The Woodside Cemetery on County Road abuts the East Rochester Church and Museum, so it would be easy to assume that it is the church’s property. However, the cemetery, which belongs to the town, was here before the church was erected. The oldest known burial date is 1828 and the church was built in 1857. The land for the church was purchased from Ben Morton and Mary Swift, who are both buried here at Woodside. One of the men who worked on the building, David Morse (1827-18930), is also interred here.
This cemetery has also been known as the Pierceville or Briggs Lane Cemetery. There are about 180 recorded burials, though only 150 tombstones. Most of the burials occurred between 1830 and 1890. The most recent burial was in 1997. As with most old New England cemeteries, many of the stones are damaged and hard to read. There are several veterans buried here with flags marking their graves. Most fought in the Civil War, but other wars are included. One, John Galt, fought in the War of 1812, and another, John Galt, was in the Grand Army of the Republic.
There is little to no information for some who rest here, but we know Sullivan Bumpus (1833-1862) died at the Battle of Antietam, and Luther Morse (1842-1863) died at Gettysburg.
1900s burials include, among others, Frederick Soule, a seaman of the US Navy who died in 1929, and David Dewey Cairns , a private in the Marines during WWI, who died in 1967 at the age of 71. The oldest gravestone is in the far back corner, almost outside today’s boundaries. It belongs to Revolutionary War veteran Benjamin Gurney, who was born on July 4th in 1743 when the date held no particular significance. He died on July 4, 1828, a national holiday.
By Connie Eshbach
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Thanks,
Bob