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Living History: Old Saybrook Stories from the Grave

Dwarfed now by three-story apartments to the west and bordered by an asphalt driveway and train station parking lot to the north, the town’s historic Upper Cemetery is an artifact without its context. But when it was established in 1787, this cemetery sat in a peaceful, wooded area at the northern edge of the small Saybrook community.

Scott Carson, a member of the town’s Municipal Cemetery Committee, wanted to help residents and visitors understand its historic context and learn the stories of the individuals and families buried here, so he conducted his own research and now wants to share the results in two public events planned for this month. Both are sponsored by the Old Saybrook Historical Association.

The first event is a lecture by Carson on the cemetery and its history at Acton Public Library on Thursday, May 25, at 6:30 p.m.. This talk is free and open to the public.

The second will be a guided cemetery tour that Carson will lead over Memorial Day weekend. The tour will step off at the Upper Cemetery gate at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 28. In observance of Memorial Day, Carson will recognize veterans buried there who fought in American conflicts from the American Revolution through the Korean conflict. The public is invited and the admission charge is $5 per person.

The first burial in the Upper Cemetery is recorded in 1787 and the most recent, in 2004. It is where Thomas Acton (1823-1898), a New York City politician and reformer and Old Saybrook summer resident for whom the town named its library, is buried. It also where a headstone with this inscription appears: “Fero, the faithful slave of William Lynde who died March 20, 1801 AE 72 yrs.”

Many of the records that Carson used to document the cemetery’s history are preserved in the Old Saybrook Historical Association’s Stevenson Archives. These documents include burial records and studies conducted during the 1930s (The Hale Collection and others), probate records, family genealogy histories, and individual family records like correspondence, school records, wills, photos, and other documents. From these varied records, Carson created a detailed and comprehensive study documenting the Upper Cemetery and those buried there.

Unlike the town’s Riverside Cemetery and Cypress Cemetery, the Upper Cemetery is not overseen by a cemetery association. It is instead overseen by the Town of Old Saybrook itself.

For more information about either event, contact the Old Saybrook Historical Society at 860-395-1635.