Page 18 - North Haven Magazine Issue 20 Autumn 2021

by Susan A. Inverson
ne of the more popular publications available
Oat the North Haven Historical Society is a small
paperback book titled On the Green by Gloria Furni-
val. Gloria’s home overlooked the burying ground on
North Haven’s Green - she was inspired to explore the
ancient gravestones located there. Her research, and
that of several others, resulted in the book about this
intriguing place. The introduction includes the fol-
lowing lines:
This is a headstone paying homage to
“Go there late on a November evening Peter Eastman, who died at the vener- These last two headstones belong to Mo-
just as the sun goes down, the stone faces able age of 83. The inscription on his ses and Dinah Clark, husband and wife.
are in darkness and the wind rustles the stone reads: “He was for many years a The inscriptions on their headstones re-
dry leaves. You will feel the past come member of the Church of Christ in this mind us of our own mortality. Moses
place and a friend & Supporter of the in-
alive for you as it has for the people of stitution of religion and morality”. This died at the age of just 31 in 1736 – his
this town for nearly two hundred years… stone is almost uplifting – it recognizes stone reads: “Reader Stop your Space
& Stay & Hearken unto What I say Our
It’s all about homage, isn’t it? Listening a long life well-lived. It inspires all of lives but Cobwebs tho near So gay &
to the ghosts.” us to live our lives so we will be remem- death ye. Broom yt. Sweeps A way”. His
bered as assets to our community. stone seems to say that he died unex-
Indeed, that is what the old burying ground on the pectedly and therefore acknowledges
Green evokes when one steps into its recesses – if one that life is fragile and can easily be swept
reads the inscriptions and studies the carvings, the away. Dinah’s stone affirms that she was
voices of the departed can be listened to. Here are a once married to Moses. She died in
few of the “messages” our ancestors have left behind… 1751 at the age of 44. Her stone says:
“On this grave stone my name is Red
you are Alive but I am dead in A Short
Space of precious time they will Read
your name as well as mine.” There is no
tenderness here; just a terse reminder of
our common fate. The stones are sepa-
rated by two other Clark plots yet they
are visually forever joined with their
“matching” headstones bearing winged
cherubs in very similar style, and their
inscriptions both enclosed in heart-
shaped frames surrounded by vine-like
decoration. It is clear that even 300
years later they are a couple!

The next time you visit the North Haven
Green pay a visit to the old center bury-
ing ground. It is a peaceful and calming
This double headstone was placed to honor the deaths Lydia Hotchkiss is memorialized with experience to walk among the ancient
stones and enjoy the shadiness of the
of siblings – Zerah and Sackitt Blakslee. Zerah and this stone. Notice the broken tree de- many trees. Perhaps you, too, will lis-
Sackitt, aged 13 and 11, died just one day apart in Oc- picted at the top of the stone, signifying ten to the “ghosts” and thus honor their
tober of 1776. The angelic faces depicted at the top of that she died at a young age. It is not- time on this earth so long ago.
the stone still tear at my heart today. The inscription ed that Lydia was the wife of Leverett
reads: “Our lives was short for to compare Or number Hotchkiss and died at age 32. The in- On the Green by Gloria Furnival is
up to seventy year But weal not mourn or complain scription is particularly poignant: “Slow available for purchase at the North
God called us home to him again”. Imagine losing not waves the willow o’er the stone where Haven Historical Society, 27 Broadway
one, but two sons on the brink of manhood and still sleeps a friend most dear Oft have I (Cultural Center). The photographs in
having the strength to accept what they believed was sought the spot alone To shed at ease this article, as well as the inscriptions,
the will of a Divine Being. Just a few days after their the Partner’s tear”. One can almost see were all taken from this book. It also
deaths a third child was also lost – an infant daughter. Leverett sitting beside his wife’s resting contains a map identifying all the buri-
Surely the parents Joel and Elizabeth grieved mightily place, grieving for her. The headstone al sites in the cemetery and very useful
that winter, and parents today can still hear their sor- still speaks today of a loving and com- genealogical information.
row whispering from this stone. mitted marriage between these two peo-
ple.

18 North Haven Magazine - Autumn Issue 2021