Riverside Cemetery

 

Riverside Cemetery. Photo by Brooke Martin.

"The days of man are but as grass
And we in our own time must pass.
Shall we, then, fail to keep the faith
With those long since gone down to death?"

These are the first words to appear in 1924 in the new record book of the Riverside Cemetery Association. They are typewritten now, no longer in the careful handwriting of previous secretaries. Though never again expressed in poetry, in fact rarely expressed at all, these sentiments nevertheless have animated the directors since the 1834 beginnings. Unlike their 19th-century predecessors, today's directors can make a positive response to the poem's query.

The relationship of the superintendent to the board has changed over the years, but it has almost always been one of remarkable longevity, trust and loyalty.

From 1925 until his death in 1962, board member Leonard C. Root was the chairman of the committee for care and upkeep. That committee managed the cemetery, and Mr. Root, sometimes referred to in the minutes as the superintendent, not only provided leadership in care and upkeep but almost certainly was the person who dealt with the public and supervised the caretaker. (The caretaker was sometimes called the sexton.)

Gravestone of Sarah Porter, founder of Miss Porter's
School. Photo by Brooke Martin.

As previously mentioned, Otto Christensen assumed the caretaker's position in 1926 and served until 1961. He no doubt dug the graves himself or supervised gravediggers brought in for the purpose and, when mechanized digging became available, hired the contractors. (The first mention in the financial reports of a backhoe contractor is in the 1950s.) He mowed grass and shoveled snow and at interments, no doubt, stood respectfully by, waiting to finish the process and tidy the site.

Because perpetual care was a principle goal of the reorganized cemetery, Root and his fellow board members adopted rules that were practical if not always pleasing to the public. No longer could families plant the favorite shrub or tree of the deceased, or even flowers. In rules promulgated in 1926, we see the requirements of a regular mowing regimen: no raised lots, no fences, no unapproved headstones. Nor did Root and his committee permit large-scale monuments or challenge death with impressive tree plantings or the creation of vistas, as at Cedar Hill in Hartford. Instead, gravestones were repaired; a few evergreens were set out; privet hedges were ordered; and the grass was mowed. In 1939 the roads were "stoned" ($63) and yews were planted along the driveways ($83). (Many of these were removed in 2005.) Also in 1939, a sexton was hired to assist Otto Christensen.

Memorial to those who fought in World War I, World War II, Korea
 and Vietnam. Photo by Brooke Martin.

The planting of flowers around the Civil War memorial (and later around the World War I and Vietnam memorials) was an annual obligation first undertaken in the early years. Then, as now, Haworth's Greenhouses did the job. In 1930 the bill was $5. In 1945, a galvanized iron fence replaced an old wooden fence along Garden Street.

Iron fence, Riverside Cemetery. Photo by Brooke Martin.

One handsome vista was created at Riverside Cemetery. In 1946, at the request of Mrs. Mabel Hurlburt, chair of the citizen's committee, the board voted unanimously to give permission to that committee to plant eight oaks as memorial trees for those who gave their lives in World War I and World War II.

Oak trees, Riverside Cemetery. Photo by Brooke Martin.

It also agreed to the use of Lot #143 South (across from the Civil War Monument) for the erection of a permanent memorial. In 2006 these tall handsome trees stand sentry on the main entrance drive, and a large natural stone bears the names of those who died in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. (A monument recognizing all World War II veterans was placed first at the firehouse on Main Street and, when it was enlarged in 1980, at the Town Hall.)

Civil War Monument, Riverside Cemetery. Photo by Brooke Martin.

While the board does not appear to have met every year in mid-century, Leonard Root and his committee (for years Florence Gay and Wilmarth Lewis shared this duty) kept watch over the cemetery. In 1952 the board was rudely awakened to modern realities when the collector of Internal Revenue filed a claim against them for the nonpayment of FICA taxes for Otto Christensen and his assistant. The $709 penalty and interest charges were particularly galling, and the directors agreed to pay the principle ($414) but to protest the penalty. However, they paid up in 1953, and in 1957 Dunham Barney moved "that the president be authorized to retain counsel to investigate into all tax matters…."

Gravestone of World War I veteran.

By 1960 the Riverside Cemetery Association had acquired a tax-exempt status as a nonprofit corporation (501 (c) (13)), and an anonymous donor had contributed over $1,000 to paving costs. In the process of gaining this status, Mr. Minikin was required to swear that "he knew of no outstanding shares in the Association held by anyone to his knowledge. All have been redeemed." Otherwise, the records are silent as to when and how these redemptions took place. After the FICA embarrassment, the board was alert to government regulations and was soon paying unemployment and workmen's compensation insurance (federal and state) as well. Health insurance for the caretaker was first paid in 1967 ($99.30 for a year).

Gravestone of the Rev. Noah Porter. Photo by Brooke Martin.

