The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1909-12-23
History of the Various Burial Grounds
of Montpelier
PURCHASED FIRST IN 1874
Some Doubt Its Exact Location Col Jacob Davis
Buried in Elm Street Cemetery Green Mount Opened
in 1S55-Noted Men Buried in the Enclosure Grave
of D. p Thompson Unmarked "A St. Gaudens Memorial.
clue to the location of the cemetery
More Cemeteries Needed.

clue to the location of the cemetery.
More Cemeteries Needed.
Seven years later more burying
grounds became necessary, and in 1901
the town prepared and opened for use
two new cemeteries, one in the east
part of the town, near the residence
of Theophilus Clark, and the other
on the Davis Pitch" within the pres
ent limits of the city. Both of these
cemeteries have also disappeared The
one on the Davis Pitch" is remember
ed by some even of the younger men
in Montpelier today. 1t was on a sand
hill on the Meadow" not far from the
place where the circuses used to ex-
hibit thirty years ago, back of where
G. Brown now stand, ION the swell
twenty or thirty rods west of the Falls
of the North Branch"
In this latter were buried many of
the early residents of the town, but
the cemetery was not used many
years. The soil was sandy and the
location unsatisfactory. After it was
abandoned the remains of some of
those who had been inferred there
were taken to Green Mount Cemetery,
and the tombstones of others were al
so re-erected in the new cemetery
though the remains originally placed
beneath them could not be found. The
sandy soil was drawn away for vari
Gus purposes and as it was desired
to remove the hill Mr.. Hubbard, who
owned the adjacent land and what is
now Hubbard park diverted the
course of the brook, then a much
larger stream than now and used the
this and in shoveling out the sand
many bones were exposed from time
| to time and men now living can re-
member when some of the shin bones
and thigh bones of the old settlers
were thus exposed
Elm Street Cemetery.
This old burying ground was used
until 1913, when the Elm street ceme-
terry was opened, and the one in the
east part of the town was used by
those living outside the village.
The Cutler burying ground was es-
tablished early in the last century.
Nathaniel Cutler by will left a part
| of n ic 70
and while this has never been a pub
| lie burying ground, owned by the
town, it has been, with some restric-
tions, at the service of the public, and
many of the older residents of the
town have found their final resting
place there. This is today in East
Montpelier, and of the cary cemeter-
les Of which is now Montpelier, the
only one remaining is that on Elm
street.
| Col. Jacob Davis, the founder of the
town, is buried in the Elm street GEM
etery, but so little is the attention CIV
en- by the present generation to such
matters that it is doubtful If a dozen
men in Montpelier know today where
to find the grave of the first settler of
the town. Just inside the gate is a
marble stone, in a fine state of pres
lervation, and beside it is a flag, a
marker calling attention to the fact
that it is soldiers grave, for Col
Davis was Revolutionary soldier.
Near this grave is that of David
Wing, Jr., Secretary of State from
1902 to the time of his death, repre-
sentative to the Legislature in 1896
and 1897, succeeding Col Jacob Davis
and town clerk from 1893 to 1906, al
so side judge and Chief Judge of the
County Court, and so popular that for
several years he received the entire
vote Of the town for State Treasurer
Grave Of Col. Jacob Davis.
Col. Davis headstone is plain
marble tablet with modest inscrip.
ton, Colonel Jacob Davis, who died
April 8, 1874, aged 75," Not line OF
a word indicates his rank in civil life
his services for the town of which he
was the founder, and a stranger visit.
ing the cemetery would have no idea
that that simple tablet marks the last
resting place of the most prominent
man of his time in the town.
The Elm Street Cemetery was used
a little over forty years. The date Of
, the last interment there is not known
but as late as the early sixties some
people whose relatives had been bur
led there made use of the old towr
burying ground instead of the new
one.
Green Mount Cemetery.
Green Mount Cemetery was a gift
to the town by Calvin Jay Keith, WHIT
made the bequest in his will and wht
died in 1853. Mr.. Keith was unmar
ried and had acquired a considerable
, fortune, principally by settling es
. tates in the South. In his will h
!, left numerous gifts, principally gol'
!, watches, to his numerous friends, ant
gave other valuable keepsakes, as wei
as sums of money for the support o
parsonages in the vicinity, for Sunda,
> School libraries, and the library of tn
i. Washington County Grammar School
: He also gave tone thousand dollars L