Arthur Chivers' notebooks with plot descriptions, inscriptions, and names of the interred.

PLAN OF THE HANOVER CEMETERY

SCALE 1 INCH = 30 FEET

FEBRUARY 1950

F.F. Parker, C.E.

Lot 93 is Eleazar Wheelock's

[map of cemetery plots with numbers]

Fairbanks

DDA

THE DARTMOUTH CEMETERY

The Dartmouth Cemetery

My interest in the Dartmouth Cemetery was first aroused when, as a Freshman in Dartmouth College, I wandered through the cemetery in 1898 - more than fifty years ago.

When, in March, 1948, I became a member of the Board of Selectmen, the supervision of the cemeteries was assigned to me. I was soon impressed by the fact that, when inquiries were made at the office regarding burials in the Dartmouth Cemetery, the answer could be found only by roundabout methods, if indeed at all. Hence it seemed that a card index of all known burials in the cemetery would be of value.

In setting about the work, it seemed that, if the work was to be done effectively, all inscriptions should be read. It soon became evident that the charts of the cemetery - the one made in 1865; the other in 1911 - were antiquated since lots in appreciable numbers have been graded and occupied since the latter date.

As the reading of inscriptions on stones and monuments proceeded, it was found that many inscriptions could be read only with difficulty (especially was this true of the coarse granite stones which came into use following the iron-bearing slate) ; surface layers on some of the oldest slate slabs had long since split away carrying their inscriptions with them; stones which were noted in earlier records have disapperared. Therefore, it seemed that in years to come, a diagram of each lot, showing the relative position of monuments and stones and inscriptions which they bear, might be of value.

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For the reasons mentioned above, the work has assumed greater proportions than was originally intended and four years have passed since it was begun. It is now completed to date. But "completion" is an erroneous term. Burials were made but never recorded and stones were never placed or, if they were, time, over a period of one hundred and eighty years, has wrought its changes and the stones have disappeared. It seems reasonable to assume that the burials in four lots in the cemetery will never be known. Also, here and there are unmarked graves whose occupants I have been unable to identify. Those who might have remembered and who could have contributed valuable information have, in turn, passed on.

A new chart of the cemetery has been completed. It was duplicated by Professor Fred F. Parker in February, 1950 and copies of it are on file in the office of the Selectmen.

The Dartmouth Cemetery Books 1 - 6

The 12-acre area of the Dartmouth Cemetery contains 410 lots. The books include diagrams of these lots together with inscriptions on stones and monuments. The purpose has been to reproduce inscriptions as they are. For this reason, errors though there may be, phonetic spelling and capitalization of the stone cutter, dates and age are as they appear on the stones.

Card Index. The card index which should accompany the books was compiled with a quite different aim in mind. Many monuments and stones bear only the date of death; some record age, others do not; some record only the year of birth and death. To such extent as possible, complete dates of birth, death and age have been brought together in the card index.

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For this work I have turned to sources noted below. Undoubtedly, more information could have been unearthed had time allowed.

1. Inscriptions on stones and monuments.

2. Dartmouth Cemetery Association Book I. {in Selectmens office as of Jan. 12, 1965

3. Genealogy compiled by Gilman DuBois Frost.

4. Conversation and correspondence with families and relatives of deceased.

5. Vital statistics of Hanover and other towns.

6. William Worthington Dewey; "List of deaths in the vicinity of Dartmouth College including likewise the Hamlet usually called Greensborough. From A. D., 1769 to the last date on the Register".

7. John Richards; "Records of Deaths, Interments and Inscriptions 1771 - 1858. In Vault 4 under Dartmouth Cemetery Assn.

8. Asa Wright Fellows; "Cemetery Records".

9. Much valuable information has been contributed by Albert W. Conner, faithful servant of the Town for 45 years (1904-1949) as Sexton and by Percy E. Conner who worked with his father in the cemetery for many years and who took his father's place in 1949 when his father resigned.