Fifteen Years and Counting!

  In the fall of 2010, A Girl Scout Junior Troop  met to conduct the first  Cleanup project at the Presumpscot/ East Deering Cemetery behind Presumpscot School.  These girls were lead by Senior Girl Scouts, Kayla Theriault and Samantha Allshouse who endeavored, through this Girl Scout Gold Award project, to recover the ancient and neglected cemetery,  and to restore elements of dignity to this sacred burial ground dating back to the 1740's and is a final resting place of nearly 200 souls.

    

    Over the course of now, 15 years, since the recovery project was initiated by Kayla Theriault and Samantha Allshouse,  Portland Girl Scouts of the Machigonne Service Unit have continued the legacy by adopting the Presumpscot/ Grand Trunk Cemetery as an annual service project. 

    They do this by holding Cleanup/Planting Parties in the Fall and Spring.  The Girl Scouts, their friends and families, together with the informal, 'Friends of the Grand Trunk Cemetery' have gathered, to rake leaves, and plant daffodil bulbs, or flowers in the spring.  

    The cemetery has also been, and continues to be,  a place of gathering for other activities to celebrate Girl Scout events like their Founder, Juliette Gordon Low's Halloween birthday.

    This past Sunday, twenty-two Portland Girl Scouts, their families, neighbors, and friends gathered to honor those long ago citizens of what was then little more than a village of Back Cove and East Deering, by engaging in an activity to keep the small burial site looking good.

    As a matter of record, I choose to report on these activities  and those who participate,  through this blog, as a means of encouraging readers to want to know about the history of the cemetery and to encourage others to continue to regard this sacred place with interest and care.

    Although I have posted this "Thank You! in Facebook, I will include it again:

    Many thanks to the Girl Scouts, their families and friends who came to the Presumpscot/Grand Trunk Cemetery this afternoon to honor those interred here with their presence, their work to rake and pick up lots of leaves, and by filling 20 large garden bags.

    Some bulbs were planted and will add beauty to the burial ground in the Spring. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Joel's work to leaf blow made the raking so much easier. Since all five of the gardens were turned over, there is still a lot of planting to be done!

    In total, twenty-two folks particpated today, marking the 15th year of the recovery project initiated by Samantha Allshouse and Kayla Theriault.

    Today, Kayla herself a Girl Scout Leader, continues to participate, along with her children.

Many Thanks to All!

    Here are pictures for your enjoyment!

    We look forward to the Spring when the daffodils are in bloom and to our next opportunity to come together again!

Remnant: Grand Trunk Cemetery Reclamation Project

 

The Grand Trunk Cemetery is but a remnant of what it once was....

a final resting place, a burial grand for pioneers and patriots who settled in Ancient Falmouth and resided in East Deering Village.

Here is an opportunity to share a bit of history; incomplete, and much of it is, lost to the ravages of time, still, what does remain is worth preserving.

The purpose of this blog -

To pass on what research and tenacious curiosity reveals to interested readers and advocates of history,

and,

To gather what readers wish to pass on so that the remnant can be preserved.

Historical Roots of the Grand Trunk Cemetery

(Also referred to as the East Deering or Presumpscot Street Cemetery)

Presumpscot Village was an active town of about three thousand residents from c. 1790 – 1890 before incorporation into Portland.  However, as early as 1730, records indicate that many families migrated back to, and settled in Falmouth, now Portland, from Newbury and other towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  There is evidence that this burial site was the final resting place for many of these earliest settlers.  Land and property changed hands many times, bought and sold by families whose names we recognize today:  Sawyer, Blake, Lunt, Noyes, Ilsley, Merrill and Galvin.  In nearly all cases, there appears to be consideration of and references to the existence of the burial site as early as 1740.  It is possible that many records have been lost over time.

• 1793- The first recorded burial of Susannah Merrill Graves, Aet. 48 wife of Lieut. Crispus Graves, Revolutionary War.
•  1893- The final burial of record for Frances I. Boothby Aet. 78,Wife of Silas Boothby.
•   March 1898- Leonard Bond Chapman, self- appointed caretaker of the ‘Ancient Cemeteries’ was officially recognized and appointed custodian of these burial site, including the East Deering Cemetery, though without pay.  It is notable that the selectmen of the town did allot $400.00 toward expenses. L.B. Chapman continued his devoted service until his death in 1915.

 

  “Show me the manner in which a nation or community cares for its dead.  I will measure exactly the sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.”  William Ewart Gladstone

 

         Over many years, this burial site suffered the ravages of neglect, disinterest, desecration, and vandalism.  During, the 1970’s and 80’s it became a dumping ground for discarded appliances and vehicles.  A mere eight memorial stones remained intact; all covered with spray paint.  It was only individual effort and the determination of the teachers and students of Presumpscot School, and notable community members:  Councilor Cheryl Leeman, Mr. David Millard, and Mr. Theodore Sawyer, that prevented the total loss of this ancient site.

     October 2010- Samantha Allshouse and Kayla Theriault take on a Girl Scout Gold Award project to cleanup and recover the cemetery with the support and blessing of the City of Portland, Public Services Cemeteries Department. Research uncovers the fact that there are eight veterans buried here, and work begins with the help of historian, Herbert Adams and the newly formed ‘Friends of the Grand Trunk Cemetery’ to acquire replacement stones from the Veterans Administration.  A kiosk is built to house the graphic map of the cemetery and white river stones are numbered and placed at each grave.

    August 2012- The Grand Trunk Veterans Memorial is dedicated.  Six new memorial stones are placed to honor a veteran of the Revolution and five veterans of the War of 1812.  The memorial stone for the Civil War veteran is placed within the enclosure.  A memorial bench is also placed in the cemetery to honor the memory of Zoe Sarnacki, former Presumpscot School student; a gift from Samantha and Kayla’s Girl Scout Troop 2051.

    October 2013- Dedication of the memorial stone for Joseph Merrill, Veteran of the War of 1812.