Established in 1875, Oak Grove, Old English or Yankee Cemetery, as it is commonly called is located on a hill in Section 23 of Parke Township one mile east and 1/4 mile north of Rollag, Minnesota. Originally, 10 acres of oak forest were donated by Dr. Charles Sill, a New York dentist. Now, the cemetery covers only about 1/2 acre and few metal, granite or marble tombstones remain. In the early 1870s, “Yankees,”* settlers from Eastern states, began settling in east central Clay County. Soon, Scandinavians also began flocking to the area, and by 1878, Scandinavian births out-numbered Yankee 13 to 4. The first person buried here was a boy named Mensil Merry. His grave was dug north and south near a fence. Later, a Union Church directive mandated that all graves be dug east and west, symbolic of the westward journey, with the heads pointing west. Mensil’s body was exhumed and the Merry lot was re-established. The Union Church congregation probably dissolved around 1900. The last internment at Yankee Cemetery was in 1939. Burials include John C. Davis, his wife Sarah A. and daughters Mary (14) and Clara (12). The daughters died one month apart in 1886 during an epidemic of typhoid fever. John C. Davis had belonged to a Union Army contingent of Dakota County (Minnesota) men designated as the “F” Company, 8th Regiment of the Minnesota Volunteers. Three of the George and Adeline Sellon children, Sarah (8), David (3), and Phebe(1 1/2), all died of diphtheria during the epidemic in 1883. Other families represented include: Antrim, Haas, Hewitt, Hildreth, Hosack, Muncey, Rice, Rugg and Thorn. The Yankee Cemetery was deeded to the Clay County Historical Society in 1942. The last individual to be buried in the cemetery was Frank Rugg in 1943.