We spent the last few winter months pulling HILLTOWN HISTORY from the archives at the Westfield Atheneum, Let’s go back in Blandford history, courtesy of the Westfield Atheneum and Max Vivaqua.

The Old Cemetery was laid out in 1742, previously ordered by a town meeting, the ground cleared, and the day and hour set for the work. Every man who refused assistance was to pay a fine of six shillings. Shillings came with difficulty then. Here are the graves of the early pioneers of Blandford.

It was originally surrounded by a massive stone wall which was removed a number of years since. In 1926 the wall was completely rebuilt with an iron gate at the entrance. Later all the headstones, more than two hundred in number, were reset in cement. The money to do this work came from the sons and daughters of Blandford from Maine to California. It is now one of the most beautiful and picturesque old cemeteries of New England. Bordering on the new state highway, under a hill gently sloping to the west, beneath the shadow of the old church spire, overtopped by the stately pines which have grown up among the graves, it is a natural beauty spot to charm the eye or inspire the brush of an artist.

The second, or Hill Cemetery, opposite the white church, contains graves more than a century old down to the present. Facing the west, it is exposed to wintry blasts, but its very location testifies that the inhabitants faced life and death with faith too great for fear. Summer’s sun and faithful care make this spot a place of beauty and an abiding evidence of Blandford’s self-respect.

North Blandford’s dead are as a city set upon a hill, for the cemetery lies upon an eminence above the town.

Stannard Cemetery on Beech Hill is 125 to 150 years old. Secluded and peaceful, it contains no modern graves. There are several private burial plots: the Hastings family on the Sperry Road, the Blair lot, and the solitary grave of a child near the Wadhams homestead. (Said to be stolen)The graves of two Revolutionary men were removed last year from the Brook Road and added to the sleepers in the Old and Hill Cemeteries.

South Street Cemetery, near Granville town line, was flooded by Cobble Mountain Reservoir and most of these were removed to Granville.

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