Oakland Cemetery (Yonkers, New York)

Oakland Cemetery is located at 2 Saw Mill River Road in the Whitney Young section of Yonkers, New York, next to St. John's Cemetery. It was incorporated in 1875 and named Oakland Cemetery. In time graves from the Civil War filled the cemetery, as did those of other settlers of Yonkers who died.

The cemetery is divided into two halves with a hill separating the western lower half from the eastern upper half. The eastern half borders on the Saw Mill River Parkway, while the western half borders on Saw Mill River Road, where all of the entrances are located. There are two entrance gates that are large enough for a vehicle to enter through and one other smaller entrance gate for pedestrian visitors.

Within the confines of the cemetery trespassers have vandalized[1] many of the graves leaving constant chores for the caretaker, who lives on the property, as noted on the Yonkers Ghost Investigators website under the section for haunted locations listed in the history of Oakland Cemetery.[1]

Notable interments
  • Thomas Ewing Jr.- Union Army General
  • Joe Lapchick, Saint John's University basketball coach; in 1947 he took over the New York Knicks in the NBA. Lapchick coached the Knicks until 1957, leading them to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances (1951–53) Lapchick coached the Knicks until 1957, and then returned to St. John's.
  • Elisha Otis, industrialist, inventor, and founder of Otis Elevator Company
  • Nicholas Timasheff Russian sociologist, professor of jurisprudence and writer
  • Dr. Charles Leale, a 23-year-old army surgeon who was in attendance at Ford's Theatre when John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln days after the conclusion of the Civil War. Leale later married Rebecca Copcutt of Yonkers at her family's mansion on Nepperhan Avenue.
  • William L. Heermance (February 28, 1837 - February 25, 1903) was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism on April 30, 1863, while serving as a Captain with Company C, 6th New York Cavalry, at Chancellorsville, Virginia. His Medal of Honor was issued on March 30, 1898.1

References
  1. HauntedPlaces.org. "Oakland Cemetery - Haunted Places". Retrieved 2 April 2017.

1. "Medal of Honor Recipients". United States Army Center of Military History.

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