THE CAMERON CEMETERY

The half acre cemetery on Mr. Frank Cameron's farm, located on North McConnell Avenue (Cameron Road) is a perfect example of an abandoned resting place of early pioneers who settled this area.

For more than a century the Cameron cemetery has been reserved as a burial plot, although no one has been interred there since the late 19th century. Evidence of early deeds stipulate that the land be retained for this purpose.

The cemetery is situated on a grassy mound, surrounded by a cornfield, a peaceful little spot for the remains' of many of the settlers who developed the region. There are only two actual stones with inscriptions on them in the entire graveyard, and recently they have been placed back to back for the sake of preservation. The other grave marker's are simply field stones, so it is impossible to decipher the exact number of people buried there. Conversations with some of the local residents revealed bits and pieces of information about the cemetery - for example, it is believed that nine small children were buried together in the Cameron cemetery. Apparently, they all died within a few hours or days of each other from diphtheria . The last person to be buried in the cemetery was Donald McLeod, sometime in the 1880's.

There are many cemeteries around such as the Cameron one, unfortunately so many of them are hidden away, known only by a few people in the area. These graveyards are usually in horrible .condition - overgrown with grass and weeds and filled with holes and burrows made by ground hogs and other field animals. It is a shame that the resting places of so many of Ontario's early settlers have been so deplorably neglected and forgotten for so long. Most of these old, private cemeteries pre-date the early church graveyards and therefore, contain a wealth of history that will be lost forever unless their locations are recorded, their conditions improved and their upkeep maintained.

It is impossible to stress sufficiently how valuable and relevant the data concealed in these forgotten burial plots are to the preservation of Ontario's history.

INSCRIPTION ON CAMERON CEMETERY -TOMBSTONE

S.P.I.C.E. Project 1974

From the Files of Alex Fraser

Page Created June 10.01