Cemeteries

www.frcog.org/pubs/.../Shutesbury/11_Historic_and_Sceni_Resources.pdf

A 1931 microfilm inventory from the “Corbin Collection,” housed at the Special Collections room at the Jones Library in Amherst, lists the following Shutesbury cemeteries:
1. The Old Cemetery 2. The West Cemetery or Town Cemetery 3. Stetson Burying Ground 4. Pratt Corner burying ground (no entries) 5. Hamilton burying ground 6. Lock’s Pond cemetery
The handwritten information includes helpful historical information as well as epitaphs such as the following from the grave of Lydia Clark, wife of Capt. Nathaniel Clark, who died January 15th, 1816 in the 74th year of her age:
“The sweet remembrance of the Just Shall flourish when they sleep in dust.”
The epitaph of Chs. W. Williams, killed by the “wreckless” carelessness of his FELLOW SOLDIER while engaged in a show fight on parade, was killed Sept. 16, 1845 Ǽ 22:
A lovely youth beloved by all By old and young, by great and small. By rich and poor, by high and low 1By everyone that did him know.
Due to copyright concerns, the Jones Library cannot allow the entire record of town cemeteries to be printed from the microfilm for local use in Shutesbury.
Cemetery Commissioner from 1952 to 1985, Oscar Norell wrote the following chronology of town cemeteries for the February 1, 1986 Roadtown Grapevine {with additional factual information in brackets]:
“The first burial ground, the Center Cemetery, was established shortly after the town was settled and was located where the Town Hall now stands. It was a part of the four acres which was known as “the Governor’s Farm,” deeded to the town by the Governor. This was used until the late 1700s.
In 1796, the town purchased one acre of land to be known as the West Cemetery. Other parcels were added on in 1858, 1895, and two in 1954.
Historic and Scenic Resources– Shutesbury Master Plan 6-10
Developed by the Shutesbury Historical Commission
[In accordance with the an act of the Legislature of 1937, which was accepted by a vote of the Town Feb. 7, 1938, graves of about twenty persons buried in the old Centre Cemetery were opened and remains transferred to that portion of the cemetery reserved for a burial ground.] In 1949, the remains from the Centre Cemetery were moved to the West Cemetery in order to make room for consecutive new school buildings. Most of these remains and monuments are located on the east end of West Cemetery near Leverett Road. The oldest known grave marker is that of Aholiab Wilder, 1759. [The Aholiab Wilder marker was evidently broken off at some point. The top is housed in the Town Hall with Historical Commission records, with the approval of descendants’ of Aholiab.]
In 1858, the town bought a small piece of land, 12 by 20 feet in area, on which to build a hearse house. The hearse house is still standing [on the roadside at the north end of the cemetery]. On the north side of Leverett Road, directly across from the cemetery is the West Cemetery tomb bought from William Crossman for $50 in 1880. The Luther Henry Tomb Yard was a private cemetery acquired by the town in 1954.
Other cemeteries in town are the Pratt Corner Cemetery, located in the Southwest corner of town, which was purchased from Mr. Wheelock in 1823 and the Locks Village Cemetery located near the north end of Locks Pond Road on the west side and purchased in 1808.
The first meetinghouse was built about 1740,just south of the current Town Common approximately where Cooleyville Road runs today, and a church organized on October 5, 1742. The present church building on the Town Common was dedicated January 1, 1828; the first Congregational church (now privately owned) was built in 1836; the Methodist church at Locks Village was built in 1851; and a “new” Congregational church, built in 1884 to sit northwest of the church currently gracing the Town Common, burned on May 19, 1911 when it was struck by lightening.8
The historical nature of the Town Common invites tranquility and contemplation to those who stop by. It is a welcoming site to weary commuters returning home at the end of the day. It provides an open area, accessible to the public, for stargazing and offers the lingering essence of pink and purple sunrises (still felt, but mostly obliterated with neighboring trees) to the observant commuter heading off to another busy day. Its fragile future was well documented in the Town Center Study undertaken by the Conway School of Landscape Design in 2002.