Masonry burning in Stoney Creek Lodge while others were extinguished.' Mr. Donaldson also proposed that $250 be given annually by the Grand Lodge for perpetual care of the Masonic graves in Stoney Creek cemetery and that members of Zion Lodge No. 1, be honored with supervising this work. The proposals carried unanimously.[end quote]The Grand Lodge dedicated the Masonic monument in Stony Creek Cemetery on May 27, 1929. Although not formally organized until 1839, Stony Creek Cemetery was the site of burials from the earliest settlement of the village. The first known burial is believed to have been that of Michael Van Wagoner Sr., a Revolutionary War soldier who died in 1824 or 1825. Van Wagoner's exact grave location within the cemetery grounds is unknown, as any marker that might have been placed had long disappeared. Van Wagoner's family placed a new stone within the cemetery in 1978, and his resting place was rededicated by the Oaks Chapter, Michigan Society Sons of the Revolution, in 2007. The Stony Creek Cemetery received a Michigan Historical Marker at the same time. Ownership of the cemetery was officially deeded to Avon Township (now the City of Rochester Hills) in 1981, although newspaper accounts say that control over the cemetery had been ceded to the township back in 1956. The City of Rochester Hills maintains Stony Creek Cemetery but no longer uses the historic cemetery for burials. Rochester Hills operates the nearby Van Hoosen Jones-Stoney Creek Cemetery, located on land donated in 1956 by the late Dr. Sarah Van Hoosen Jones.

Stony Creek Cemetery is a small, roughly triangular-shaped, rural cemetery established in 1839 to serve the nearby village of Stony Creek. The cemetery is perched high on a hill overlooking the village, and is the burial place of many of its pioneer settlers. It includes the graves of the Cole, Taylor, Van Hoosen, and Millerd families, as well as the grave of Michael Van Wagoner (1750-1825) a Revolutionary War soldier. The cemetery is also the location of a Masonic monument commemorating the only Masonic lodge in Michigan to continue operation during the anti-Masonic movement of the early nineteenth century.  The Stoney Creek Masonic Lodge #5 operated Stony Creek Cemetery from 1924 until 1981, at which time it was deeded to the Township of Avon (now Rochester Hills).

