The White Lake Community Cemetery was originally established as a Presbyterian Cemetery (later United Church) but as its name indicates it is now a Community Cemetery for all denominations. It is located in the Township of McNab/Braeside at Concession 3, Lot 10.
According to the records, the first burial was of Elizabeth Hill (1791-1823) which would date the cemetery at 190 years as of 2013. The White Lake Cemetery held the 1st decoration service in 1921 with Reverend McNaught presiding.
Burials before 1800 were:
Walter Stirling 1790-1869
J. A. Robertson 1792-1874
John Cunningham 1793-1870
Colin Campbell 1794-1881
Isabella Douglas Campbell 1794-1859
Originally, the lots were very large (measuring 10 feet by 20 feet) to accomodate large families. The plots were reduced in size in later years. The cemetery is divided into 16 Sections with Section 11, 12 and part of 10 reserved for parking on Decoration Day. The White Lake Cemetery Vault was dedicated to the memory of John McRae and his wife Jane Goth by his family in 1957. In 2000, an additional 300' x 290' was purchased from Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Fraser of White Lake which brings the total size of the cemetery to 9 acres. This land is being slowly improved, including the removal of trees, stumps and rocks, in preparation for use in upcoming years.
As of 2013, the cemetery committee has noticed an increase in cremations and increased strain on the resources of the volunteers who endevour to keep up with the maintenance of the cemetery grounds.
For many years, Lorne Deacon of White Lake Village was caretaker of the cemetery. In 1995, Olga and Cecil Lewis transcribed the cemetery stones and published an index to the White Lake Cemetery. An Amalgamated Index was produced by Philip Durrett in 2000 as a project of the Arnprior McNab/Braeside Archives.
Acquisition Source
The records were donated by Rita Fraser, on behalf of the Cemetery Committee in August 2009.
Scope and Content
Donation consists of Bylaws, Minutes, Correspondence, Millenium Project Files, Plot & Burial Records and Financial Records.
File List:
Bylaws - 1999, 2005, 2009
Minutes - four folders: 1914-1961, 1961-1990, 1991-1999, 2000-2008