The Newtown Bee’s “Get To Know” series typically features a look at local buildings. This week we focus on Huntingtown Cemetery, Brushy Hill Road.

Huntingtown Cemetery Association’s Katharine Dougherty offered information about the cemetery this week.

In what year was it purchased or established? In December 1787, 48 square rods (a rod equals 16.5 feet) of land was purchased by Samuel Griffin, Gamaliel French, and others for a burial ground. In 1889, additional adjacent land was purchased by John B. Toucey, bringing the cemetery to about 1.5 acres and establishing a legal association.

Who or what entity owns or oversees the property? Huntingtown Cemetery Association oversees the property.

How many plots are there in total and how many are available? It is difficult to give a definite number of plots. In the old section, the grave stones no longer have many corner plot markers, if they ever did. No plot plan exists, and most stones are eroded. In one seemingly empty corner is probably the area reserved for the town poor, filled with unmarked graves

Downhill from the old section, there are more corner markers, but plot sizes are not necessarily regular. Plots as proposed by the 1889 association were to be measured by rods, yielding a plot of 1 rod square, or for a half plot, 1 rod by ½ rod square. But, it is clear that there was not uniformity in dividing plots, and there are even fewer corner markers. Here, however, most of the stones are readable.

There is available space for measuring out plots, and if brush were cleared, there is a relatively flat area to turn into possible gravesites.

Does this cemetery contain any structures of note? The tall, elegant Glover obelisk located at the highest point of the cemetery in the old section looks out importantly over the surrounding area. A brown colored slate, also in the old section, marks where Polly Prindle (d. 1788) and her sister Narcissa (d. 1793) are buried. They are probably the oldest burials, although several rows of grave stones in the old area are closer to the cemetery’s boundary line and may be older.

What are some interesting facts about the cemetery? In 1929, the association bought from Sears, Roebuck & Co. of Boston an iron fence for $197.95. In 1987, following a car’s crashing through a long fence section and several gates, the association contracted with Wittkamp & Sons, Wrought Iron & Restoration Work, of Danbury to make the necessary repair to the fence. The cost was $7,000.

Celeste A. Benedict, MD (1840-1922) is buried here. What must the practice of medicine in Newtown have been like for a woman? Imagine how medicine changed over her lifetime.

There are nine veterans of the Civil War, all members of the Connecticut Volunteers, buried in the cemetery. One gravestone is the marker of a soldier who died at Gettysburg, Penn.

In 1911, Charles Northrop exchanged lot 12 for lot 41 and dug up the bodies in 12 to move them to 41, freeing up for sale the old plot.

What should visitors know? Visitors are welcome to visit. No vandals, please. The iron gates are difficult to open and close. The middle gate of the three is the easiest to use. As with most old cemeteries, the oldest section is in the least farmable land, up the steep, rocky hill.

What is the most common question you are asked about the property and the answer? “Why isn’t the cemetery mowed more often in the spring and summer and better kept up?” The cemetery is maintained by a few volunteers and a paid mowing service. Mowings are contracted for three times per year, although in 1889, it was mowed monthly in season at a cost of $4 per mowing. Mowing back then was done by hand with a scythe; the mower then hand-raked and cleared the grass and brush, hauling it away in a horse drawn cart. One youngster, growing up in the 1960s, remembers being lured to his grandpa’s, the then president of the cemetery association, with promises of Pepsi-Cola, only to have a scythe thrust into his hands to cut cemetery brush. There is still brush to cut.

What are the cemetery’s biggest challenges? The biggest challenges involve upkeep, including mowing. The cemetery relies on donations and volunteers. There are several current initiatives: refurbishing the sign, repairing the entry gates, clearing brush, planting spring bulbs along the wrought iron fence, and removing lichen from gravestones. The challenge is money.