South Cemetery Cleaning Project
The Harwinton Historical Society organized a cemetery restoration project for the South Cemetery which was held last June through October 2024. Weekly updates and invitations calling for volunteers resulted in many people helping the society complete an extremely productive cemetery restoration!
Many thanks to our HHS member (also a member of the Litchfield Patriots) for her vision for the restoration project, encouragement, and sharing her cemetery restoration expertise! Kudos to dedicated HHS members and friends who cleaned memorials and removed branches and invasive growth; and another group including volunteer masons who reset and repaired memorials. Community volunteers worked together to make this project a huge success!
Volunteers clean and reset monuments at South Cemetery ~ Summer 2024
South Cemetery is looking quite honorable. Over 240 gravestones have been cleaned and over 110 gravestones reset. An HHS member posted photos of cleaned gravestones on https://www.findagrave.com, a free resource for finding the final resting places of famous people, friends and family members.
Some gravestones were cleaned at North Cemetery and Center Cemetery as well. A map of Center Cemetery was created and some invasives removed.
June 2024
During the last several workshops, some volunteers became intrigued by the epitaphs. These dedicated volunteers spent time deciphering and recording over 20 epitaphs in this cemetery at the end of our cleaning shifts. This will be a wonderful and valuable document to have as some of the lettering is becoming worn.
Some gravestone epitaphs recorded by Harwinton Historical Society are as follows:
“Youth and vigor soon will flee,
Blooming beauty lose its charms:
All that’s mortal soon shall be
Enclosed in death’s cold arms”
“Like as a shadow on the morning dew
My days were spent which were but few
Weep not for me dear friend tis all in vain
For your great love is my eternal gain”
The honor brought to the resting places of Harwinton’s past residents made during restoration workshops is heartwarming!
By popular request, when warmer weather returns HHS plans to continue cemetery restorations along with verifying and recording additional epitaphs at South Cemetery.
Keep an eye out for the invitation to volunteer!
