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Both the 1854 and 1865 maps of
Yates
County
show a cemetery on this site near
Chubb
Hollow Road
. There is no trace of such a burying
ground today, which must once have been the family plot for the Merritt
family, owners of several farms in this area since early in the 19th century
and still landowners here today.
Ephraim Merritt purchased four farms in this corner of
Barrington
in 1839. His
will, executed in 1848 just before his death, makes provision for a monument
over his grave, and he bequeathed land to his three sons Enos, Morgan L. and
Peter A. Merritt. His two daughters, both already married, were the
beneficiaries of trust funds. The vouchers of his estate indicate that
Ephraim was buried in a mahogany coffin, with a monument costing $100 erected
over the grave. This was nearly 20 years prior to the establishment of
Hillside
Cemetery
in
Dundee
, where Ephraim’s gravestone stands
today.
Presumably, when
Hillside
was established, family burials in this ground were moved to the lot in
section B purchased by Peter A. Merritt, Ephraim’s son and executor.
Ephraim’s wife Hannah died in 1867 and her death may possibly have been the
occasion for the removal. |