Imagine being a youngster, a Boy Scout, helping to clean up an ancient town cemetery when suddenly your shovel hits something hidden beneath, massive yucca plants. Before you can take another shovel full, you’re told to “stop.” What you’ve come against is a sunken headstone, previously engulfed in thick roots, now exposed to the sun after more than a century.
You may not understand the importance of your discovery, but the adults organizing the cleanup (members of the Mattapoisett Cemetery and Monuments Advisory Board) do know – you have uncovered a piece of local history, long forgotten, now unearthed.
On July 19, Rochester Boy Scout Troop 31 led by Kevin Gretton volunteered their time and muscles to the ongoing cleanup and restoration of the town-owned Hammond Cemetery on River Road in Mattapoisett.
At the time the cemetery was established in the early 1700s, Mattapoisett was still part of Rochester, from which it succeeded in 1862. It was there in the final resting place for Revolutionary soldiers and others, that a scout hit a gravestone, halting work for a few moments.
“When they realized what they had uncovered, they were excited,” said Committee Chairman Raymond Hanks.
The three graves the scouts found on this date were all those of children. Although the stones are badly deteriorated, one can just make out an age. Hanks explained to the gathered scouts how difficult and different life was in those early days. Death came easily through a simple wound or a disease that today’s antibiotics would cure within a few days. As somber as that might be, the scouts were still happy with their discovery. So much so, Hanks said, “They want to come back!”
Hanks and the committee have been spearheading an effort to, “…make the cemetery look as good as possible,” in advance of a ceremony planned by the Sons of the American Revolution in 2025, a commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War.
The committee has also planned a ceremony to honor Purple Heart recipients on Saturday, August 10, at 1:00 pm at the Mattapoisett Free Library. All are welcomed.
By Marilou Newell