Oakhill Cemetery (aka Merrill Cemetery)
Fisher Township, Section 16, Polk County, MN
Oakhill cemetery is located just off Highway 2 on the west side of the curve after the town of Fisher – first gravel road on the left. The plat maps show it to be on land that the city of Fisher owns. In some old obituaries the cemetery is called the “Merrill Cemetery.” The land where the cemetery is located was owned by Jeremiah Merrill, later son Anson C. Merrill and also Ida Merrill according to old plat maps.
The Fisher Methodist-Episcopal Church was organized in 1885. Pastor C.F. Brown was the first to serve followed by Rev. James B. Castles, S.E. Salls, Joseph Hogg, George West, Thomas Billing, L.S. Koch and W.C. McAllister among others. Charter members were the families of Calno Webster, Eric Whited, Robert Grango, Ephraim A. Sweet, L. Freeman, Martin Sanaker, A.Coleman Asselstine, Luther L. Bobear, William Cameron, James Ferguson, Thomas Hunter, Barbara McVeety, and Christinia Nisbet. Records indicate that there was a Methodist Church in Mallory affiliated with the Fisher ME Church. The first recorded marriage was William Green and Barbara Glassen and the first baptism was Herman Julius Simon, son of Herman H. and Frances Simon. The church was active until about 1925.
The cemetery was once well cared for as the first photograph will show. The first photograph was gratefully donated by Peggy Ogan whose ancestors attended this church and some of which are buried in this cemetery – surnames Sweet and Asselstine. It is said that some graves were moved to Greenwood Cemetery after it was last used in or around 1920. There are unmarked graves here, some of which have been disturbed by erosion along the north side. I did locate an old sexton’s book, which contains only a few listings. When possible the information will be given below. If looking for ancestors that were Methodist check the Mallory area and Greenwood Cemetery in case they were one of the graves that were moved. Oakhill was restored in October of 2005 by Mr. Torkelson and hopefully the city will continue to maintain the grounds.
| NAME | DATES | REMARKS |
|
Merrill, Jeremiah B. |
Died Jun 24, 1906 | Father (age partially covered with dirt) |
| Merrill, Polly N. | Died Sep 27, 1908 Aged 75 yrs 6 mos 15 dys | Mother |
| Sweet, Agnes Edna | Died Feb 13, 1902 Aged 55 yrs 1 mos, 16 dys | Wife of E.A. Sweet |
| Sweet, George Hilton | Died Aug 10, 1881 | (No stone found but it is in the first photo and the cemetery book says his grave was moved to Oak Hill Cemetery on March 10, 1892, George is the son of Agnes and Ephraim Ash Sweet) |
| Asselstine, Ernest | Apr 21, 1890 – Sep 12, 1890 | Son of A.C. & A.E. |
| Asselstine, Minnie | Oct 13, 1880 – Nov 2, 1881 | Dau of A.C. & A.E. |
|
Asselstine, Edith L. |
Oct 28, 1883 – Oct 7, 1889 | Dau of A.C. & A.E |
|
Asselstine, Azubah E. Asselstine |
Feb 2, 1852 – Jan 10, 1892 | Wife of A.C. (Anthony Coleman and Azubah Asselstine were parents of Ernest, Edith, Minnie and William Harold) |
| Nesbitt, Eliza | Nov 1, 1889 Aged 62 yrs | Wife of Henry Nesbitt Passed On To Another Life Nov 1, 1889 Aged 62 yrs |
| Young, Myron C. | Mar 7, 1891 – Feb 23, 1892 | (Cemetery book lists him as the son of Frank Young) |
|
Merrill, Mrs. Mamie |
Dec 14, 1889 Aged 20 yrs 6 mos | Wife of A.C. Merrill |
| Merrill, Royce B. | Died Sep 27, 1890 Aged 11 Mos 13 Dys | |
|
Merrill, Anson C. |
Died Jan 21, 1897 Aged 34 Yr’s 3 Mo’s & 11 Dy’s | |
| Bain, Barbara | Jan 23, 1824 – Apr 14, 1905 | |
| Bain, Robert | May 29, 1818 – Apr 25, 1904 | |
| Spencer, Frances M.R. | Nov 9, 1856 – Jul 27, 1896 | |
| Rose, Archibald | May 6, 1816 – Jul 15, 1891 | (Cemetery book lists him as born in Ontario, Canada) |
| Rose, Mary | May 13, 1819 – Oct 9, 1896 | Wife of Archibald Rose (Her short obituary says she was buried in the Merrill Cemetery and services conducted by Rev. L.S. Koch at the M.E. Church) |
|
Possible Burials |
||
| Asselstine, William Harold | (No stone found but the cemetery book lists him as age 1 y 4 m 10 days and male, baptism record lists him as born May 31, 1896) | |
| __enson, William | 17 yrs 2 months | (Not sure of last name, no stone found but he is listed in the cemetery book and it lists him as being born in Polk, Wisconsin Nov 9, 1878 – fathers name very hard to read, could be Ludvick) |
| McKnight, Fred F. | (No stone found but is listed in the cemetery book as died at age 13 yrs 7 months 24 days, father listed as L.C. McKnight) | |
| McKnight, Eugene V. | (No stone found but listed in the cemetery book as died as age 2 yrs 5 days, father listed as L.C. McKnight) | |
| McKnight, Edith M. | (No stone found but listed in cemetery book as died at age 11 months 7 days, father listed as L.C. McKnight) | |
| McKnight, Amerest S. | (No stone but found in cemetery book as a male who died 13 yrs 4 months 7 days, father listed as L.C. McKnight) | |
| Erwin, Maud Pearl | (No stone found but listed in cemetery book as died at age 3 yrs 10 months 14 days, father listed as Thomas Erwin) | |
| Removed Graves | ||
|
Tinkham, N.B. |
(Listed in cemetery book as died Feb 18, 1900, grave moved to Greenwood Cemetery, Fisher Twp. Sec. 22) |
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Updated July 13, 2007
© 2007 by Shirley Dorgan
