Edgerton Cemetery

Edgarton Cemetery Sign
Edgerton Cemetery was established in the 1830s as a family burial ground on approximately 1.84 acres of land. The cemetery is located on a knoll on the southwest corner of Schoenherr and Utica roads, on the site of what was originally the Edgerton family farm. The earliest burial for which there is a tombstone was that of Nancy Curtis, who died on May 16, 1839 at the age of 39.
For decades, the cemetery was maintained by relatives and descendants. As these individuals either died or moved away, the cemetery went into decline.

The City of Sterling Heights assumed responsibility for the care and maintenance of the cemetery in 1989. Previously, various community groups including the Cultural Commission, Historical Commission, and Boy Scouts sponsored intermittent clean-ups of the cemetery. A local business donated fencing in 1976 as a bicentennial project.

Unfortunately, cemetery records were destroyed in a fire in the 1948. The earliest burials in the cemetery are in the 1830s with the last burial occurring in 1964. There are approximately 150 burials, with about 100 of them dating to the nineteenth century.

Edgerton Cemetery is an important local historic site as it is the resting place for area pioneer families, many of them members of the Sterling Township's German farming community.

Interesting Facts About Edgerton Cemetery

3 Civil War Veterans are buried here:
  • Milton Drake - May 9, 1832 - April 22, 1864
  • George Drake - June 21, 1841 - August 20, 1864
  • Charles Scribner - 1830 - February 28, 1865
The first burial was in 1839. Nancy Curtis, March 29, 1800 - May 16, 1839.

The last burial was in 1964. Alice L. Rice, September 29,1866 - October 5, 1964.

The average life expectancy was: male, 42 years and female, 43.5 years.
Other interesting burials:
  • Eleazer Edgerton 1806-1891. Justice of the Peace 1836-1856, Sterling Treasurer 1838 and 1856
  • Nancy Edgerton 1812-1893. Wife of Eleazer Edgerton, mother of 9 children
  • Lewis Drake 1801-1888. Pioneer farmer, active in the Macomb County Agricultural Society
  • Joseph Priehs 1841-1915. Pioneer of Sterling Township, lived on the same farm for 30 years