You might drive by Fox’s Corner every day and not know it. It used to have a mill and a school associated with it, but now there is nothing left except a cemetery.
That cemetery will provide the backdrop to an informational program being held this Saturday, Sept. 21, by the Lowell Area Historical Museum. Running from 1-3pm at Fox’s Corner Cemetery – located at 600 Lincoln Lake Ave – it’s an opportunity to learn more about the many notable people who once resided in the area.
History of Fox’s Corner
Fox’s Corner takes its name from the Fox brothers who owned land in the vicinity of Burroughs Street and Flat River Drive, running south and west to Vergennes and Lincoln Lake.
The cemetery was established south of the corners on Lincoln Lake Ave., and the first burial that took place there was in 1842 for 5-year-old James Thompson, the son of an early Lowell settler of the same name.
The plot of land would later become the final resting place for many Lowell residents in the 1840s, ’50s and ‘60s. In 1872, Oakwood Cemetery in what is now the City of Lowell would open and that resulted in “a lot of lonely graves,” according to Shantell Ford, the coordinator for this weekend’s program. While one relative may have been buried in Fox’s Corner, others were buried in Oakwood.
Today’s Fox’s Corner Cemetery sits alongside St. Mary’s Cemetery. The details of how the two cemeteries came to be located next to each other have been lost to time, Ford says.
Who’s Buried in Fox’s Corner Cemetery
The names of many notable people from Lowell’s history can be found in Fox’s Corner Cemetery. These include two Robinson brothers, Morgan Lyon and Dr. Purple, who was the first woman doctor in Lowell…although she had no medical degree and used eclectic practices.
There are also two Civil War veterans and one veteran of the War of 1812. Plus, there are many unmarked graves.
“That’s a lot of the reason why it was closed off,” Ford explains.
The cemetery has been closed to new burials for years, but there will be one more person put to rest there in the future. Vergennes Township resident Dave Thompson, an ancestor of early settler James Thompson, purchased a plot in 1995. And so, the history of Fox’s Corner Cemetery will both start and end with a Thompson.
Program Scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024
To learn more about Fox’s Corner Cemetery and the stories of the people laid to rest there, plan to be at the cemetery at 1pm this Saturday, Sept. 21. There will be a program that will take visitors through four stations in the cemetery. Ford anticipates the program will last 90 minutes and there will be plenty of time to ask questions.
For more about Lowell’s history, visit the Lowell Area Historical Museum website or follow their Facebook page.
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