NewmarketToday.ca brings you this weekly feature about our town's history in partnership with Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, a local historian for more than 40 years.
He conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, as well as leads local oral history interviews. You can contact the History Hound at [email protected].
I grew up the grandson of George W. Luesby Sr., of Luesby and Son Memorials on Main Street, which was our family business for over 70 years. It is not surprising that I love cemeteries and the history that they evoke.
This week we will look at the establishment and history of the Newmarket Protestant Cemetery located on Main Street north.
Until the early 1860s, it was customary to bury your relatives in church graveyards or perhaps on your own homestead. Even today, developers are finding burial plots throughout the town in unexpected places.
I have been able to identify 16 different "cemeteries" within the boundaries of Newmarket.
At the beginning of the 1860s, it became clear that this fast-growing community would need a public cemetery. In August of 1867, a preliminary committee was appointed to determine an appropriate site and they convened at the Forsyth House (now the King George Hotel) with Nelson Gorham presiding and R. H. Smith acting as secretary.
This exploratory committee reported that there were two pieces of land available: one consisting of the hill and grove north of the Sykes’ Foundry and, the second, located to the rear of what was know as the Dawson property, owned and operated by a Mr. Thomas Lewis.
This consisted of 10 to 12 acres, including an existing house that could be used for the caretaker and their family. It was estimated that the property could be purchased for $1,100, while surveying, fencing, and grading would probably add another thousand dollars to the price.
It wasn’t until July 1869, that an offer was made for the Lewis property, given that it was a convenient distance from the village boundaries at the time, and that it was a beautiful, hilly area which would provide a picturesque setting.
In October 1868, an organizational meeting was held at the Congregational Church with J. W. Marsden as chair. It was announced that the full amount of $2,400 had been raised through a stock option and that 25 per cent of the funds had already been paid.
This arrangement had been registered with the Registry Office, a list of the initial shareholders was filed, and a cemetery company had been formed.
There was a sum of $2,400 which had been raised with each share being $10. This new cemetery company had Nelson Gorham as its president, R. H. Smith as its secretary, J. J. Pearson as treasurer and nine directors were appointed, including B. W. Howard, R. H. Smith, Donald Sutherland, J. B. Caldwell, E. P. Irwin, Joseph Millard, Nelson Millard, Nelson Gorham, and Dr. Nash.
The new cemetery would be known as Pleasantview Cemetery.
Soon after, the land was surveyed and staked, and tenders were called for fencing. A receiving vault was erected, and the construction bricks were purchased from the Stickwood Brick Works.
By their second meeting, they reported that "we have procured 12 acres of the most eligible land from Mr. Lewis, and have surveyed and laid it out into plots of suitable size, with wide avenues, carriage roads and walks, all enclosed with a substantial and neat fence and a suitable gate".
It was also announced that a suitable residence for the caretaker stood at the northeast corner of the grounds. It also was agreed that they would purchase a silk dress for Mrs. Lewis for $20 – a sweetener perhaps.
Finally, in 1872, the cemetery board had paid off the $2,400 and had obtained title to the land. In the spring, they planted 250 native trees from native forests surrounding Newmarket.
A permanent caretaker’s house was planned in 1873 and in 1875, Mr. William Terrill was engaged as the first full-time caretaker. It is reported that numerous hitching posts were planted in 1876 with another 25 posts being set up in 1885.
In 1888, the directors established the Special Care of Lots Fund, essentially a perpetual care levy on all plots which would be collected from each owner, and the money was to be invested by the board for capital projects.
Interesting enough, in 1890, the directors issued a bylaw that forbade animals, cows or pigs from being kept on the premises.
Newmarket has long observed the Decoration Day, where people head to the cemetery to decorate the graves and pay homage to their loved ones.
The first Decoration Day was held Friday, July 16, 1897. In 1901, the ceremony was enhanced with a band and a parade was added.
In 1913, the practise of holding it on a Sunday was adopted, which continues to this day.
The board managed the funds well and improvements to the cemetery were made on a regular basis. In 1923, a magnificent front fence and gate were installed, which have sadly been removed. I remember the gates with ‘Newmarket Cemetery’ embossed over the entrance.
A beautiful chapel was built in 1931 in memory of Charles Denne, who had been instrumental in the establishment of the cemetery. It was located at the top of the hill upon entrance to the cemetery, roughly behind where the current cenotaph is located.
Sadly, it, too, has been removed but I still remember playing in it when I was a child accompanying my grandpa as he worked.
So, who was the first person buried in this new cemetery of ours? Mr. Alfred Burns, a local merchant, would seem to have been the first interment, on July 5, 1869, although there appears to be some debate about that.
The first member of that first cemetery board to be interred there was Donald Sutherland in 1881.
After the Second World War, the Newmarket cemetery board donated to the Newmarket Legion and the veterans organizations 100 grave plots and a large memorial of imperial pink Canadian granite, erected in May 1948.
It was recorded that it was erected by the Veterans' Association. Capt. Aubrey Davis donated the large flag pole for the event.
I have visited many cemeteries in and around Ontario and the Newmarket cemetery fares well with those I have visited.
There are many memorials erected throughout the cemetery of distinction. The memorial, by Sir William Mulock, erected to honour his mother is worth a look. It is grey granite and rises 25 feet with a marble figure of a woman looking down and dropping a flower from her right hand, while her left hand holds a bouquet of flowers. This memorial was crafted in Italy and erected here.
Another interesting memorial is of a beautiful female figure carved in Italian marble and said to represent Hope. It was erected by Mr. Samuel Sykes and is quite striking. It was carved in Italy and imported by Cassidy and Allan, dating from 1865, the precursor to Luesby and Sons from Main and Queen streets.
I have been conducting walking tours of the cemetery for years and I think everyone who has accompanied me has thoroughly enjoyed the walk.
Visiting the cemetery would seem to have become a thing of the past, but the opportunity to take a peaceful stroll through history, surrounded by nature and at your own pace is an excursion I heartily recommend.
There is so much more to say about the cemetery but, alas, I promised to keep these pieces short so perhaps we will take up this topic another time.
Sources: The Newmarket Era; The History of Newmarket by Ethel Trewhella; The Globe, Jan. 30, 1886; Interview with Mr. Albert Smith, conducted by George Luesby and; Cemetery Records, courtesy of the Cemetery Board.
