Utica Cemetery historic marker dedication

Updated on 01/27/2021 1:47 PM

Utica Cemetery is located in section 33 of Shelby Township on Shelby Road south of 21 Mile Road. It became Registered Michigan Historic Site No. 2048 in 2001. The state marker located near the entrance gates reads as follows:

“John and Mary Stead deeded 4.45 acres of land to the Utica Cemetery Association in 1863. Included in that parcel was a section referred to as the "Old Burying Ground " and a family plot called " Stead's Reserve. " The first burial occurred in 1817 upon Thomas Squire's death, who was among Shelby Township's first white settlers. Buisnessmen, doctors, farmers and teachers who influenced the area's history are buried here, including Lyman T. Jenney, the county's first doctor, and antislavery activists Peter and Sarah Lerich. Also interred here are Joseph Stead, who platted the village of Harlow in 1829 and Gurden C. Leech, who in 1833 suggested that the town be renamed Utica.”