On
Saturday, May 15, 1905, an article appeared in the Hamilton Spectator
describing, in great detail, conditions at the Hamilton Cemetery on York
street.
The headline read “Speaking of the
Dead : An Afternoon With Those Who Rest From Their Labors.” In the article, the
reporter reflected on the general pride that the citizens of Hamilton felt
regarding the upkeep of the cemetery.
The cemetery grounds were kept in
immaculate condition so that mourners could visit the gravesides of their departed
loved ones, and in the words of the Spectator ;
“Reach out beyond time’s quickly vanishing
space, and touch the loves of spirit forms in the great beyond, and, as they
do, the memory of the dead makes better men and women of us all. And we like to
believe in that purer spirit world, hoping our kin and friends are there : and
thinking of this, we drop a tear for the dead and plant flowers on their
graves.”
May was one of the liveliest months of the
year at the cemetery. The workmen were beginning to clip the grass and planting
fresh green sod on graves out in since the winter began.
In the spring, York street would the location
of what the Spec man described as a steady procession “of mourning draped women
and sable-clothed little ones” who would be carrying little spades, rakes and
potted flowers to decorate the graves of loved ones.
While at the cemetery, the reporter noticed
“many a sad scene – no, not sad, but tender.” The mounds would be raked very
carefully “as if the noise might disturb the sleeper. The tones are hushed and
softened. The mother’s voice which in the home has sometimes been irritable and
harsh has become sweet and melodious and the little one who has tried her
patience so, and on so many different occasions, is sweet and wonders why this
change. It sees the flowers planted on the mound and sees it watered too, with
tears from mother’s eyes as with drooping head she bends. It feels the mist
gathered in its own bright eyes and a great, holy quiet comes over them both –
mother and child. And who will dare to say that a loving husband’s, tender
father’s spirit, is not hovering near them. ‘Who loves not the memory of his
dead loves not his God,’ is a truism daily proven within the cemetery limits.”
The northwest section of the Hamilton Cemetery
was the location of Potter’s Field, where there were no gravestones. A numbered
pine board provided the only identification for most of the graves of
Hamilton’s unfortunate poor. The names for the graves could only be obtained
through application to the superintendent’s office.
A few of the graves in Potter’s Field did
have simple name stones, such as the one which read : “Mary. Mother’s Girl.
Aged 8 Years.” The reporter speculated that Mary “was taken and mother’s
aching, grief-stricken heart lives in the memory of her smile, her
cheerfulness, her kindly spirit and to her still, though in the spirit world,
she is mother’s girl.”
There was another marker in Potter’s Field –
a large, impressive stone, with only a woman’s Christian name engraved on it. The
reporter again speculated that “she was polluted and thought herself despised.
She loved with guilty love a soldier of the British army and followed him. In
Hamilton, she died a scarlet woman. And the soldier? He had some manhood about
him. Above her grave he reared the monument which bears alone her Christian
name.”
Yet another grave in Potter’s Field was
marked. On the surface of the soil of a recently filled-in mound, the children
of the grave’s occupant had gathered little pebbles and formed letters with
them on the fresh soil. The stones formed the words, “At Rest. Mother.” The
reporter noted that it was “a fleeting memorial, but how much it meant to them,
whose tenderest earthly friend lies buried there.”
During the spring afternoon spent at the cemetery,
the reporter witnessed two burials. One, in Potter’s Field, had neither
mourners nor priest in attendance. A curious group of bystanders watched while
a pine shell was unloaded from the hearse and lowered into a freshly-dug grave.
When asked who was being buried, the driver
of the hearse replied, “A house of refuge case. Had the hearse out and used it
because it was dirty. If it had been clean, I’d have used the wagon instead.”
At the other end of the cemetery, there was
another funeral in progress. This was complete with a long line of carriages,
and a host of mourners. After the minister completed a beautiful graveside
prayer for the dead, the old gravediggers went to work filling up a hole with
earth, while many of the mourners stood around weeping.
There were many interesting grave stones in
Hamilton cemetery, especially the one which marked the final resting place of
Alexander Burnfield and George Knight, the engineer and the fireman of the
locomotive involved in the Desjardins canal of March, 1857. The monument
featured a model of the locomotive on top, while the following verse was
inscribed on the side:
“Life’s
railway’s o’er, each station’s past.
In death, we’re stop’d and cease to last,
Farewell, dear friends, and cease to weep,
In Christ, we’re safe, in Him we sleep.”
Two large family vaults, for the Watkins and
Tuckett families were cut right into the embankment on the cemetery grounds. These
embankments were actually earthworks, constructed during the time of the War of
1812, and were used as shelters from which the British sallied forth to fight
at the Battle of Stoney Creek.
The Hamilton Cemetery was a popular spot,
where one could visit for the purpose of prayer and meditation. It was also a
spot where one could get a sense of the history of the city.
Finally, it was the final resting spot for
mortals from all levels of Hamilton society, whether rich or poor, sinful or
holy.
