In the summer of 1730, our first settler, Nathaniel Hitchcock, came out to the “Mountains,” or “Outward Commons” of Springfield cleared two acres of ground, and erected a log hut on the west side of the West Road (603 Main Street). The following spring, May of 1731, he and his family settled here permanently.
Over the next few years, other families started to settle in this area. During the first ten years, 1731 to January 1, 1741, thirty-eight children were born here, and about twenty-six families called this place their home.
In May of 1740, a petition was drawn up and sent to the General Court (the legislature), for the “Outward Commons” to become its own Precinct so that they could build their own Meeting House for a place of public worship of God. The main reason is that it was nine miles from the settlement of Springfield for public worship at the "Old First" church. The travel distance, especially in winter with poor weather conditions results in roads that are almost impossible to travel. In those days not many families had horses so many traveled by foot. On January 6, 1741, the “Outward Commons” on the east side of the Great River (Connecticut River) became the Fourth Precinct of Springfield.
Now the search began for a minister and a location to build the first Meeting House. On May 26, 1741, the worthy Mr. Noah Mirick (Merrick) accepted the ministry and was to settle among the people of the “Mountains.” The area selected for the first Meeting House and its Burying Yard was to be located on the land lying in between the Second and Third Divisions known as the “Over-plus Land.”
The first Meeting House along with the home of Mr. Noah Mirick was located on Wigwam Hill, Known today as 1339 and 1347 Tinkham Road.
The location of the Burying Ground was set aside by the village a few years prior in 1736, at the foot of the hill which would lead to the future Meeting House. The first death recorded was David Jones, son of David and Hannah Jones, who died on August 19, 1736. It was said that the father did not want his child to be the first tenant of the Burying Ground, so they buried their son in Springfield, the old Springfield Cemetery. Two other deaths occurred before 1741, and both were also interred in Springfield.
The first tenant of the Burying Ground was 39-year-old Elizabeth Cockril who died on April 26, 1741. Elizabeth, who was a widow from Boston, was on a visit to her sister, who was Samuel Warner’s wife, and became ill and died. Mr. Warner buried her here, and even though he was not a stone cutter, he found two flat stones and engraved her name, and the date of her death, and that was the first grave located in that cemetery. Her stones are located in the southeast quarter of the old section.
The next burials would seem to be those of three young children of Daniel Warner in 1746, 1748, and 1749. The graves are marked by a single stone.
The Burying Ground had many names throughout its history, Burying Yard, Old Yard, Center Cemetery, and Deacon Adams Cemetery. It is now called Adams Cemetery, for the Deacon Adams family who built their house just east of the cemetery on West Road (Main Street) in 1794.
The Burying Ground would have been located on West Road (Main Street) since Tinkham Road was not laid out until 1765. This road was mentioned in a survey conducted in 1794 which was called “the road from 16-Acres Mill to Wilbraham Street (Main Street) near the Burying Ground.”
As time went on improvements were made to the cemetery. In 1805, a committee was chosen by the parish “to fence the Burying Ground near the street” and in 1807 was granted to paint the fence.
In about 1859, a large group of men from the town gathered to cut the brush, improve the yard, and make a general clean-up of the grounds. Some of the headstones, as well as the foot stones, along the southerly side of the yard, were moved a few inches, or two or three feet, to the north or south, as to bring them into line with the others.
The original lot of the Burying Ground was enlarged in 1876 by an addition on the east side, and again in 1896 by a much larger addition on the north. In 1969 additional property was added to the east side, called “New East.”
A hearse house stood at the southeast corner of the original lot for many years, but it was removed in 1871. It was relocated to the carriage shop near the north edge of the center village (380 Main Street).\
The Town of Wilbraham began custodial care of this cemetery along with the two others, East Wilbraham and Glendale, in 1876. The Wilbraham Cemetery Commission (WCC) was formed in 1919 and comprised three elected members, with each one assigned to a cemetery.
A cement block building was erected about 1910 by two generations of the Merrick family, Charles S. Merrick, who was the father of Charles L. Merrick. This building was built to store bodies during the winter months. It is now used as an equipment shed.
