Utica Cemetery

John and Mary Stead deeded 4.46 acres of land to the Utica Cemetery Association in 1863, including a section known as the Old Burying Ground and a family plot called Stead's Reserve. The first burial took place in 1817 when Thomas Squier, one of Shelby Township's first white settlers, died. Buried here are businessmen, doctors, farmers, and teachers who shaped the area's history, including Lyman T. Jenney, the county's first doctor, antislavery activists Peter and Sarah Lerich, Joseph Stead, who platted the village of Harlow in 1829, and Gurden C. Leech, who in 1833 proposed renaming the town Utica.

Michigan · United States