Academy Hill Cemetery

Academy Hill Cemetery is located at the corner of Academy Hill Road and Massey Rd, in Grafton. It is just down the road from St. Anne's Spa, a posh hotel/spa village in the area. It was established in 1813, and though many of the original monuments are still here, and most are in good shape, they have been moved from their original locations in the cemetery. They are currently lined up at the front of the cemetery.

"The community of Academy Hill was settled by United Empire Loyalist in the early 1800's. The cemetery was established here around 1813 and in 1819 James Dubois leased the property (Lot 22, Con 2) to Haldimand Township for one pound and five shillings for 999 years. A schoolhouse, which was also used as a Methodist Church, was built on the cemetery grounds before 1840. The cemetery is sometimes known as the Massey Cemetery because of the many members of the Massey family buried there, including Samuel Massey who died on June 3rd, 1813 and was the first person interred in the cemetery. He was the son of Daniel and Rebecca Massey ancestors of Charles Vincent Massey, the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.

The cemetery has gone through extensive improvements and is maintained by the Abandoned Cemeteries Advisory Board

Pioneer families buried here include: Allen, Boland, Bradley, Crouter, Eddy, Fish, Fraser, Irish, Kellar, Lapp, Masters, Noble (s), Merrill, Merriam, Moore, Richarson, Sargent, Shaw, Stewart, Taylor, Tucker, Vaughan, Wait and Winter."

Mary Richardson, wife of Julius Richardson, died Sept 5, 1831. Aged 29 years.

Mary M, daughter of Julius Richardson, died July 15, 1838. Aged 4 years.

Dyton Lysander, son of Almond and Pheba Richardson, died Jan 14, 1862. Aged 4 years.

Carolus A., son of Almond and Pheba A Richardson, died Aug 16, 1851. Aged 2 years.

Emmeline L. Noble, daughter of Carry Richardson, died June 1, 1853. Aged 28 years.

Julias Richardson, died Feb 19, 1881. Aged 80 years.

Thomas Richardson, died March 8, 1828. Aged 51 years.

Johnson Merriam, died Dec 30, 1853.

Susanna Merriam, died Feb 11, 1815.  Aged 3 years
Sarah Merriam, died Feb 22, 1822. Aged 2 years.

Justus D. died Jan 25, 186? Aged 18 years.
John H., died May 3, 1865. Aged 2 years.
Sons of John and Lysetta Merriam

Rebecca, daughter of Samuel and Alvina Merriam, died Sept 15, 1870. Aged 9 years.

Clarissa, wife of Samuel Merriam, died April 4, 1859. Aged 30 years.

Betsy, wife of J. Merriam, died Oct 3, 1828. Aged 32 years.

From left to right:
Georgeana, daughter of Amos and Louisianna Moore, died Dec 24, 1842. Aged 5 years.
Electa, daughter of ?, died Mar 4, 1849. Aged 1 year.
Susannah, daughter of Samuel and Alvina Merriam, died Sept 2, 1870. Aged 3 years.

From left to right:
Manley E., son of W & S Masters, died Nov 13, 1824. Aged 1 years
William Masters, died Nov 2, 1837. Aged 46 years.
Ira James, dates and age unknown.

Cyrena, wife of Francis Masters, died Jan 12, 1900. Aged 74 years.

Genefer, wife of William Shaw, died Oct 15, 1863. Aged 77 years.
John, son of John and Genefer Shaw, died July 8, 1843. Aged 34 years.
Natives of England

William Sargent, died 1845.
Lois, wife of William Sargent.

Sophronia, wife of David Wait, died Oct 31, 1849. Aged 30 years.

Caroline, wife of John Boland, died Sept 8, 1851. Aged 22 years.

William Masters, died Nov 2, 1837. Aged 46 years.

Deborah, the first wife of Paddick Winter, died March 27, 1823. Aged 26 years.
Susannah, second wife of Paddick Winter, died Aug 26, 1855. Aged 56 years.

Paddick Winter, died May 18, 1861. Aged 73 years.

Eliel Winter, died 1882.

Ira Masters, died March 23, 1900. Aged 45 years.

From left to right:
Amos, son of B & D Honeywide, died July 16, 1856.
A.A.Merrell, died May 15, 1834. Aged 1 years
Joab C, son of E & J Nobles, adopted son of L & J Nobles, died Aug 14, 1853. Aged 2 months.

Left to right:
Unknown, died July 3, 183?. Aged 1 month
D. Allen, died April 16, 18??. Aged 10 months.
Unknown

Anna L. Fish, died Feb 22, 1835. Aged 7 months.

Robert Eddy, died Jan 23, 1872. Aged 27 years.

James S, son of William and Louis Sargent, died Oct 13, 1831. Aged 22 years.

Experience Merrell, wife of John Merrell, died June 3, 1833. Aged 24 years.

