East Granby Center Cemetery Marker Inventory, 2009
John T. Rusnock and James W. Francoeur
East Granby Center Cemetery
Additional Photos
The Narrative
At the April 2005 meeting of the Center Cemetery Association, the board discussed the difficulty visitors to the cemetery had in locating specific graves. President John Rusnock had investigated the possible existence of a single cohesive plan showing the names of the deceased and the location of their graves. However, consultation with town officials and historical organizations revealed only fragmentary information. As a result of this discussion and initial findings, the authors decided to develop a plan for locating specific graves in the cemetery.
In the 1930s a Works Progress Administration project led to the creation of the Hale Collection. This collection, or report, listed all the names on the stones in the cemetery. However, the report presented its findings in alphabetical order. While Hale is informative, it provides no help in locating specific gravestones or memorials.
An Eagle Scout Project completed in the 1980s photographed all the stones in the cemetery, but did not clearly delineate locations. These photographs have badly deteriorated since then, and they are virtually unusable.
The authors measured the cemetery and attempted to roughly identify its overall layout. Due to the confusing layout, it would take time to make an effective system for identifying and locating each stone. Further, some of the deceased appeared to have multiple memorials in the cemetery. Knowing who was buried under which stone would be impossible to determine. Therefore, it was decided to create an inventory of each stone and a grid of its location.
Two missionaries from the Church of the Latter Day Saints were looking for a community service project and thought that they could be of help to us. Sister Wendy Allred and Sister Dayna Anderson agreed to identify each stone in the cemetery and create a grid locating each stone. These young women worked tirelessly throughout the summer and fall of 2005. They presented the raw data to the authors in November of 2005.
Clifford Mays of Computer Possibilities Unlimited volunteered to create and compile a comprehensive database for the thousands of pieces of information. This database was completed in January 2007.
Lisa R. Celmer, a student at East Granby High School, as part of her community service graduation project, took digital photographs of each marker and linked them to the database.
Proofreading the database printout against the stones in the cemetery began in May 2007. Items looked for were accurate spellings (some stones have different spellings for the same individual on the same stone), accurate dates of death and accurate locations. This process was completed in November 2007.
At this point the authors began to reconcile the data in the new report with the Hale Collection. This process was not completed until November 2008. If there was a conflict between our data and the Hale Collection, the stone was inspected and the data on the stone became the standard. If the inscription on the stone had become illegible, the data in the Hale Collection was used; the rationale being that the inscriptions might have been legible when the Hale Collection was completed in the 1930s.
Verification of the data was completed in the spring of 2009. This information was used to prepare four reports: a Comprehensive Listing and Location of All Stones in the Cemetery, an Alphabetical Listing, a Date of Death Listing and a Veteran Listing. These reports were created using Microsoft Access and converted to Microsoft Excel.
Cemetery Orientation
According to East Granby Town Maps located in Town Hall, the Center Cemetery occupies approximately 1.4 acres on the north side of School Street. The topography is hilly, and the shape of the acreage is irregular. The southern boundary runs approximately 200 feet from west to east. The eastern boundary runs approximately 317 feet from south to north. The northern boundary runs approximately 178 feet from east to west. The western boundary runs approximately 301 feet from north to south.
The gravestones closest to School Street are generally the oldest in the cemetery and are oriented in fourteen rows from west to east. These rows are fairly regular in alignment.
The stones in the back of the cemetery are oriented in 28 rows from north to south. These rows are often irregular making locating specific rows and stones challenging.
The biggest landmark in the cemetery is the flagpole in Row #6 W/E.
There are some useful landmarks in the often-confusing north-south rows.
Row # 8 N/S, Marker 09 is a brown stone cross approximately 18" x 43" and is the only vertical cross in the cemetery. The name "Laura" is on the stones at the base of the cross.
Row 12 N/S, Marker 01 is the only marker in this row. It is a granite obelisk, some fourteen feet tall, located at the top of the hill, inscribed with Phelps family names.
Row 17 N/S, Marker 01 is a brown obelisk about thirteen feet tall, topped with a decorative urn and inscribed with Griffin family names.
Row 21 N/S, Marker 01 is some nine feet tall and is one of the few white obelisks in the cemetery. Talbot family names are inscribed on this monument, but they are hard to read.
Definitions
Obelisk: These columns are usually four-sided shafts of stone tapering to a pyramidal point. Some have other decorative pieces at the top. Generally, these columns are more than six feet high with many names inscribed on them.
Monument: These stones are usually rectangular in shape and are larger than headstones. Often the names of several family members are inscribed on monuments with the year of birth and year of death. Others simply have the family name.
Headstone: These stones, which often fit the popular image of a gravestone or a tombstone, are smaller than monuments with usually only one name on the headstone, but there are many headstones with multiple names on them.
Footstone: These markers are normally small and have only initials on them. Footstones usually refer to an individual identified on a nearby obelisk or monument. Some footstones are sunken, some are flush with the surface, and others stand significantly above the ground.
Flat Markers: These stones lie flat on the ground, and they are a fairly modern version of a headstone. They contain all the information that usually appears on a headstone.
Missing Markers
The Hale Collection lists the names of eighteen individuals as being buried in the Center Cemetery for whom no markers can be found. This is NOT to say that the listed individuals are not buried in the cemetery. There are some stones that have become illegible, or reduced to piles of rubble due to the ravages of erosion. Future researchers may have more success in identifying these artifacts. These illegible stones and the names of the individuals who are listed in the Hale Collection, but not found in the cemetery also are listed.
Reading the Stones
Reading the inscriptions on the cemetery's stones can be challenging. Erosion is steadily wearing away at the inscriptions making them increasingly difficult to read. The angle of the sun is critical in making some stones legible. What is readily visible in the morning light becomes hard to read in the afternoon. The low angled winter sun makes some stones very clear, while others, readable in the summer are very difficult to decipher. Standing at an angle to the stone sometimes makes a big difference. The authors have had some success using a mirror to angle light onto the stone. Persistence at different times of day and times of the year seems to be helpful. The old trick of using paper and crayon to make rubbings of the stone is discouraged, because it damages the fragile inscriptions on the stone. Young eyes seem to be quick at distinguishing between an eroding "3" and "8" and "4" and a "7." Eighteenth century script can sometimes be confusing. For example, "Iofeph" is written today as "Joseph."
The Reports
The Comprehensive Listing and Location of All Stones in the Cemetery is driven by the sequence of rows and geographic orientation. For example: Row #1 W/E M-01 is the first row in the west to east orientation, and marker 01. The deceased's first name follows. A married woman's maiden name is given in parentheses if available. The individual's last name appears in the next column. The date of birth is given next, but is rare. The next column contains the deceased's date of death. The next column contains a brief comment about the legibility of the inscription on the stone, information about military service, or incidental information. The next three columns contain a brief evaluation of the stone's overall condition, color of the stone and the general dimension of the stone. The dimensions are given in inches.
Summary
The four-year inventory of the cemetery's footstones, headstones, monuments and obelisks has resulted in the reports that make it possible for visitors to find specific memorial markers. The authors hope that these reports will encourage readers to visit the cemetery and enjoy its tranquility.
Acknowledgements
Many people have given of their time, talent and expertise in the completion of this inventory of the cemetery's markers. We have mentioned the work of Sister Wendy Allred, Sister Dayna Anderson, Clifford Mays and Lisa R. Celmer. We particularly wish to acknowledge the patient advice and expertise of Joni and Bob Celmer who guided us through some difficult computer problems. In addition, there were many others who cheerfully proofread, directed us to research sources and offered encouragement in pulling the inventory together. We are grateful for their assistance and support.