On September 28, 2013, paranormal investigators set up equipment in Adams Cemetery in hopes of capturing some paranormal activity. What they did capture were audible recordings near the graves of Joseph Cutt and Caesar Mirick who were African-American slaves of Wilbraham's, prominent Mirick Family. Both men fought in the Revolutionary War alongside other Wilbraham soldiers.
Other activity included more audible recordings and a tug on one of the investigator's legs in which a photograph was taken of his trousers at that moment, showing both his pant legs gripped with an indentation. This all happened at the site of the Bliss grave, where three of the Bliss children were drowned in 1799 along with three others, who are also buried nearby.
All during the evening, light streaks, and interesting orbs, showing definitive patterns emanating from various gravestones were captured in black and white photos.
Today, the three town cemeteries are still maintained by three town elected, Board of Cemetery Commissioners. These cemeteries serve as a "memorial to those who have died, for eternity."
The Town of Wilbraham maintains a Perpetual Trust Fund dedicated to the maintenance and improvements of Adams, East Wilbraham, and Glendale Cemeteries. A contribution in any amount will be gratefully accepted. The Fund is set up so that only the interest income is used. The principal is accumulated and remains in the Trust Fund Account. Each Commissioner is available to discuss the Trust Fund.
The old section of Adams Cemetery covers the area from the east entrance road, west to the fence, and from Tinkham Road, north to the line of monuments on a line with the old cemetery vault house. Within this area, there are 995 headstones and foot markers.
Many of the stones used up until the 1830s, were brownstones found here in Wilbraham. One of the quarries that operated many years ago is approximately 1500 feet to the east of Adams Cemetery, most likely all these stones came from that location. Some light-colored stones are white sandstone with some marble which came into use after 1830. There are a few stones of slate dated around 1870. The granite monuments which appeared later are by far the most durable. Some of the stones are cenotaphs, (monuments memorializing people who are buried elsewhere).
Most of the sandstone markers are decorated with an "egg-headed angel" or halos, cherubs, or sunbursts. Others have interlacing vines, leaves, circles, wheels, and flowers. After 1800, the style of the decorations changed to weeping willow and/or urn, and the original inscriptions and epitaphs changed also. The early stones of 180 years or more ago gave more information about the person than the stones of the last 80 years. Note that names were sometimes spelled differently even though they were apparently from the same family.
A good friend of mine, Scott "Bones" Williams, from our high school days, contacted me after learning that I was running for Cemetery Commissioner of Adams Cemetery. He thought I would be interested in a book his father had published in 1973. The book was named, The Last Word by Melvin G. Williams. The book is all about "the lure and lore of early New England graveyards." Sections of this book contain subjects related to Adams Cemetery. This book is still available online.
Dr. Melvin G. Williams, an English professor at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, is one of the foremost authorities on early New England gravestones. He is a frequent speaker at meetings of historical societies and civic organizations, and his articles on many subjects have appeared in regional and national publications in the United States as well as in Europe, Africa, and Asia. He earned his Ph.D. in English at the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Melvin G. Williams passed away on March 6, 2004, and is buried in Adams Cemetery. His headstone contains unique symbols as one would see on early gravestones.
WILBRAHAM COMMISSIONERS WHO SERVED
ADAMS CEMETERY 1888 - 2022
1888 - 1889 J. S. Albray
1890 - 1891 L. Holman
1892 James Oakes
1893 - 1895 Robert Darrah
1896 John Speight
1897 - 1899 Robert Darrah
1900 - 1902 Charles Hammer
1903 Robert Darrah
1904 - 1913 A. J. Bryant
1914 - 1919 Myron L. Bruuer
1920 - 1924 Richard Sackett
1925 - 1935 Lee W. Rice
1936 - 1943 Arthur E. Dibble
1944 - 1949 Lee W. Rice
1950 Jesse Rice
1951 -1954 A. J. Bryant / Jesse Rice
1955 - 1959 Henry Hyde
1960 - 1968 Weldon Jameson
1969 - 1986 Walter Clark
1987 – 2006 Peter W. Ablondi
2007 - 2013 Philip J. Hamer
2014 William J. Bickley Jr. (4 mos.), Paul Zimakas (2 mos.)
2014 Vacant (6 mos.)
2015 - 2019 E. George Gordon
2020 - 2022 Sharon L. Kipetz
2023 - 2025 David F. Bourcier
コメント