Mackinac Island’s post cemetery is located on Garrison Road at the base of the ridge connecting Fort Holmes and Point Lookout. About a half mile north of Fort Mackinac, the cemetery is nestled in a shady stand of mature red oak, maple, pine and spruce trees. Soldiers chose this site because it was a respectful distance from the town and fort and accessible by one of the few roads leading to the island’s interior. Coincidentally, the cemetery is appropriately close to Skull Cave, a well-known ancient Indian burial site.
The post cemetery is a popular site for Mackinac Island visitors. Early risers can watch the scouts raise the flag every summer morning. In keeping with a long-standing local tradition, the flag is permanently flown at half-staff to honor the memories of the those buried below.
(Photo Credit: Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau)
The first interments in the post cemetery probably occurred in the mid-1820s. The earliest description of the cemetery comes from Dr. C. R. Gilman who visited Mackinac Island in 1835. He noted that the “burying-ground of the garrison” was enclosed with a “neat picket fence” built by a former post commander at his own expense. Although military records indicate that more than 40 American soldiers died at Fort Mackinac between 1796 and 1835, Dr. Gilman found only “about a dozen graves” in the post cemetery. The number of deceased American soldiers, plus those who died during the British occupation of the fort (1780-1796 and 1812-1815), suggests that there was an earlier post cemetery. The location remains a mystery, but the discovery of human remains suggest that an earlier cemetery may have existed near the service yard just north of Fort Mackinac.
The post cemetery measures 114 feet long by 96 feet deep and contains about 108 burials. There are 39 known interments, three of which are in unmarked graves and two others are mismarked as “Unknown Soldiers.” The 19 identified soldiers in the cemetery include three commissioned officers, Captain John Clitz (1836), Captain Edwin Sellers (1884), and Captain Edwin Gaskill (1889), who are all buried in the same row near the northeast corner of the cemetery.
Captain Edwin Sellers was in command of Fort Mackinac when he died in 1884. The unlucky captain became chilled while checking food supplies in his cellar and contracted pneumonia. It was Sellers who inaugurated Memorial Day (then known as Decoration Day) services at the cemetery in 1882.
(Photo Credit: Mackinac State Historic Parks)
The sixteen enlisted men interred in the cemetery died of various causes. Although Fort Mackinac had a reputation as a healthy post -- “the healthiest in the nation,” according to Thomas Lawson, United States Surgeon General from 1836-1861-- illness and disease claimed several lives. “Consumption,” or tuberculosis, was a 19th-century scourge that killed Private William McCabe (1855), Sergeant Lewis Perry (1869) and Private Nicholas Shorten (1873). Others, including Private Andrew O. Simonson who was accidentally killed by the premature discharged of a cannon while firing the traditional Fourth of July national salute in 1870, died because of tragic accidents.
The post cemetery served as a final resting place not only for soldiers, but also for their children, grandchildren, wives and several civilians. On March 17, 1855, post chaplain Reverend John O’Brien had the sad duty of conducting funeral services for his wife Charlotte who died of tuberculosis. Despite frigid temperatures and a howling snowstorm, the entire garrison and many members of the island community trudged out to the post cemetery for Charlotte’s burial. Still grieving from the loss of his wife, O’Brien returned to the post cemetery four months later to bury his 15-year-old son Allen who died of a sudden illness. Mother and son are buried together in a small, fenced plot containing a single marble stone bearing their names.
The most enigmatic interments in the post cemetery are the civilians who have no connection to the fort. For years historians have wondered why they were buried in the military cemetery. The common thread linking these men is that they all held government positions or offices at one time including Edward Biddle. Biddle, a successful fur trader and fish merchant, held several government jobs including village president, sheriff, surveyor, and assessor. Although the rest of his family is buried in the Catholic and Protestant cemeteries, Edward chose the post cemetery for his final resting place when he died in 1859.
For more historical stories, archival insights, and deeper dives into Mackinac’s past, visit the Mackinac State Historic Parks website.
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