Description

CEM 310-Rev_barton_stone_cemetery

Street Address: 21 Stone Church Road West

Location: Lot 15, Concession 8, Barton Township

Type of Cemetery: Religious (Presbyterian, United)

Responsible Agency: City of Hamilton

Status for Burials: Open for burials          Plot Plan: None

Size:         Small, 240 monuments

Fencing: Iron railings and stone fencing with open sections Monument Types: Flat, upright and columns

Monuments of: Marble and granite

SW corner of Stone Church Rd and Upper James St
Hamilton, Barton Township, Wentworth County, Ontario, Canada

Date of opening 1852

History:

Early settlers of Barton Township from New Jersey and Pennsylvania originally met on Sundays at different locations for non-denominational worship. Lutheran William Rymal then constructed a meeting house in 1811 near his family’s burial ground, on what is now Mohawk Road West. The building was used by both Presbyterians and Anglicans until eventually condemned as unsafe in 1844, with proceeds from the disbursement divided between the two congregations. The Presbyterian, as part of the Presbytery of Niagara, purchased property from Stephen Blackstone for £10 on what was then the Caledonia Road, and erected a new church. The church was briefly associated with the Congregational Church, but reverted to the Hamilton Presbytery by the 1870s, and in 1924 became part of the United Church of Canada.

The cemetery contains a number of replacement stones for older graves containing United Empire Loyalist families such as Hess, Young and Terryberry. The earliest known burial at this site was William Terryberry Sr., who died in 1847.

The one-storey Gothic-style church and cemetery was finished in 1847 to house a congregation of Presbyterians and Lutherans that had joined together starting in 1811 at the instigation of William Rymal, a Lutheran.

The cemetery contains a number of remains of many of Barton Township’s early settlers, stated heritage staff.