Stony Creek Cemetery, Michigan Historical Marker, side 1, 2020

Stony Creek Cemetery

In 1826, Mount Avon became the first officially platted cemetery in Oakland County. The "Old Ground" or "Historic Acre" contains head-stones dating from 1817, the year the earliest settlers arrived in the area. The older sections are laid out as an "afternoon cemetery," meaning that the headstones face west toward the afternoon sun. Some members of the Graham family, Rochester's founders, are buried in Mount Avon, including James Graham (1818-1839), thought to be the first white child born in the county. Although originally buried in a family cemetery on their farm on Crooks Road, the remains of some of the Grahams were re-interred at Mount Avon in 1926 when the family cemetery was vacated. The cemetery is also the final resting place of four Revolutionary War soldiers: George Horton, Cyrus Chipman, Nathanial Baldwin, and Benjamin Loomis. In 1911 a statue of "Billy Yank" was erected in memory of Oakland County's Civil War veterans by the Women's Relief Corps No. 227 (William E. Everett Post). The organization offered the monument to the Avon Township Board of Trustees in 1910, and the board accepted the gift in its meeting of July 23, 1910. The cemetery's acreage was expanded four times through additions made in 1853, 1875, 1904, and 1930. Today, it covers a total of 22 acres and is bounded by First Street on the south, Wilcox Street on the east, Taylor Street on the west, and Third Street on the east. The Rochester Era described the condition of the cemetery as follows in 1877:[begin quote]Our Cemetery is a lovely spot just now, and we are glad to notice that many are beautifying their lots there and making the last resting place of their loved ones attractive instead of repulsive. Every lot having been sold in the old grounds many have taken up lots in the new part, which, by the way, will, when properly arranged and set out with trees, make our Cemetery one of the finest in the State. One thing we wish to all special attention to, and that is the necessity for a well upon the grounds. One was dug in the old Cemetery some years ago, but it is now dry and has been for along time, owing, it is said, tot he fact that the grounds have been traversed by five or six underground drains seven and a half feet deep. Before these drains were dug the sexton found it almost impossible to dig a grave without having it fill, or partially so, with water. The drains while they obviated this difficulty are said to have been the direct cause of the well drying up. Now we think a well might be sunk on the new portion, although quite likely it would require a greater depth than that of the old one, still we deem it a necessity for the benefit of those who have lots there to keep in order.. . .Many new tombstones and monuments of chaste and beautiful designs have recently been placed in the Cemetery, which add greatly to the attractiveness of the spot. If each lot owner will beautify his or her lot and take some pains in keeping everything about them neat and clean, a more lovely or charming retreat for the living to steal away to for meditation—not for mirth or idle gossip—count not be found.[end quote] In 1909, a local bond issue was passed to build a receiving vault in the cemetery. Local citizens campaigned for a receiving vault because Michigan's cold winters meant that burials could not take place during the months when the ground was frozen. This necessitated that remains be stored until the ground thawed, and because Mount Avon had no facilities, remains of Rochester area residents who died during the winter were usually sent to one of the Pontiac cemeteries until burial was possible. The new receiving vault in Mount Avon Cemetery had space to store ten caskets over the winter months. In 1925, the Flowers Mausoleum Company of Toledo, Ohio, took subscriptions for a community mausoleum. in which ten crypts were reserved as receiving vaults. The former receiving vault was repurposed for use as an equipment shed. After the years took their toll on the small building, it was restored by the City of Rochester in 2013. The mausoleum was also restored by the the City of Rochester in 2013. Mount Avon Cemetery was listed on the Michigan Register of Historic Sites in 1979. A Michigan Historical Marker stands just inside the Wilcox gate to the cemetery.

Mount Avon Cemetery is significant as the first cemetery platted in Oakland County, Michigan. It is the burial place of many pioneer settlers of Oakland County, with graves dating as far back as 1817. The cemetery is the final resting place of four known Revolutionary War soldiers. It also contains a statue, locally known as "Billy Yank," that was dedicated in 1911 to honor Union soldiers who served in the Civil War. The cemetery has expanded from its original one-acre parcel to 22 acres in size. It is still an active cemetery today and is operated by the City of Rochester, Michigan.

Mount Avon Cemetery

Burials in this small cemetery date primarily from 1828 to 1899. Brewster Cemetery is the burial location of the pioneer Dutton and Hubbell families. The first burial, of Caroline Whitney, was made in 1828. The last is from 1904. Fifty-three burials can be identified from existing headstones; no burial books or interment records are known to exist.The cemetery was operated by the Oakland Baptist Church Society from 1875 until 1938, when the church body ceded operation of the cemetery to Avon Township. Oakland Baptist Church, also known locally as Oakland Church, was nearby on the southeast corner of Adams and Dutton roads.Among the gravestones of this cemetery can be seen the names of the Hubbell, Dutton, Riggs. and Sherman families.Avon Township filed a lawsuit to acquire the deed to the cemetery property in 1974; the lawsuit was uncontested as the church had long since disbanded. The historic cemetery is now inactive.In November 1975, Rochester Adams High School placed a time capsule in the cemetery, to be opened for the U.S. Tricentennial.

Brewster Cemetery is a small, rural cemetery also formerly known as Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery. The property was owned by Isaac Howell, Joseph Davis and then Peter LeRoy before being sold to the Oakland Baptist Church Society in 1875. The church operated the cemetery until around 1938. Avon Township (now Rochester Hills) took ownership of the cemetery by court order in 1974. The earliest known burial at Brewster Cemetery was made in 1828 and the last was in 1904. The historic cemetery is now inactive and is maintained as a monument to Avon Township's earliest pioneer families.

Brewster Cemetery, Joseph M. Davis grave marker, 2020

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Historical Cemeteries of Rochester and Rochester Hills, Michigan

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