Local Influencers
Oakwood Cemetery is rich with history and serves as the final resting place for a number of local influencers.
George Alderton – founded the State of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, gave “Spartans” their nickname.
James H. Arnold – oldest surviving Civil War veteran (10th Michigan Infantry Co. B) of Andersonville Prison in Georgia.
Thomas Tomlinson Bates – bought the GT Herald newspaper in 1876.
Henry Campbell – county treasurer, postmaster, judge, built the Park Place Hotel (then called the Campbell House) in 1873.
David Duane – the only Confederate soldier buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
Conrad Foster – mayor of Traverse City from 1937 to 1939, spearheaded cleanup of waterfront (now the Open Space) and founded the Con Foster Museum and Clinch Park Zoo.
Dr. David C. Goodale – the first TC physician.
Helen Goodale – first TC school teacher.
Reuben Goodrich – came to the area in 1860, appointed by President Lincoln as receiver of the U.S. Land Office.
Ida Greilick – part of the family that founded Greilickville. Died at age 19 after being thrown from a horse carriage in Detroit while visiting her fiancé. (Her gravesite contains a 13-foot statue near the mausoleum.)
Perry Hannah – TC’s founding father and influencer of many developments, including the former Traverse City State Hospital (aka Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane) and even the cemetery itself.
Joseph Edgar Maddy – founder of the National Music Camp in Interlochen in 1928 and Interlochen Arts Academy in 1962.
Hildegarde (Grawn) Milliken – mother of former Michigan Governor William Milliken and daughter of Charles Grawn, superintendent of TC public schools from 1885 to 1899 and the man for whom the village of Grawn is named.
James Thacker Milliken – the first president of TC Rotary and father of former Michigan Governor W. Milliken.
James Wheelock Milliken – founder of Milliken’s department store.
Jay P. Smith – longtime editor of the Traverse City Record Eagle, co-founder of National Cherry Festival, and Jay Smith Walkway in Downtown Traverse City is named after.
Harold Titus – local fruit grower, co-founder of National Cherry Festival and GT Historical Society.