Who is on the Hill—The Old Village Hill Cemetery: Seeking the perfect autumnal adventure? A slightly spooky evening in October is a good time to walk to the old cemetery on Village Hill and wind your way among the gravestones. Tucked into the billy-goat terrain just up from town, this cemetery is the resting place of many of our first citizens.
Way back in October 1771, just a few months after the founding of the town in July, the District of Williamsburgh “voted that Simeon White, Samuel Fairfield and John Nash be a ‘Committee to Lay out the Land’ for a burying place.” By 1773, the fledgling town of Williamsburg had its first cemetery on this rather uneven portion of land from Jesse Wild’s farm.
For almost 150 years, until 1914, townsfolk were buried here on this hill. Sometimes when you peek at the stones, you come across the unexpected. The gravestone of Phoebe Hitchcock has toppled to the ground. She died on September 20, 1824. Her stone is inscribed:
Honor or virtue cannot save
From the relentless cruel grave
The high the low & virtuous must
Returne unto their kindred dust.
Then, there, on the bottom of the stone: A. Thompson. $25! Was he the stone carver? Was that the charge for the stone?
“Visit” the earliest town residents. Discover some of the interesting names of our town ancestors: Quartus and Hadassa and Lura and Densy and Euphemia and Valentine and Temperance and Ariel and Elkanah and Eliphalet and Mehetable and Salmon and Ilona and Jerusha and Lovina.
Perhaps the moon will be bright and full. Perhaps you will encounter a fox hunting for his supper. Maybe you will hear the rustle of small night creatures. Or possibly hear an owl call or if you are very lucky, see the wise old bird himself. The Old Village Hill Cemetery, that quirky, hilly burial ground, has character and is lovely in all seasons, but particularly on an autumn evening.
You can also visit the Old Village Hill Cemetery online at Find a Grave, filled with photographs and information added by town historian Eric Weber. Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist and photographer. #throwbackthursday;#tbt.
Posted to Facebook 10/17/2024
