Oak Ridge Cemetery

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From a Family Burial Ground to a Community Cemetery

Long before Oak Ridge Cemetery received its present name, the ridge west of Sandwich was already being used as a burial ground.

Its history reaches back to 1836, nearly two decades before the village of Sandwich was platted, and follows the growth of the surrounding community itself, from a private family burial place to Union Cemetery and eventually to Oak Ridge Cemetery.

The Harmon Family Burial Ground

The earliest known burial at the site occurred in 1836, when Fanny Harmon, daughter of Amos Harmon, was laid to rest there.

The Harmon family were among the early settlers of the area, and the ground initially served as their family burial place. Amos Harmon and other members of the family would eventually be buried there as well.

What began quietly on the Harmon property would eventually become the principal cemetery serving Sandwich and the surrounding countryside.

Union Cemetery 1855

The first formal organization came on July 14, 1855, when the burial ground was laid out by members of the Union Cemetery Association.

The recorded members were:

D. E. Harmon • J. M. Severy • William B. Poplin • James Brown • Anthony Harmon

The cemetery was known as Oak Ridge Union Cemetery, and later simply Union Cemetery.

This pushes the organized history of the cemetery considerably earlier than the 1879 date sometimes associated with its development.

The Harmon Donation and Expansion

The cemetery continued to grow during the 1860s.

Amos Harmon donated 5.83 acres for cemetery purposes. The deeds were recorded in 1868, and the property was surveyed on January 2, 1869.

The cemetery was managed by five directors under the Union Cemetery Association.

By 1870, the officers included:

J. M. Hummel President
John Clark Secretary Treasurer
David Harmon Superintendent

Directors included Hummel, Clark, George W. Culver, W. O. Bliss, and George Whitcomb.

Hummel therefore played an important role in Oak Ridge’s development, but the cemetery itself had already existed for decades before his presidency.

The 1879 Expansion

Another important expansion occurred in 1879, when additional land was purchased from William and Rachel Poplin and James and Jennett Henny.

Contemporary newspaper accounts describe substantial improvements around this period, including new drives, additional burial lots, and improvements near the cemetery entrance.

This was an important chapter in Oak Ridge’s development, but not its beginning.

The Hummel Family Vault

The Hummel family vault at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Built into the hillside in 1879, the 13 compartment family vault cost more than $2,000, a substantial investment at the time. Much of its original appearance has been lost over the years; Donna Cave, who grew up at Oak Ridge Cemetery, recalls that the entrance once had bronze doors. The surviving structure gives only a glimpse of what must once have been one of the cemetery’s most substantial features. Original photograph courtesy of Donna Cave.

The improvements of 1879 also included one of Oak Ridge Cemetery’s most distinctive structures.

That fall, J. M. Hummel was constructing a family burial vault at Oak Ridge. On October 15, the True Republican reported that the vault would cost approximately $2,000 when completed.

By November 22, the Ottawa Free Trader described the vault as nearly finished, containing 13 compartments and costing more than $2,000. The newspaper also reported that Hummel expected to move the remains of Mrs. Hummel to the vault later that fall.

The stone vault, built into the hillside, survives at Oak Ridge today. Whether Mrs. Hummel’s remains were subsequently transferred there, and which members of the Hummel family, if any, were ultimately interred within the vault, has not yet been confirmed.

From Union Cemetery to Oak Ridge

The name Oak Ridge Cemetery emerged formally from the cemetery’s earlier identity as Union Cemetery.

At a meeting of lot owners on June 9, 1880, W. O. Bliss moved that the name be changed from Union Cemetery to Oak Ridge Cemetery. George W. Culver seconded the motion, and the resolution was adopted.

The action was formally certified in 1895 by cemetery president George W. Culver and secretary Dwight K. Crofoot.

Thus, the familiar Oak Ridge name represents another stage in a cemetery whose history already stretched back more than forty years.

Guarding the Cemetery

Oak Ridge even became caught up in one of the more unsettling episodes of nineteenth century cemetery history.

A January 16, 1884 article in the Sandwich Free Press reported grave robberies occurring near Sycamore and Rochelle. In response, precautions were taken at Oak Ridge.

A “reliable” watchman was stationed at the cemetery and guarded the grounds night and day. Improvements were also being made to the entrance, chapel and residence, including gates and fencing.

It is a small detail, but one that provides an unusually vivid glimpse of Oak Ridge during the 1880s.

A Cemetery That Continued to Grow

Oak Ridge continued expanding as Sandwich grew.

Water pipes were installed in 1895. Ground east of the former residence was added in 1905, with the first burial there occurring in 1907. Additional ground north and west of the house was added in 1927, with burials beginning in that area in 1940.

In 1904, the Women’s Relief Corps obtained the cannon placed in the western portion of the cemetery as a memorial to Grand Army of the Republic Post 510, connecting Oak Ridge with Sandwich’s Civil War generation.

The cemetery’s chapel and caretaker residence survived well into the twentieth century. A workshop and garage were destroyed by fire in 1949, while the former chapel and residence were eventually demolished in 2000.

From Association to Township

By the late twentieth century, perpetual care funds were no longer sufficient to maintain the cemetery.

Following discussions involving Somonauk and Sandwich Township officials and a vote of Sandwich Township residents, Sandwich Township purchased the approximately 11 acre cemetery in August 1999.

Another 11½ acres were purchased in May 2002, bringing the cemetery to approximately 22.648 acres at the time the burial-record history was compiled.

A new cemetery marker was installed and dedicated in 2007, and the first phase of a cremation burial area and columbarium followed in 2009.

More Than a Cemetery

Oak Ridge Cemetery is more than the final resting place of generations of Sandwich residents.

Its history predates Sandwich itself.

Beginning with the burial of Fanny Harmon in 1836, the site evolved from a family burial ground into Union Cemetery, then Oak Ridge Cemetery, and finally a township maintained burial ground encompassing more than twenty acres.

Within it are the names of early settlers, soldiers, merchants, manufacturers, civic leaders, farmers, and ordinary families whose lives collectively tell much of the story of Sandwich.

The cemetery grew as the community grew.

And nearly two centuries after that first known burial, Oak Ridge remains one of Sandwich’s most enduring historical records.

Facts at a Glance

Earliest known burial: Fanny Harmon, 1836
Organized as Union Cemetery: July 14, 1855
Harmon land donation: 5.83 acres
Surveyed: January 2, 1869
J. M. Hummel serving as president: 1870
Major addition: 1879
Name changed to Oak Ridge Cemetery: June 9, 1880
GAR memorial cannon: 1904
Purchased by Sandwich Township: August 1999
Additional 11½ acres acquired: May 2002
Recorded acreage after expansion: 22.648 acres

Research & Sources

Joan Hardekopf, Oak Ridge Cemetery Burial Records, DeKalb County Historical Genealogical Society, revised August 2012. Compiled using the Sandwich Township Cemetery burial book, cemetery gravestones, an earlier Oak Ridge cemetery record, and obituaries held by the Sandwich District Library.

Materials and research provided by Bud Burgin
The Ottawa Free Trader (Ottawa, Illinois), November 22, 1879, p. 8
DeKalb County Deed Records, Book 65, Page 67 (Sept. 5, 1879)
DeKalb County Board of Supervisors proceedings and petitions (1879)
Local historical documents and family accounts related to the Hummel family and Freeland settlement

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