So, you think you’re going on a nice little outing to see a lighthouse. You’re mixed in amongst tourist after tourist trying to make your way down one of the many crevices of the Maine coast when you see ‘cemetery’ on the GPS, just hanging out to the right of your screen. Change of plans. We take a detour and end up on a dirt road that opens up in to all sorts of “holy cow.” The first stop is of course, the cemetery.
Also, known as the Old Fort Cemetery, the Old Burying Ground is reported to be one of the oldest cemeteries in the area. Many of the original stones were nothing more than rocks, field stones or wooden crosses all but rotted away. Because of this nobody has any real knowledge as to how many people call this their final resting place.
One such person is Sergeant Hugh March who died in 1695. He’s there somewhere but no marker is to be found. It could very well be one of the jagged rocks, broken off and deteriorating, or maybe his chosen marker has completely disintegrated under the harsh coastal winds and weather Maine is infamous for.
In fact, while this is assumed to be the burial site of many British settlers from the 1620’s the oldest legible stone in the cemetery is that of a Mary Mors, died in 1734. As if the thought of lying in an unmarked grave isn’t sorrowful enough, the cemetery used to be much bigger than it is today. In 1847 a new rock wall was installed to finally preserve the cemetery. Whatever happened to those buried past the enclosure we see today? Maybe they’re still there, or were they even there at all?
Only 200 people are recorded to be buried here (with and without grave markers) however there is reason to believe there are many more. While some settlers of this period chose to be buried on private property, this cemetery was the preferred spot to be laid to rest in the 18th century, as well as being the burial site of many who were attacked by Natives of the area. After realizing there at least 200 graves here, you can see just how many grave stones must be missing. One has to wonder how digging up someone is avoided when burying someone else, and yes people are still buried here occasionally.
Joseph Sikes, who reportedly passed away in 1802, was the stone carver for many of the grave’s seen here. Joseph came from a long line of stone carvers and wasn’t known to use the best materials, causing the gravestones he carved to deteriorate much faster than the rest. His signature marks were half moon eyes on oval shaped faces, celestial symbols, vines and grapes. For someone who is still well known to this day for his stone carving, it seems impossible that there isn’t a solid lead as to where he, himself, is buried. According to the web he is buried in New York, however, there are no definitive facts surrounding this.
I would like to think that everyone who was intended to be buried here made it within the cemetery walls instead of being paved over and forgotten. I also want to believe that someone is in charge of figuring out who is buried where and erecting new stones for those who are unmarked within the cemetery walls….if there’s even a way to determine this.
While I find cemeteries, ancestry and history all fascinating, I must say that after visiting several cemeteries, some with notable persons of interest and seeing that there really isn’t anything “set in stone” after we die, I’m getting closer and closer to not wanting a gravestone at all. Just toss me into the wind and call it good.
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