Headstones Records
Many of the headstone inscriptions below were transcribed from Burying Grounds of Charon, CT Amenia and North East, N. Y., Published Amenia, NY 1903. Headstone inscriptions in PDF format were copied in 1934, under the auspices of the F.E.R.A. and the W.P.A. sponsored by the Connecticut State Library. It was compiled under the supervision of Charles R. Hale and Mary H. Babin.
Sharon Burying Ground/Hillside Cemetery
Overview
Originally known as the Sharon Burying Ground, the Hillside Cemetery has been Sharon’s primary place of burial since December 11, 1739. On that day, the town fathers met at the home of Nathaniel Skinner to decide about the essential elements of a growing, thriving town. They concluded that designing and creating a burial ground was one of those essentials. Nathaniel Skinner and Lew Jabez (Habezz) were asked to locate an appropriate site. They found the first part of what has become the Hillside Cemetery, a good name for the site, as it looks out from a hillside across the west and north of the town. The earliest burials are near the upper entrance gate.
As additional land became necessary, two acres were purchased from the King family in 1812 for $244. The Kings lived in the large brick house, which even today stands nearby at the top of the green. The Sharon land records of 1812 include a deed of purchase for this land. Agents for the acquisition were Samuel Roberts, a hired man to George King, who later did well in real estate; Samuel Rockwell, who represented Sharon in the Connecticut legislature of 1815; and Samuel Gager, who served as assistant surgeon in the navy during the Revolutionary War.
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In 1875, the Sharon Burying Ground Association voted to have the Cemetery mowed and cleared annually by July 15. In 1878, a vote was taken that the “grass and weeds be cut the last week in June and cleared by July 1.” The process was to be repeated in the last week of August.
In 1890, the directors of the Association decided they needed a map of the cemetery. The task was completed, but the map was unfortunately lost. A new map appeared in 1927. However, it lacked necessary information such as the names of the older stones. Today a large map with plot numbers and an accompanying catalog of names with numbers are on file at The Sharon Historical Society, and the names are in a searchable database.
A controversy developed in the early 20th century when the directors of the Association decided to “re-sell” plots in the oldest part from which previously set stones had vanished. The Superintendent of the Cemetery was so upset by this decision that he resigned from his position and from the Board.
To this day, the Burying Ground Association is the group that looks after the cemetery. It is made up of 15 volunteers who constitute the Directors. This group meets four times a year: in March, June, September and December. They review the finances-money to keep up the Cemetery has been left in an endowment-and discuss the repairs and maintenance that need doing. Members of the Board and volunteers, calling themselves the Hillside Stoners, have in the past three years cleaned over 200 stones. An annual appeal raises funds for professionals to raise, straighten and repair gravestones. The “Adopt a Grave” Program invites people to donate $50. to defray the cost of cleaning materials. Donors receive a picture of their adopted grave and a copy of an epitaph if one is carved onto their stone.
Headstone Inscriptions & Maps
Click on one of the links below to download a full list of Sharon Buring Ground headstone inscriptions or maps of the cemetery.
Eastside Cemetery
Ellsworth Cemetery
Download a list of headstone transcriptions from the Ellsworth Cemetery by clicking the link below.
Amenia Union Cemetery
Download a list of headstone transcriptions from the Amenia Union Cemetery by clicking the link below.
Amenia Union Cemetery headstones
Ticknor’s Woods Burying Ground
Location
On the north side of the road leading from Ellsworth, East Street, to Ellsworth proper, is the original burying ground of the Ellsworth society.
When it was first used for that purpose is not known now. The last burial there was a daughter of Joseph Lord, Esq., and was probably not far from 1778. The grave being filled with water so impressed Mr. Lord with the necessity for a more suitable place of burial that he immediately gave the society the land for the present Ellsworth Cemetery. He died in 1778, and his headstone recites the fact that he was the first person buried in the ground he had given.
A forest of trees now covers the old place of burial, among which the rows of graves yet show. Many of them are marked by stones native to the place, only two having headstones with inscriptions. It would be interesting to know the names of these silent sleepers, but for that we must wait till the graves are opened and the dead arise. The two inscriptions found are:
Headstones
ROBERTS, Mr. Mark, d. Feb. 17, 1767, in his 84th yr.
ROBERTS, Mr. Nathaniel, d. Jan. 16. 1766, in his 55th yr.
Mr. Samuel Everett of Ellsworth says that the following were buried in this place: Adonijah Maxam, Amos Sanford. Joseph Lovell, Nathaniel Chapman, Deborah Lord, wife of Isaiah Everett and dau. of Joseph Lord, Esq.
Pine Swamp Burying Ground
Having heard it called the Pine Swamp Burying Ground it is given that title, yet there is nothing about the neighborhood to suggest the name. It is located on the left hand side of the road as one goes from Sharon to West Cornwall, or ground high and dry. A more fitting name would be the Smith Burying Ground, there being many of that name buried there.
Download a list of headstone transcriptions from the Pine Swamp Burying Ground by clicking the link below.
Pine Swamp Burying Ground headstones
Cartwright Burying Ground
This burying ground is known as the Cartwright Burying Ground, from the fact that people of that name owned the land all about it, and many of them are buried there. It is on Sharon Mountain, and the road leading past it is known as Ellsworth East Street. It is well fenced and very well cared for, and is still used as a place of burial.
Download a list of headstone transcriptions from the Cartwright Burying Ground by clicking the link below.
Cartwright Burying Ground headstones
Boland District Burying Ground
This burying ground is about half way between Sharon and Amenia Union. It is generally called the Boland District Burying Ground, the Bolands once owning the land round about, and many of them being buried there. It is on a sandy knoll on the west side of the road, and is well cared for. It is one of the oidest burying grounds in the town, as shown by the inscriptions copied from it.
Download a list of headstone transcriptions from the Boland District Burying Ground by clicking the link below.
Boland District Burying Ground headstones
Malcuit Farm Burying Ground
On the farm of Charles Malcuit, on Sharon Mountain, in a pasture field, are two headstones inscribed as below. There are evidences of many graves that are not marked, but no one seems to remember any more about it than can now be discovered by a visit to it. it is large in area for a family burying ground, and doubtless was a neighborhood affair, before the one in the “Cartwright neighborhood” was used.
CARTWRIGHT, Samuel, s. of Samuel and Abiel, d. Feb. 9, 1774, ae. 11 mos., 9 dys.
HUTCHINSON, Mr. Ezra, d. Feb. 28, 1799, ae. 40.