Oak Hill Cemetery

On June 1, 1822, the Pontiac Company gave the citizens of Pontiac the first land for a village cemetery. It was “to be occupied and used forever as a burying ground.” In 1839 when Captain Hervey Parke was employed by the village to survey Outlot 9 of the original plat of the village, Oak Hill Cemetery was laid out. Many of the early pioneers who had been buried near the intersection of Saginaw and Huron Streets and on private property were reinterred here after 1839. The cemetery contains the Buckland Memorial Chapel, built of Berea sandstone in 1898 by Don Carlos Buckland in memory of members of his family. Among the monuments of note are those of Major General Israel B. Richardson, Governor Moses Wisner, and David Ward. Acreage across Mount Clemens (renamed University) and Paddock Streets was added to the original site as the need for increased space arose. Occupying the highest point of land in Pontiac, Oak Hill Cemetery has served the city throughout its history. Colonel Stephen Mack, who managed the Pontiac Company and was in 1818 one of the village’s first settlers, was reinterred here, as was his daughter, Lovina, who was the first white settler to die in Pontiac. Mack’s grave is one of six belonging to veterans of the American Revolution. Twenty-seven Civil War soldiers also lie here, including Governor Moses Wisner, Major General Israel B. Richardson and Brigadier General Joseph T. Copeland. Other historic figures interred here include the Reverend Isaac Ruggles, a pioneer missionary in Michigan, and lumberman David Ward. In more recent times, World War I Congressional Medal of Honor veteran Dr. Harold A. Furlong was buried here.