Some of my father's ancestors were in the group of
first pioneer settlers to settle in Arkell Ontario in 1831 and I wanted to see if their tombstones survived.
There are two cemeteries in Arkell.
One
is the Arkell Pioneer Cemetery which has been saved from total
destruction by a dedicated group. This group gathered all stones
surviving whether broken or not, reconstructed the broken tombstones,
and cemented them carefully in a large raised area. Many of my King
ancestors are found there and it really wonderful that this cemetery was
carefully tended before it was too late.
In fact if you are a descendant of the King family of Arkell you may be interested in my book "
From England to Arkell: The story of two pioneer settlers, Lewis & Thomas King who left Suffolk England for the Wilds of Upper Canada in 1831 A Genealogy to 4 Generations following their descendants in Ontario, Alberta, Australia & Michigan"
The second cemetery is
Farnham Cemetery. It too has many early graves of those pioneer settlers
in 1831, as well as their descendants. But it is a mixture of nicely
tended lawn, and completely neglected stones.
The neglected
stones lie almost buried in the ground, having toppled over some time
ago. Many are broken, and bits and pieces of the tombstones jut up in
the overgrown mess of vegetation.
Many
lie in an area that is difficult to get to, up against the back fence
of the cemetery property, and in the brush. My husband spent some time
climbing around there trying to brush away some of the dirt and growth
but it was too difficult with bare hands.
Some
lie near the front of the cemetery, under a big tree. You can see that
these early stones were in eat rows and many are missing. We could see
corners of toppled tombstones jutting out from the ground so it is very
possible that many of the stones have toppled and been buried over the
years.
At
one side of the cemetery is a garbage dump, very near the neglected and overrun tombstones at the back. There is a small grove of trees with a
pit full of household garbage. Since the cemetery backs on to homes, it
appears that the local homeowners are using the back part as their own
private dumping ground. The photo we took of that didn't turn out so I
can't show it but you would no doubt be disgusted.
This
cemetery needs a good cleanup. It needs a volunteer group who will
unearth and right the toppled stones, or cement them into a base (as has
been done in the Pioneer Cemetery) before it is too late. I wish I
lived nearer so I could organize a cleanup group! I find it
disrespectful to the memories of those buried there, and a historical
oversight that our pioneers who settled there in 1831 should be so
forgotten.
My
Peter Bell and his wife Elizabeth are buried there. Peter's stone
stands quite near the front gates, but Elizabeth's has toppled and is
almost completely buried by the grass that has overgrown around and over
it. They came to Arkell in 1831 and were among the first group of hardy
pioneers who braved many hardships and separation from family and
friends in England to settle here. Do they (and all the others) not
deserve more respect?
Names are important in genealogy research. But names can be confusing and can add challenges for the genealogist.
