Description

CEM 360-Rev_felker_family_cemetery

Street Address:  120 Mud Street West

Location: Lot 27, Concession 7, Saltfleet Township

Type of Cemetery: Family (Felker)

Responsible Agency: City of Hamilton

Status for Burials: Closed for burials       Plot Plan: None

Size:  Small, 41monuments

Fencing: Surrounded on 3 sides by sound barriers, with open section Monument Types:  Flat and upright

Monuments of: Marble and granite

Date of Opening: 1825

History:

The Crown Patent for Lot 27 of the 7th Concession was Robert James Gray, who registered the property on August 10, 1801. Over the next 20 years the property would pass through the hands of John Gray, James Henry and finally John Felker. Born Johann Voekel, John emigrated from Europe to the British colonies prior to the American Revolution, and eventually came to the Head-of-the-Lake area as a United Empire Loyalist.

The first burial in this family cemetery was for Eleanor Felker in 1825. The cemetery remained in use through five generations of the Felker family, who would also spell their name as Folker or Fulker. Even though it remained in use by the family, the cemetery became a municipally maintained burial ground in 1927. In the 1970s, when the local government considered closing all small family cemeteries and transferring the interments, there was tremendous opposition, and the cemetery continues to exist.