Cemetery Updates for August 2008

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Melville United Church Cemetery MRK-022

There was a concern about this cemetery as the church and house is for sale. Doris contacted the Town of Markham and was told that the cemetery will not be affected by the sale. There is an application to sever the church from the cemetery which went to the Committee of Adjustment on July 16.

Starr Burial NWM-009

Went to the Elman Campbell Museum in Newmarket to get some information on a possible archaeological dig on the Starr Family burial on Gorham, and spoke with Paul. Paul didn’t know anything about that, but he provided some information indicating the burial site is incorrectly named. It is actually the possible burial site of Eli Gorham. We do have another site that is the Starr burial. Should this site be re-named? Paul also told me about another burial site in the vicinity. A few years ago a man brought a gravestone into the Museum. He had found it as a child and brought it home. Guess he was feeling guilty about having it. It is in wonderful condition as it was protected in a basement or garage, and it’s for an infant child of the Bogart family. Paul showed me where the man thought he had found it -- by the pond behind the fire station on Gorham, just west of Leslie. Paul told me there is supposed to be an old cemetery there, over 100 years old. It probably served the Bogarttown community. Here is another burial site to add to the list.

House of Industry NWM-005

Paul also told me that he is in the process of gathering information on the House of Industry Burial site. There is currently a cairn on the site, and the subdivision is continuing to grow around it. He is hoping to get it designated in order to maintain protection of this location. Marjory and Dianne, OGS cemetery co-chairs, have been notified and are very interested. They asked me to pass this interest along to Paul, and that they would like to see a draft of his proposal when he completes it.

Brownsberger WHS-005

A few days after my visit to the Museum, I receive a call from Fred. He was given my number by Paul at the Museum. He has been re-transcribing some of the Whitchurch-Stouffville cemeteries and said he will hand them over to us for publication. He also said he followed the OGS format, so that will make it easy to complete them for publication. He also told me about the Brownsberger site. Seems that there is a subdivision going up there, and Fred is hoping he can get the site registered so it will be protected. I notified Marjory and Dianne, and because of the up-coming tribunal in Peterborough, they can’t devote much time to this right now. Marjory asked me to tell Fred to compile as much information as he can showing proof there are still bodies buried on the site. She also gave me a name and contact information for the cemetery registrar, which I have passed along to Fred. Speed is of the essence as the area is being prepared for construction now.

Aurora Cemetery AUR-001

The entire transcript has now been indexed. Just proof-reading that last section and also in-cemetery proofing of the rest of Sections S and T are to be done, as well as check a few things that appear a little weird (spelling, more than 4 c/s, etc.) in other sections. A trip to the Land Office to verify the dates of purchase for the land, and small updates to the map is all that is left. This should be ready for sale at the OGS Region V AGM & Conference October 4.