Thursday, November 17, 2011

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Burying Ground, Newmarket

Quaker Meeting House
Built 1810

Historical Plaque

Early Quaker Burials



Marker of Sarah Webster Hughes
who died in 1815 but was refuse burial in these grounds
In 1973 her grave and the graves of two of her children were
found and relocated to this cemetery
This burying ground and meeting house is located on the west side of Yonge Street, just south of Eagle Street in the Town of Newmarket.  In 1807 Asa Rogers deeded two acres of land for a burial ground  for the Society of Friends (Quakers), who had started to settle in this area around 1801.  In 1810 William Doan donated another two acres for the site of the meeting house. The meeting house is still on this land and is still used by the Society of Friends as a place of worship and the cemetery still receives burials.  The area is a designated heritage site, and is maintained by the Society of Friends.

Eagle Street Pioneer Burying Ground, Newmarket

Heritage Plaque



Field Stone Marker of The Rev. Ramsay
Honorary Canon of St. James Cathedral

Cross and Historic Plaque dedicated in 1961 to
the Pioneers of the area who are buried here




Eagle Street Cemetery aka St. Paul's Anglican Cemetery or simply Pioneer Burying Ground, came in to use in the 19th century as a non-denominational burying ground. It is located on Eagle Street just east of Yonge Street in the Town of Newmarket.  

In 1863 ownership passed to St. Paul's Anglican Church.  Many prominent pioneers of the area are buried here, including, William Roe, a town founder, Dr. Christopher Beswick, pioneer physician and Ann Roe widow of Walter Roe, last British Chief Magistrate of Detroit, to name a few.

The cemetery fell into despair following the establishment of the Newmarket Cemetery in 1869.  The cemetery was subsequently leveled and cairns were built to preserve the headstones  in the 1960's.  The area is now a designated historical site and maintained by the Town of Newmarket.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Mount Pleasant Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery, Stewarttown








Mount Pleasant Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery is located at 10579 Trafalgar Road in Halton Hills. It is situated on the east side of the road just south of Stewarttown in Halton Hills.

In April of 1833 an innkeeper by the name of George Thompson sold to a group of trustees for the sum of 50 pounds one acre of land to be used as a burial ground and site for a school and meeting house.  A rough cast chapel was apparently built on the property in 1844, but was closed in 1858 when Thomas Thompson donated land for the Stewarttown Wesleyan Church, which opened in 1859.  The cemetery still received burials after the church was relocated, but it soon fell into despair. 

The cemetery was eventually restored by the Ashgrove Women's Institute.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Nassagaweya Presbyterian Church & Cemetery, (Haltonville), Milton

Cairn with headstones



















The first Nassagaweya Presbyterian Church was built in Haltonville (Milton, Ont.) in 1839.  The original church records are missing, but there was a society of trustees in 1836 who decided to build the original church.  The present day church was built in 1861 and the congregation increased steadily until about 1869 when the congregation in Campbellville was organized.  

The cemetery was established in 1866, but there is evidence of earlier burials on this land by the headstones that are in the cairn located to west of the church.  However, there are no known burial records for them.

The church building was designated a Heritage Building in 2004 and is still an active congregation to this day,  the cemetery also still receives burials.

Boston Presbyterian Church & Cemetery, Halton Hills

Heritage Plaque



Church & Grounds







Grave of James Laidlaw 1820

Located at 9185 Third Line, Halton Hills, Boston Presbyterian Church and Cemetery was established in 1824 on land that was purchased from Andrew Laidlaw by the church trustees.  Prior to the first church and establishment of the cemetery the congregation met on the farm of Andrew Laidlaw from about 1820. As the above photo shows the Laidlaw family were already using the land for burials.  The area was and is still known as Scotch Block, due to the Scottish settlers that came either directly from Scotland or via the USA around 1819. 

In 1832 there was a large contingent who separated from this congregation, due to different views concerning articles of faith. This group would become the United Presbyterian Church, (Mansewood United Presbyterian), which is located a few kilometers down the road. This church was closed in 1931 and eventually removed from that site.

The present day church was build in 1868 and named after Thomas Boston, significants unknown,  the cemetery association was formed in 1911.  Boston Presbyterian Church is still an active parish and the cemetery is still used for burials. Both the church and cemetery are a designated heritage site.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Mansewood United Presbyterian Cemetery, Milton, Halton Hills

Cairn made from building stones from
the demolished church building

Heritage Dedication 

Rear of Cairn
The rectangle area at the back is the old foundations
Corner stones can still be found in the ground




Mansewood United Presbyterian Cemetery is located on the N/W corner of 3rd Line and 5th Side Road in Milton, Halton Hills.  The original church on this site was built in 1836 and was referred to as the Antiburger Church.  Burials in the cemetery also commenced around this time and continued in to the early 1900's.

The second stone church was built in 1866 and the manse was built in 1872.  The congregation continued until 1931, the church was then only used for anniversaries until 1951 when if fell into disuse.  The building was eventually removed in 1958 and some of the building stones were used in the cairn which is now on the site.  At the back of the cairn a another cairn containing 12-15 headstones, there is also four standing monuments on the grounds.  

If you stand facing due east you will see the foundation lines for the stone church.  Some of the corner stones from these foundations can still be seen in the ground.  This site today is designated as a Heritage Site and is maintained by the Town of Milton.

Campbellville Buryng Ground, Campbellville, Halton Hills

Heritage Cairn

Campbell Family Graves

Grave of John Campbell
Who died after being struck by lightening

Grave of 8 year old Lexy Campbell
Earliest Burial

Early Burials


Campbellville Burying Ground is located in Campbellville, Halton Hills on the north side of McLaren Road, just west of Main Street (Guelph Line) Milton. The land was donated by John Campbell and his wife Lexy (Alexine Buchanan) in 1853.  The Campbell's immigrated from Argylshire Scotland in 1831, after spending one year in Montreal the family made its way to Halton in 1832 and purchased 100 acres of land.  

Although, the official opening date of the cemetery was in 1853, it is evident that burials had taken place at earlier dates.  The first burial was that of Lexy Campbell, John and Lexy Campbell's 8 year old daughter who died in 1840.  There is also evidence of other members of the Campbell family buried here before 1853.

On April 25th, 1854 just one day after John Campbell had placed his mark on the receipt for the sale of the land he was killed by a lightening strike while working in his barn.  John is buried in this cemetery beside family and friends on the land he once owned since 1832, in the town that still bears his name.

Christ Church Anglican Cemetery, Woodbridge






Early Head Stones

Wooden Grave Marker
Name long gone

Christ Church Anglican Cemetery is located at 8045 Islington Ave., in the Woodbridge area of the City of Vaughan.  The church and cemetery was established in 1850 on land donated by William Gamble, although there appears to be burials prior to that date. 

The stone church building was built by William Tyruel who was also responsible for building the Old Mill on Bloor Street.  Many notable families from the Village of Woodbridge are buried here such as, Wallace, Gamble, and Abel.  Their descendants still live in the area. 

William Gamble is buried at another Christ Church location on Royal York Rd, where he also donated the land.  The cemetery and church are still both active.