The Cemeteries of Grafton
Grafton has a total of six cemeteries. All were established by gifts of private land or by vote and purchase by the town. Only the Village Cemetery is close to the present-day town center; the others are farther afield, reflecting early settlement patterns and the difficulty settlers had in reaching a centralized burial site. There are no church cemeteries in Grafton; the town’s cemeteries have always been a responsibility of civil office.
Follow the links for a comprehensive list, or the direct link to each individual cemetery; there is also a link to Grafton’s Veterans information. The updating of all cemetery and veterans records is an ongoing project. For information not posted here, contact us or the Grafton Town Hall.
Village Cemetery
The first burial in the Village Cemetery at the foot of Middletown Hill was that of 2 year old Rosaltha S. Holden in 1812. After that, the cemetery was little used until the early 1830s when the center of town was established in the valley.
Many of the prominent families of the 19th century have plots in the Village Cemetery, and the grounds are still used for burials.
Houghtonville Cemetery
Located on a hillside just off Cabell Road, the Houghtonville Cemetery’s first burial was that of Alma L. Gibson in 1846. The land was given for the cemetery by Captain Xeno Houghton in 1854, the year he buried his wife, Esther.
Eighteen Houghtons were buried in the cemetery between 1852 and 1911; the cemetery is still used for interments today.
Middletown Cemetery
When 16 year old Asa Fisher died in 1780, there was not yet a formally established burial ground. The town voted in 1785 to establish the settlement’s first cemetery on the plot of land where he was buried. Although there is little room remaining, burial in family plots still take place today.
According to tradition, diagonal lines were drawn on a map from the corners of the town’s boundaries so that the burial ground could be located as near to the town center as possible. Each taxpayer was required to give one day of work to help clear the land and fence the lots.
Burgess Cemetery
The Burgess Cemetery, just off the Chester Road, was established in the 1790s as a family graveyard on a high point belonging to Ebenezer and Hannah Burgess. The first burial was that of Thomas Kinney in 1795. Burials in Burgess Cemetery still take place today.
Epitaphs, identifications, and even the spelling of some family names on the stones vary widely. The oldest stones feature the iconography of urns, willow trees, rosettes, and flowers; winged soul faces and soul discs are traditional early New England Puritan symbols of the soul’s ascension into heaven.
Cobb Cemetery
In 1796 Phoebe Ross was the first to be buried in the Cobb Cemetery, located several miles from the village, off Stagecoach Road. There are 44 people buried there, some recently.
There are strangely no Cobbs buried in the Cobb Cemetery. Most Cobbs are buried in the Houghtonville or Village Cemeteries.
Stiles Cemetery
The Stiles Cemetery was originally a small family plot, and houses just roughly 18 graves. This cemetery is reachable only by foot via Stiles Brook Road.
The Stiles Cemetery is Grafton’s smallest cemetery. The first buried there was Lydia Oren Stiles in 1830; the last was Lucy Danforth in 1872.
Grafton Veterans
The Grafton Improvement Association and the Grafton Grange have been, and are still, tirelessly working to document all of Grafton’s veterans and their burial location, including a few who are not interred in a town cemetery. We share some of their work here, and invite additions and comments.
The Roll of Honor includes all those who served in times of war or conflict up to and including Viet Nam. The Fallen Soldiers list includes those who gave their lives in action.