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Historic Bethlehem Cemetery Gets Makeover |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Tuesday, 04 April 2006 |
BETHLEHEM, N.H. -- Thanks to Bethlehem's Main Street Cemetery Renovation & Preservation Committee, the final resting place of the town's oldest inhabitants, is getting a makeover.
The Main Street Cemetery, which hosts the town's original settlers, is being restored and preserved after almost two years of researching, planning and fund-raising.
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The project got a major boost recently with the removal of three massive pine trees whose falling branches had become a deadly threat to the aging stones. "This project is about saving the cemetery," committee Chairwoman Sandy Laleme said. "Removing those trees was probably the most important aspect of protecting the gravestones."
The project encompasses components of both beautification and of research. When complete, the cemetery will largely be restored to its original grandeur and the heritage society will know much more of the town's original founders.
Laleme said the idea for the project - originally no more than parlor talk - began many years ago. The restoration gained momentum with the help of outside funding, namely a $15,000 appropriation from the town of Bethlehem, and private donations from benefactors like Charlie and Marcia Brooks, and Ronnie Lyster. "Once we formed the committee, in 2003, we devised a timeline and started fundraising," Laleme said. "Community support has been outstanding." Final Resting Place
Among the cemetery population rests a husband and wife, reportedly buried in a single casket, and a woman interred in her wedding gown. In total, there are 365 headstones, dating from the earliest - 1795, to the most recent, from the 1930s. Several of the headstones commemorate the lives of Civil War veterans. The oldest of the deceased, Lydia Whipple, poses some mystery to project members, but the curiosity to learn more of Whipple, and her peers, encapsulates much of the spirit that underlies the project. Whipple, who died at the age of 39, is the lone inhabitant of her namesake - an anomaly with socio-cultural relevance. "Most of the women buried in the cemetery are referred to as Ôwife-of' or Ôdaughter-of' a husband or father," Brown explained. "For all we know, Lydia - with whom we are on a first name basis, could have been someone's secret consort from down south ... Bethlehem could have been a convenient place to hide her." Dissatisfied with speculation, Brown's quest for knowledge led her to the discovery, from ancestry.com, of a Lydia Whipple, born in Worcester, Mass., in 1756. She acknowledges that may not be Bethlehem's Lydia, but points out that many of the town's founders did, in fact, migrate from the greater Boston area in the late 18th century. Appropriately, Lydia's slate headstone, was the first one restored as part of the project. The broken slab has been embedded in another stone at an approximate cost to the project of $1,900. "These are the people who built this town," Laleme said. "They give us a sense of who we are and we want to keep their history alive." When finished, the committee hopes to have amassed research on every person buried in the cemetery. Historial Insights
Through its work with the cemetery, the committee has gained valuable glimpses into the town's history. Recurring names - Ralston, Wilder, Brown, Quimby, Baker, Shattuck, Sanborn, Wheeler, to name a few, betray a decidedly English heritage. French names are noticeably absent, which lends credence to conjecture that Bethlehem was settled from the south, rather than the north. Research into town reports, by committee member, Clare Brown, has revealed that grave diggers earned $3 to dig graves in 1800 and that every citizen contributed to the building and upkeep of roads and burial grounds. Gravestones offer further insights into the religiosity of the day, with countless examples of praying hands, open bibles and fingers pointing skyward. "There is valuable evidence of the art, culture, and language of the day, in these stones" Brown said. "If we lose the stones, we will lose the history." Removing The Trees
The removal was handled jointly by "Totally Trees," a West Burke company owned by David Helstein, and the Waterford-based crane service, Classen's. With his chain saw hanging from his waist, Helstein climbed the trees and secured the crane's hooks into the branches. Helstein then cut branches from the trunk as the crane lifted them away. The tallest tree was nearly 200 feet tall and Helstein estimated the trees to have been about 150 years old, according to Laleme. "It was sad to have to take down the trees but it got to the point, every time the wind blew, that branches were falling and breaking stones," Laleme said. "We had to decide if we wanted to save the history of the cemetery or the trees." The removal took three days to complete, or one day per tree. The largest branch removed, Laleme was told, weighed 9,600 pounds - a good thing, she explained, because the crane had a 10,000-pound limit. Laleme also said the trees yielded 110 yards of chips, or 11 truckloads. The cemetery, located on Route 302 next to Bethlehem Country Club, was used in the late 1700s, and a town vote established it as the official town cemetery in 1800. |
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