James Tucker, died Dec 31, 1851. Aged 46 years.

James, died Feb 21, 1841. Aged 16 months
Reuben, died Oct 2, 1852. Aged 5 weeks.
James A, died Sept 22, 1847. Aged 16 months.
All children of J & M Tucker

Mary C, daughter of ? and Sarah Winter, died Nov 9, 1864. Aged 6 months.

Ebenezer Fish, died Sept 23, 1846. Aged 69 years
Daniel Fish, died Dec 5, 1832. Aged 9 years.

Samuel Fish, died Feb 24, 1846. Aged 11 months.

Lucia, infant daughter of David and? Taylor, died 1871. Aged 2 months.

Phebe, wife of Amos Moore, died Aug 17, 1831.

Francis Sherwood, son of Ira Franklin and Mary Masters?

Samuel Massey, died Feb 27, 1893. Aged 83 years. This is not the first Samuel Massey buried here, as you can tell by the dates.
Susie R, the youngest daughter of Samuel and Mary Massey, died April 26, 1884. Aged 35 years.
Mary, wife of Samuel Massey, died July 3, 1890. Aged 68 years.

Massey, died Sept 5, 1832. Aged 66 years.

Rebecca, wife of Daniel Massey, died Jan 3, 1838. Aged 73 years

Mary Susannah, daughter of B & E Massey. died Sept 11, 1851. Aged 2 years.

Isaiah Merrell, died Sept 2, 1831. Aged 6 years.
Chloe Merrell, died July 4, 1857. Aged 34 years.
Rachel Merrell, died Jan 1, 1878. Aged 32 years.
Johnathan Massey, died Aug 3, 1834. Aged 34 years.

William Fletcher, son of Darius and Mary Massey. Died Sept 17, 1876. Aged 1 year.

B., son of D & L Massey, died June 20, 1837. Aged 9 months.

Samuel Massey, died May 3, 1813. Aged 23 years. This is the first person buries in this cemetery.

Janet R, died Dec 23, 1866. Aged 1 year.
Solon I., died Dec 20, 1861. Aged 11 months
John W, died Dec 11, 1876. Aged 5 years.
William J, died Dec 28, 1878. Aged 6 years.
Rachel C., Dec 18, 1878. Aged 7 years.
Charlotte, wife of Solon Massey, aged 46 years
Solon Massey, died Feb 12, 1861. Aged 51 years
Ester A. Fraser, his wife, died April 27, 1867. Aged 34 years.

Nancy Melvina Bradley, died Oct 28, 1852. Aged 4 months.

Diantha SJ Irish, died Sept 10, 1849. Aged 6 years.

N.F. Irish, died Feb 16, 1879. Aged 69 years.

Ira Allen, died June 5, 1870.

Ebenezer Allen, died March 28, 1845. Aged 75 years.

John Stewart, a native of Ireland, died Dec 3, 1831. Aged 51 years.

Elizabeth, wife of John Stewart, died Jan 19, 1861. Aged 78 years.

A plaque at the bottom of Elizabeth Stewarts Monument.

Mary C, wife of Ira Allen, died Sept 2, 1868. Aged 57 years.

Charles M, Son of RA & Mary C Allen, died April 17, 1866. Aged 18 years.

Rev. Darius Crouter, 1827-1910.
Catharine Lapp, his wife, unknown dates
Catharine J, their daughter, 1851-1927.
This is the most recent monument in this cemetery.

James P, son of L & H Pettibone, died April 10, 1842. Aged 2 months.

Hannah M, daughter of J & H Pettibone, died Jan 15, 1841. Aged 3 years.

Elizabeth, daughter of J & H Pettibone, died Jan 15, 1841. Aged 4 months.

Wilber Robinson, died June 26, 1870.  Aged 4 years.

Catharine, daughter of John Z and Anna M Kellar, wife of Samuel Lapp Sen, died Dec 1, 1859. Aged 70 years.

Elizabeth, daughter of S & C Lapp

Lydia, wife of Calvin K. Lapp. Born Sept 17, 1825, died Oct 19, 1902.

At the back of this cemetery, you'll see this little archway going into the woods. You can follow several different paths back there, they will lead you to the different properties of the St. Anne's Spa Village.

Two things to note about this cemetery. First, there are a lot of children buried here. Now, I know that children are common in older cemeteries, they didn't have the medicine and the technology we have now. Illness and accidents were more common. But even so, there are a LOT of children here.

Secondly, the settlers of Academy Hills had some unique names: Solon, Experience, 2 Ebenezer's. Sophronia, Genefer...amazing! There are the traditional Marys, Elizabeths and this cemetery has a lot of Susannahs. John, Thomas, Samuel too. But these Academy Hiller's, they were ahead of their time, trendy namers!