Buried history: Oak Grove Cemetery is final resting place for Civil War Union soldiers
Alyssa Choiniere
Local veterans who served in wars as far back as the Revolutionary War are buried at the Oak Grove Cemetery in Uniontown.
Alyssa Choiniere
The Union Cemetery, commonly known as the Oak Grove cemetery, is the final resting place for many Union soldiers who served during the Civil War.
Alyssa Choiniere/For the Herald-Standard
Alyssa Choiniere
A Civil War monument at the Union Cemetery, commonly known as Oak Grove Cemetery, is encircled by fallen Union soldiers who served in the Civil War.
Alyssa Choiniere
A Civil War monument erected at the Oak Grove Cemetery says “They died to save a nation.” The cemetery was originally called Union Cemetery for the Union soldiers who were buried there.
A Civil War monument at Oak Grove Cemetery is inscribed with the words "To those who died in service of our country." The cemetery was named Union Cemetery for the Union soldiers who were buried there.
The Union Cemetery, commonly known as the Oak Grove Cemetery, was named after dozens of Civil War soldiers who fought for the Union and were buried there.
The cemetery is the final resting place for soldiers from nearly a dozen wars, from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam. At its edge is a Civil War monument encircled by the graves of 70 fallen Civil War soldiers. An additional 236 Civil War soldiers are buried in the Union Cemetery, according to Janet Marker, Vice President of the cemetery’s board.
“I’ve been collecting stories for a good many years,” Marker said.
She recounted the stories of war heroes buried in the cemetery and the arduous task families sometimes endured to collect their remains. Marker said the mother of a fallen Civil War soldier from Hopwood, a member of the Devan family, took a wagon to a hospital to gather her son’s remains and have him buried close to home.
“Oak Grove is a history book with over 9,000 stories,” Marker said. “In the early years, a parade formed in downtown Uniontown. They proceeded on West Main Street to Oak Grove. It was a glorious site, the veterans marching in step to music played by a military band.”
Among the veterans buried at Oak Grove was the drum major who led the American Legion Band, Sgt. Smith “Ish” Fuller. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star for his service in World War I in two separate combat situations against Germany. He is one of 157 doughboys buried in the cemetery, according to Marker.
Walter “Buzz” Storey wrote in his “Stories of Uniontown and Fayette County” that Fuller’s company attacked a German position near Courmont when a gap developed in the American line and the Germans counter-attacked in June 1918.
“With utter disregard of his own personal danger and on his own initiative, Fuller took command of a platoon and rushed into the gap where he was able to repulse the enemy under heavy fire,” Storey wrote.
Three months later, Fuller was in a company that attacked a railroad the Germans were using to carry supplies.
“The officer was shot and Fuller took command in the face of heavy fire, leading the company to the railroad. By the time they reached it, only a handful of men remained but they held the position for two days,” Storey wrote.
Another historical figure buried in Oak Grove Cemetery is Ephraim Douglass, who served in the Revolutionary War and became a prisoner of war, captured by the British and held for three years on a prisoner ship in New York Harbor, Marker said. He was exchanged in 1870 and rejoined his regiment in Pittsburgh. After the war, he served as a frontier diplomat and became Fayette County’s first prothonotary and clerk of courts. He also served as the county treasurer and general of the Fayette County militia and became Uniontown’s first mayor.
The Union Cemetery Board is committed to preserving and maintaining the 15-acre historic cemetery, mowing and trimming around thousands of gravestones.
Board President Gary Brain said he wondered what the soldiers faced in their historic battles while he was landscaping in preparation for their Decoration Day service on May 30.
“I would just give anything to see into their minds and what they went through during the war,” he said.
Anyone interested in assisting with the maintenance of the cemetery is asked to call Brain at 724-323-6132.