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Numerical Transcript of the
Adams/Babcock/Myrtle/Settlers' Cemetery,
Waterford, Caledonia County, Vermont, USA

earliest birth recorded in this cemetery: Submit Adams b.1736a - d. Nov 13 1797
first burial in this cemetery: Submit Adams b.1736a - d. Nov 13 1797
most recent burial in this cemetery: 1858: Rebecca Adams
(dau-in-law of Submit) b.1773a - d. Aug 19 1845
total noticeable graves in this cemetery: 23
total inscriptions in this cemetery: 08
Transcribed 1980 by
Eugenia Powers (1913-1985)
reverified 2008
Click map to enlarge
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          This cemetery is in the woods, north of a pasture, in what was once an orchard.  The ground is covered with ground-myrtle with very little grass.  It is on the Lot drawn by James Adams as part of his proprietor's Right which probably became son, Charles Adams' farm.
          It has been called variously, Adams Cem, Babcock Cem, The Settlers' Cem; and when its overgrown condition was "put right" in the Bi-centennial year, Helen Knight dubbed it "the Myrtle Cemetery" because of the quantities of ground myrtle in it, a name which has stuck with us locals; although the "official" sign now by the road reads, "Adams-Babcock Cemetery".
          It had pretty much been forgotten until the Bi-centennial year when a group of men from the Waterford and East St Johnsbury Churches cleared it out, cutting brush and putting up a snow-fence provided by the town.  It has a stone wall on the southeast & southwest sides.
          The entrance is from a path with a sign reading, "Adams-Babcock Cemetery" on the right side of East Village Road going uphill, 0.7 mi from the bridge off US Rte 2 in East St Johnsbury Village (bear right after the bridge), 100 yards before the right-turn onto Walsh Rd. Path is down from the side of the road, across the brook on a plank bridge, and up a short, steep bank to an opening in the fence.
          If your knees cannot handle steep, slippery paths; there was an entrance from the pasture on the east corner (as a long ago discontinued road once passed this way).  It is a longer walk; but, it is level walking.  To reach this entrance, stop at Mrs. Fissette's (just south of the turn onto Walsh Rd) and get directions and permission to cross her land.

NOTE: It does not seem practical to separate the graves in rows, and there are few enough
          graves to make it more practical to number them consecutively, beginning
          at the northwest end.
       a slash "/" indicates the end of a line of engraving on the gravestone.
       blue Stone #s indicate gs sketched or photographed - click to view.
       DOBs followed by an "a" are calculated from the DOD on the stone minus the AGE on the
          stone.
       [bracketed italics] indicate the info is from other vital or town records; but, not
          actually on the stone.

Cem+
StoneNum		 LastName FirstName Maiden DOB DOD Spouse/Parents Add'l Info
AB+01   fieldstone         Stones ingrown into a tree root -- possibly a grave.
AB+02   fieldstone         another possible grave.
AB+03 Adams Submit   1736a
or   
1723a		 11/13/1797
or
11/18/1790		 James, who later pioneered in Newport then in Canada "Who Departed this / Life November 13'th / AD 1797 Age 61." Sometime between 1976 and 1980 her original gs has disappeared and been replaced with a replica; the original stone was probably sandstone with a bulge top as the new fine grain black stone copies this pattern; it is rectangular with incised lines on it and a double circle with a face - eyes connected to the nose, and an oval mouth; 2-1/2 feet tall. When I first saw this cemetery in 1976 the early date and age of the stone impressed me, but I did not take notes; the original stone probably looked something like this one, dated 1803, found two towns over, in Peacham, albeit with a different death's head. In 1914 Edward T. Fairbanks wrote in his "History of StJ_", "Mrs. Submit Adams died Nov. 18, A.D. 1790, aged 67, as we read on her grave stone"; q.v. Adams Family History.
AB+04 Adams Charles   1773a 8/19/1845 Rebecca AE 72 yrs.; white marble monolith with matching footstone reading, "C. A."
AB+05 Adams Rebecca   10/__/1778a 7/17/1858 wife of Charles Adams AE 79 yrs 9 mos; white marble monolith.
AB+06 Lawrence Sally   1799a 5/20/1846 Asa Lawrence; [dau of Chas & Rebecca, born "Sunday at daylight" May 26 1799] per bc AE 47; white marble monolith with matching footstone reading, "S. L.". Sometime since 1980 this stone has been pulled out of the ground and laid, intact, on its back.
AB+07   flat stone         a flat stone set up against a stub near the stone wall -- A grave marker -- or at least someone thought it was -- no lettering; not found in 2008.
AB+08 Bingham Elisha W. Mr   1764a 3/20/1802   AE 37 years.; soapstone with urn & willow; Eugenia recorded a footstone in 1980 with "EWB", which was not found in 2008.
AB+09   base only         a mound beside the Bingham grave, there is a flat stone stub the width & thickness of the Bingham headstone sticking up in line with the Bingham headstone and another one [in 1980, not found in 2008] in line with the Bingham footstone -- definitely a grave -- but whose? father?, son?, q.v. Bingham Family History.
AB+10   fieldstone         a flat stone, footstone in size, sticking out of the ground roughly even with the Bingham headstone -- no discernible lettering.
AB+11   piece of slate         1/2" thick piece of slate, footstone in size, sticking out of the ground, in row parallel to those previously listed.
AB+12   piece of slate         1/2" thick piece of slate, footstone in size, sticking out of the ground, in row parallel to those previously listed.
AB+13   piece of slate         1/2" thick piece of slate, footstone in size, sticking out of the ground and a large hollow which might be a grave, in row parallel to those previously listed.
AB+14   hollow         #14 & #16 were 2 hollows with a stone between, possibly indicating 3 graves. This hollow is not noticeable in 2008.
AB+15   small double bulge top slate stone         #14 & #16 were 2 hollows with a stone between, possibly indicating 3 graves. The stone is pretty well buried but it looks as if it originally had a double bulge top such as used for burial of two children. SLATE; not visible in 2008.
AB+16   hollow         #14 & #16 were 2 hollows with a stone between, possibly indicating 3 graves.
AB+17   hollow         a large hollow toward the back of the cemetery, just about behind #14.
AB+18 Babcock Charles N.   02/__/1858a 1/5/1859 son of G.A. & P. Babcock AE 11 mos.; white marble stone, with a low angle top - 18" high -- no decoration not even a name band; with 6" wide white marble, flat-topped footstone.
AB+19 Babcock Henry F.   08/__/1852a 7/13/1856 son of George & Priscilla Babcock AE 3 yrs 11 mos; white marble monolith - 18" high; with matching 6" wide footstone. This stone had been lying on the ground since before 1980; in 2008 the original shale base with a notch cut the width & thickness of the stone was found buried 6" below the stone, oriented parallel to the fence. The stone is now reset in the base.
AB+20   hollow         hollow, possibly indicating a grave, near the southwest wall, in a line with #21 & #22, parallel to the wall.
AB+21 Brigham Lucy   03/19/1801a 8/26/1802 daughter of Aaron & Abigail Brigham aged 1 year 5 months & 7 days; slate with matching footstone; stones are parallel to wall vs. facing east as are the stones in the north end.
AB+22   hollow         hollow, possibly indicating a grave, near the southwest wall, in a line with #20 & #21, parallel to the wall.
AB+23   piece of slate         there is some evidence of a grave about a third-way between the SW stone wall and the fence about 10' from the stone wall at the SE end (toward the pasture).

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