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Downs Street Cemetery
This very old cemetery is small, covering an
area of approximately 80'x100'. The greater part of the headstones are dated in the 1800s, although a few are older
and a handful younger. This site is tucked away in a neat little corner of the wooded slope on Downs Street in Bristol,
with three or four residences on the opposite side of the lane. There is no sidewalk in front of the site, but a small
set of stone steps brings you into the cemetery.
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| Old Headstones |
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| The Family of Headstones |
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| Swallowed by the Tree |
There are an abundance of veterans buried here,
including a Revolutionary War soldier, named Asa Brunson, Jr. If you appreciate the shapes, designs and colors of older
stones, this is definitely the place to be. Most of the oldest stones are in surprisingly pristine condition, an
anomaly in most old cemeteries. As you walk into the graveyard, just to the left, sits a gargantuan sarcophagus with
a few names etched upon its side. The huge stone lid of the sarcophagus is cracked along the middle. It appears
that someone had previously attempted to open it.
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| Grave marker of a Revolutionary soldier |
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| The Newell Sarcophagus |
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| Inscription on the side of the sarcophagus |
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| Inscription upon the sarcophagus lid |
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| A crack in the lid: Did someone attempt to open this sarcophagus? |
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| Beyond: The Downs |
Many of the names are identical to or are listed
upon headstones in Lamson Corner Cemetery in Burlington (see above); names like Root and Newell. Three of the stones
are actually facing backwards, all of them bearing initials only. There may be a reason for this. Many times,
people passing without the benefit of baptism, or those who committed suicide, were interred facing the opposite direction
from everyone else. Children who died young were often buried and the grave marked with a small stone with initials
only.
At the rear of the cemetery, a foot-high wall
encloses a family burial plot. The base of the steps leading into the burial plot is etched with the name "Downs", the
same name as the street on which the cemetery is located. Interestingly, the monuments and headstones of the entire
Downs family have been vandalized or toppled over, a possible testament to their status in this city. By all appearances,
the Downs family may not have been very popular, for all of the other headstones, new and old, remain untouched.
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| Downs Family Plot: Why all the overturned stones? |
Another curious anomaly is the twin headstone
pictured below. Upon its surface is an eerie image of a girl in death shrouds, appearing to be looking up to the left,
her hands in front of her defensively. You can even see her fingers extended in fright. The image is quite disturbing.
Whether this was a deliberate defacing of the stone by vandals or the work of age-old weathering, the fact remains that the
image is frightening.
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| The Shrouded Girl Headstone |
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| The girl's face is visible within the circle looking up to the left . . . terrified? |
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| Artist's rendering of Shrouded Girl |
Just outside the boundaries of the cemetery, to the left
of the entrance down a small incline at the bottom of the hill, and lying next to Pequabuck Creek, are the remains of a trucking
company that was active up until the 1980s. There is not much remaining of the building, however, it was noted that
within the ruin could be spotted a large pile of women's purses and shoes.
A worn trail behind both the trucking company ruin and the cemetery,
following the creek, leads directly to the area of the Rock House and the outbuildings of the old farmhouse (see Rock House Investigative Report for details on that site).
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| The trucking company ruin |
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| To the right is the Downs Street Cemetery |
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| Why were there discarded women's purses and shoes inside? |
Across the street from the trucking company, upon the corner
of Downs and Memorial Drive is a large stone behind a metal guard rail. On the stone are etched the words: "Come
Ye to the Waters, Site of Old Mill, 1749-1921, In Memoriam, Ephraim Downs and Franklin Downs". This stone
apparently marks the site of what used to be quite a famous mill that burned down long ago. It was owned by the Downs
family. Curiously, there is some sort of pipe fixture that protrudes from the left side of the stone and we wondered
as to its use. Clearly it was not a water fountain. There is a lovely home standing across the creek from the
stone upon Downs Street and we wonder if it was the original home of the Downs family.
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| Close-up of the inscription on the Old Mill stone marker |
UPDATE: I just received an e-mail from a visitor to this website who informed me that the Downs Street Cemetery is also
referred to as both the South Cemetery and Old South Cemetery. Thank you, Jan.
December 26th, 2004
UPDATE: The above information submitted by Jan, while appreciated, could not be corroborated. However, references
were located in other materials referring to the Downs Street Cemetery as the Old North Cemetery.
May 17th, 2005
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