Oak Hill Cemetery (Janesville, Wisconsin)

Oak Hill Cemetery is an 85-acre burial site located in the city of Janesville, Wisconsin. The cemetery was established in 1851 by the Oak Hill Cemetery Association, which was organized under an act of the Legislature to create and maintain a cemetery in Janesville; it is now the final resting place for over 24,000 people, including many of the most prominent citizens from the history of Janesville. The land sits adjacent to Mount Olivet Cemetery, Janesville's historic Catholic cemetery. History The Oak Hill Cemetery Association was founded on January 8, 1851. The cemetery association was formed under an act of the Wisconsin Legislature that enabled such associations to purchase land to establish cemeteries, and would exempt that land from taxation and other obligations. The association originally purchased 20 acres, but gradually expanded, comprising 56 acres by the 1870s, and eventually growing to 85 acres. The first interments at Oak Hill Cemetery were actually re-interred remains from the old pioneer cemetery—that old cemetery land was at the time repurposed for the construction of a high school. Notable interments Josiah D. Arnold (1820–1903) Wisconsin state legislator, 16th mayor of Portage, Wisconsin Leslie Allen Bellrichard (1941–1967) U.S. Army Medal of Honor recipient James Bintliff (1824–1901) Union Army general, co-founder of Northwestern Mutual Stephen Bolles (1866–1941) U.S. representative William B. Britton (1829–1910) Wisconsin state legislator, Union Army colonel Delia Collins (1830–1896) American educator, philanthropist, temperance advocate Harmon S. Conger (1816–1882) U.S. representative and Wisconsin circuit judge William H. Ebbets (1825–1890) Wisconsin state legislator Franklin S. Lawrence (1824–1897) Wisconsin state legislator William A. Lawrence (1822–1890) 6th mayor of Janesville, Wisconsin state senator Allen P. Lovejoy (1825–1904) 22nd mayor of Janesvile, Wisconsin state senator Hiram Merrill (1829–1908) 18th mayor of Janesville, Wisconsin state legislator Marion Juliet Mitchell (1836–1917) American poet David Noggle (1809–1878) chief justice of the Idaho Territory Supreme Court, Wisconsin circuit judge, Wisconsin state legislator Pliny Norcross (1838–1915) 20th mayor of Janesville, Wisconsin state legislator, Union Army captain Otis Norton (1809–1889) Wisconsin state senator Henry Palmer (1827–1895) 12th mayor of Janesville, surgeon general of Wisconsin George Morton Randall (1841–1918) U.S. Army general William B. Sheldon (1805–1847) Wisconsin Territory legislator, Janesville pioneer Ithamar Sloan (1822–1898) U.S. representative A. Hyatt Smith (1814–1892) 1st & 5th mayor of Janesville, 5th attorney general of the Wisconsin Territory James Sutherland (1820–1905) 17th mayor of Janesville, Wisconsin state senator Charles L. Valentine (1846–1925) 37th mayor of Janesville, Wisconsin state legislator John Holden Warren (1825–1901) Wisconsin state senator William G. Wheeler (1861–1936) Wisconsin state legislator, U.S. attorney John Meek Whitehead (1852–1924) Wisconsin state senator Edward V. Whiton (1805–1859) 1st elected chief justice (3rd overall) of the Wisconsin Supreme Court Charles G. Williams (1829–1892) U.S. representative John Winans (1831–1907) U.S. representative, 25th mayor of Janesville References External links Oak Hill Cemetery