A Look at the Early Years of the Center Street Cemetery
As the town of Wallingford approaches its 350th Anniversary, it's hard not to wonder what it was like in the 1600s and 1700s. The roads were dirt and gravel; Main Street was called Long Highway and Center Street was called Burying Ground Hill. The earliest place of worship, the Congregational Church, built a meeting house where Simpson Court is now, and had a row of benches outside for soldiers to guard against Indian attacks. Later a fort was built around it but by 1690, King Philips War had come to an end.
After two expansions, the church was moved to the southwest corner of Main & Center Sts. close to the location of our first cemetery. There have been various books written about this early cemetery but one of the best renditions comes from The History of New Haven Colony, Connecticut Volume I edited by J. L. Rockey in 1892.
Below is an excerpt relating to the years before the Center Street Cemetery Association was founded.
After two expansions, the church was moved to the southwest corner of Main & Center Sts. close to the location of our first cemetery. There have been various books written about this early cemetery but one of the best renditions comes from The History of New Haven Colony, Connecticut Volume I edited by J. L. Rockey in 1892.
Below is an excerpt relating to the years before the Center Street Cemetery Association was founded.
The cemeteries in the town are generally well kept and attractive. In the early settlement it appears that one of the common fields on the "Plains," near the center of the original village, was selected as a place of burial. While the ground was not contiguous to the meeting house lot, it was near at hand, and besides being dry and clear, perhaps more conveniently accommodated the inhabitants of the town, on account of its accessibility, than any other place. To the original lot thus set aside, additions have been made until there are about ten acres in the enclosure. Many of the graves in the old part have been obliterated, but the places of a few of the early interments are indicated by rude headstones.
A few years ago their location and the significance of the inscriptions were investigated by John G. Phelan, of the borough, and from his account we learn that the oldest stone, which is merely an irregular slab, marks the grave of William Houlte, who died in 1683, aged 73 years. He had joined the settlement ten years before, the original lot in the village set aside for John Miles having been sold to him. A larger and more shapely, almost oblong red stone, but as rudely and simply inscribed as the foregoing one, only the initial letters being cut, shows where Katharine Miles was buried, in 1687, after having attained the age of 95 years. The Miles family was one of those to settle at Wallingford in 1670, its lot being where are now Main and Christian streets, and she must, therefore, have been already 78 years old when she took up her residence here. Descendants have ever since remained in the limits of the old town, as have also those of the two next noted below.
The grave of Abraham Doolittle, who died in 1690 at the age of 70 years, is marked by a very low but rather thick stone, whose outlines have been nicely rounded by the elements. In official matters he bore the title of sergeant, and his was one of the houses ordered to be fortified against Indian attack, in December, 1675. He was one of the original committeemen of Wallingford, a selectman for many years, and a member of the general court, being in the general affairs of the town one of its most prominent men. The most elaborate of the old headstones marks the grave of Mr. John Moss, who died in 1707, at the unusual age of 103 years. The inscription is cut in a heart-shaped figure, and the top of the stone, which is well preserved, is nicely carved. John Moss was a man of distinction in the colony, and the honors he held in life seem to have followed him in death, as indicated by this stone. He was one of the three persons in the settlement entitled to be called "Mr.," the other two being Mr. Samuel Street, the minister, and Mr. John Brocket, who was a fellow commissioner in the colony. At the age of 83 years he was one of the selectmen of the town, and there is a tradition among his descendants that he made his will when he was a hundred years old, which shows that, besides being educated and dignified, he was also a remarkably vigorous man.
The graves of some of the prominent men who died in early years are marked by new stones, to which the old inscriptions have been transferred. These epitaphs are usually very quaint and much at variance with our present style of .spelling. On a number of stones are poetical inscriptions: (Doctor Isaac Lewis. 1784).
"As I am now gone down to dust,
Five of my children came here first
The rest may see as they pass by
That we are now before them gone."
In July, 1742, the neglected condition of the cemetery was brought before the inhabitants of the town, when it was ordered that the grounds should be enclosed, in connection with some of the common fields nearby, so that the highway to the fields, in that locality, running through the cemetery, should not be stopped up, but entrance should be afforded by gates.
In more recent times, greater regard has been paid to its privacy, and the cemetery is now separately enclosed, with a hedge of Norway spruce, which gives it an attractive appearance.
The town decided, April 29th, 1871, to make this improvement, which was much needed. The .selectmen — E. A. Doolittle. Hezekiah Hall and William Wallace — with additional committeemen, Medad W. Munson, Samuel Simpson and Benjamin D. Sutliff, were appointed to adjust the bounds of the cemetery and carry out the plans for improvement.
MORE TO COME SOON FROM OTHER SOURCES !
A few years ago their location and the significance of the inscriptions were investigated by John G. Phelan, of the borough, and from his account we learn that the oldest stone, which is merely an irregular slab, marks the grave of William Houlte, who died in 1683, aged 73 years. He had joined the settlement ten years before, the original lot in the village set aside for John Miles having been sold to him. A larger and more shapely, almost oblong red stone, but as rudely and simply inscribed as the foregoing one, only the initial letters being cut, shows where Katharine Miles was buried, in 1687, after having attained the age of 95 years. The Miles family was one of those to settle at Wallingford in 1670, its lot being where are now Main and Christian streets, and she must, therefore, have been already 78 years old when she took up her residence here. Descendants have ever since remained in the limits of the old town, as have also those of the two next noted below.
The grave of Abraham Doolittle, who died in 1690 at the age of 70 years, is marked by a very low but rather thick stone, whose outlines have been nicely rounded by the elements. In official matters he bore the title of sergeant, and his was one of the houses ordered to be fortified against Indian attack, in December, 1675. He was one of the original committeemen of Wallingford, a selectman for many years, and a member of the general court, being in the general affairs of the town one of its most prominent men. The most elaborate of the old headstones marks the grave of Mr. John Moss, who died in 1707, at the unusual age of 103 years. The inscription is cut in a heart-shaped figure, and the top of the stone, which is well preserved, is nicely carved. John Moss was a man of distinction in the colony, and the honors he held in life seem to have followed him in death, as indicated by this stone. He was one of the three persons in the settlement entitled to be called "Mr.," the other two being Mr. Samuel Street, the minister, and Mr. John Brocket, who was a fellow commissioner in the colony. At the age of 83 years he was one of the selectmen of the town, and there is a tradition among his descendants that he made his will when he was a hundred years old, which shows that, besides being educated and dignified, he was also a remarkably vigorous man.
The graves of some of the prominent men who died in early years are marked by new stones, to which the old inscriptions have been transferred. These epitaphs are usually very quaint and much at variance with our present style of .spelling. On a number of stones are poetical inscriptions: (Doctor Isaac Lewis. 1784).
"As I am now gone down to dust,
Five of my children came here first
The rest may see as they pass by
That we are now before them gone."
In July, 1742, the neglected condition of the cemetery was brought before the inhabitants of the town, when it was ordered that the grounds should be enclosed, in connection with some of the common fields nearby, so that the highway to the fields, in that locality, running through the cemetery, should not be stopped up, but entrance should be afforded by gates.
In more recent times, greater regard has been paid to its privacy, and the cemetery is now separately enclosed, with a hedge of Norway spruce, which gives it an attractive appearance.
The town decided, April 29th, 1871, to make this improvement, which was much needed. The .selectmen — E. A. Doolittle. Hezekiah Hall and William Wallace — with additional committeemen, Medad W. Munson, Samuel Simpson and Benjamin D. Sutliff, were appointed to adjust the bounds of the cemetery and carry out the plans for improvement.
MORE TO COME SOON FROM OTHER SOURCES !