History came alive on October 10 at Lakeview Cemetery.
Community members attending the Lakeview Cemetery Walk that day met Richard and Jemima Brokenshaw, an early shoemaker from Clarkston and heard about his family’s life.
Other early settlers such as Nicholas Bonaparte Smith, the local druggist and dry goods storekeeper as well as one of the founding Masons in Clarkston, Eleanor Urch, a farmer’s daughter, Mrs. Parrish, who lost four of her children while living in Clarkston and the wife of a Union soldier, Dr. and Mrs. Edward Bartlett, early Davisburg doctor and his wife the granddaughter of a Revolutionary War veteran buried in the cemetery, Horatio Foster, a carpenter who’s family arrived from England and whose namesake is Foster Road, Henry Thomas Hirst, who was the town miller but joined the Union Army during the Civil War, and Moses Church, a wealthy farmer of the area were portrayed by volunteer actors.
Local residents played the roles of the historical figures.
The funds from the walk will go towards continued restoration of the gravestones in the historic area of the cemetery, which dates back to 1832. The walk was organized by the Sashabaw Plains Chapter NSDAR.
Community members meet monthly to clean the historic gravestones, and this will continue into 2022.
There is a Go Fund Me page (gofund.me/20d69982) to donate for restoration and leveling of the stones.
— Submitted by Joette Kunse

PHOTO: Mindy and Joel DeLong portray Jemima and Richard Brokenshaw, who was one of the town’s shoemakers. The English couple lived in Clarkston in the 1850s and 1860s. Buried near them is a daughter that died in the 1896 Great Oakwood Cyclone. The Brokenshaw graves were restored this year. Photo provided by Joette Kunse