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Like any historic cemetery, Oak Hill has monuments or gravesites in need of restoration.
The Save The Headstones project lets you contribute to our efforts to repair or restore specific headstones, gravesites or lots in the cemetery.
With your help, we can memorialize the people buried here by bringing their monuments back to good shape and by telling their stories.
These monuments are in the historic sections of the cemetery, and are people from all walks of life. They are in various states of disrepair from small projects (such as re-standing a fallen stone into its socket) all the way to replacing a missing headstone.
A Before and After:
Corporal Tenadore Miller, 8th Michigan Infantry (1844-1864). His monument was restored in 2025 after being adopted by Kevin Ballant.
Work on these stones will begin in the spring of 2026, with a goal of completing repairs by the fall, although scheduling may push repairs into 2027 or even further.
When you adopt a monument, you’ll be asked to make a one-time donation of any amount toward that repair. We ask that you donate the amount listed, but any amount will be accepted. Any funds remaining after the repair is completed will be used on other restoration projects. Work will not begin on a monument until it is fully adopted.
When a monument is adopted, we will prepare a brief story about the life or lives of the people you’ve memorialized, and
When the repair is complete we will send you photographs of before and after the repair and a brief history of the person or people you’ve memorialized. And we’ll acknowledge your contribution in our Gazette and at our annual cemetery walk.
There are also several lots – a group of gravesites related to a family – that need repair. The costs for these are naturally higher than for individual monuments. They’re an excellent opportunity to memorialize ancestors or people of like interests.
Contact Us
If you have questions or want to know more, please contact us!
Make A Donation
If you’re not interested in adopting a specific monument, you can still donate to support this project and the cemetery in general.
Printable Adoption Form
If you like, you can print this form and pay by check, credit card or otherwise in-person method instead.
The List
Click a name below to view details on each adoption. Should you choose to adopt one of these headstones, you can use the link below to see information about each, and you can donate via Paypal within each listing. It will be processed through our online store.
| Name | Cost | Comments | |
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Adam Vrooman West, Lot 1-027-1 | $467.50 | 1824-1892
Possibly served in the Civil War. |
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Maria Brainard, Lot 1-027-2 | Adopted | 1814-1885
Nurse matron in the Civil War. |
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Captain William Albertson, Lot 1-076-6 | $170.00 Pending Adoption | 1811-1887
Served in the Civil War. |
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Reverend Joseph Frey, Lot 1-076-4 | $425.00 | Prominent early Christian missionary. |
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John Carter, Lot 2-1-156 | Adopted | Formerly enslaved. |
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Eunice Bromley McCracken, Lot 1-141-4 | $382.50 | |
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Robert “Old Bob” McCracken, Lot 1-141-3 | Adopted | |
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John H. McCracken, Lot 1-141-5 | $382.50 | |
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The McCracken Lot 1-141 | $765.00 | Adopt two monuments to the McCracken family. |
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Richard Hunt Whitehead, Lot 1-169-4 | Adopted | Served in the Civil War. |
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Almeron and Mary Ann Whitehead, Lot 1-169-5 and 6 | Adopted | Prominent early Waterford businessman. |
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Henry Scott, Lot 1-200-2 | Adopted | Formerly enslaved |
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Laura Talbot Dwight, Lot 4-020-1 | $340.00 | Half sister to Evelina Drake. Part of the Drake lot. |
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Evelina Drake, Lot 4-020-4 | $340.00 | Wife of Thomas J Drake. Part of the Drake lot. |
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Judge Thomas J. Drake, Lot 4-020-5 | $255.00 | Prominent early Oakland County lawyer and politician. Served on the Utah Supreme Court and as Michigan’s third lieutenant governor. |
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The Drake Lot – Lot 4-020 | $935.00 | Adopt all three damaged monuments in this lot. |
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Walter Ash, Lot 4-192-2 | $382.50 | Walter, aged about 4 months, is the son of Jonathan Ash. |
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Jonathan Ash, Lot 4-192-3 | $340.00 | Served in the 4th Michigan during the Civil War. Discharged in 1866 due to disability. |
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Nancy Bagley, Lot 4-204-1 | $510.00 | |
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Elvira Bagley Mann, Lot 4-204-4 | Adopted | |
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Judge Amasa Bagley. Lot 4-204-2 | $340.00 | Prominent early Bloomfield settler and associate judge in Oakland County. |
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James Carpenter, Lot 4-204-6 | $340.00 | Half brother of Amasa Bagley. |
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Bagley Lot, Block 4, lot 204 | $1,190.00 | Repair, clean and level three of four monuments on this lot. |
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Judah and Mary Colby Church, Lot 4-315-5 and 6 | $510.00 | |
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Clarissa Bronson, Lot 4-355-1 | $425.00 | |
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Luman Bronson, Lot 4-355-4 | $382.50 | |
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Hannah Collier, Lot 4-370-1 | $255.00 | |
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Eliza Collier, Lot 4-370-2 | Adopted | |
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Isadore Collier, Lot 4-370-5 | $255.00 | |
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Jennie Collier, Lot 4-370-6 | $255.00 | |
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Emma Leggett, Lot 4-447-5 | Adopted | |
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Percival Leggett, Lot 4-447 | Adopted | Served in the Civil War. |
| 1855 Stone – Part of the Leggett Lot | $425.00 |