When Otto Christensen resigned in 1961 and Leonard Root died in 1962, an era ended. And, in a pragmatic fashion typical of the organization, a new management style evolved. Another Christensen, Otto's son, John, stepped up and assumed responsibilities. John had been elected to the board in 1941. He became secretary in 1952. His minutes and meticulous records of (non-investment) income and disbursements fill the ledgers and tell the story of the cemetery until shortly before his death in 1987.

View of Meadows from Riverside Cemetery. Photo by Brooke Martin.

By 1965, John was writing a report he signed as "Acting Superintendent"; by 1968 the report in the minutes of the "Committee For Care and Upkeep" had become the "The Superintendent's Report." On occasion, he signed off on the financial reports as "Auditor." (Other board members, particularly Robert Smith, also served as "Auditor" in those days.) Neither entirely volunteer nor salaried, after 1965 John received an annual honorarium of $1,000. His was a more hands-on role. At first, it was almost certainly John who replied to inquiries from the public. Most importantly, it was John who worked closely with the new caretaker, Jim Collins, hired in 1961. Together they kept records, sold lots, wrote regulations, organized interments and reported to the board.

A more sharply focused business-like approach to cemetery management emerges from the records after 1962. Statistics on lot sales and interments are consistently entered; annual adjustments of salaries appear and a typed list of regulations suggests that challenges and difficulties were promptly addressed.

A 1963 list of rules continues some older ones (only one raised monument per lot) and adds others still in effect: The caretaker must approve all foundation settings, no statues, statuettes, figurines or pictures are allowed; no planting of any kind except in movable pots "that can readily be picked up by the person mowing the lawn"; and finally, "remarks may be made to the Caretaker or Secretary and all will be treated as best we can."

An undated document, closely typed on two pages, enumerates the "Duties of the Superintendent." These relate to public contact, to supervision of contractors, to the responsibilities connected to the burial of veterans and the receipt of cremations, to the assistance to the judge of probate in settling estates, to equipment purchases and the proper keeping of records and maps. But the second page details seasonal duties (mowing and trimming approximately 24 hours a week, snow and leaf removal etc.) and certainly might be titled "Duties of the Caretaker." The voice, as in the earlier regulations, is that of John Christensen and concludes, "Be available for any on going questions. It is impossible to write down all the everyday problems that arise which all take time." Perhaps the conflation of superintendent and caretaker duties in this document anticipates the transition in Jim Collins' role, a transition which would take place over the decades.

The 1970s saw the purchase of ever larger and more expensive mowing equipment, the construction of a "garage" (later dismantled) and a new water system ($3,000), and in cooperation with the VFW, the marking of all veterans' graves with brass flag holders. (These were later stolen by vandals.)

"Since on life ye looked your last, Changes o'er your land have pass'd,
Strangers came with iron sway / And your tribes have pass'd away."
Monument to Tunxis Indians, Riverside Cemetery.

Director Wilmarth Lewis paid to have the engraving on the Indian Monument at the head of the main drive re-cut so that it was again legible. And for several years a mason, Mr. Bowman, was hired to reset and repair deteriorating gravestones. The driveways were again resurfaced but now the cost was $2,500. In 1970, Mrs. Crossman (of the bank) finished a labor of several years: She cross-indexed the names of all those interred and lot numbers so that all burials could be located. A vote of appreciation for the indexing was noted in the minutes with this addendum: the board would look into a "better form of compensation."

View of Farmington River from Riverside Cemetery. Photo by Brooke Martin.

In 1972 Mrs. Crossman was awarded $200. Because of the infestation of gypsy moth worms in the late '70s, the association incurred considerable expense for spraying and tree removal. Perhaps because of this spraying, the avenue of oaks was spared. In the 1980s, 60 yews were planted along the new south road. In response to a request, above-ground crypts were disallowed. Such crypts can be attractive nuisances and expose the cemetery to costly repairs, noted the minutes. (That prophecy was unhappily fulfilled in the next decade when a falling tree limb caused damages of more than $4,000 to an existing crypt.)

In response to another request, the board reaffirmed its residency requirement: Purchasers of lots must have been at some time residents of Farmington for five years. In all matters Superintendent Christensen supported his caretaker. They were of one mind about allowing dogs in the cemetery: No dogs! Signs appeared to that effect. (It is not hard to imagine why.) In response to complaints, the board reversed this rule. Dogs on leashes could walk with their owners. "It is probably best to discuss this matter when Jim Collins is not present," the tactful secretary wrote.

John Christensen died in 1987 and was succeeded as superintendent by Jim Collins, a succession in title reflecting a transition already well under way. "We would expect of Jim that he carry forward our Association mission to the public in the spirit and manner of John Christensen," intoned the minutes of the March meeting. "All Directors expressed confidence," they continued, "in Jim to handle this position with the compassion and efficiency so necessary." With this oblique and rare acknowledgement of a cemetery's reason for existence, the board of the Riverside Cemetery moved into a period of expansion and development. Management styles also evolved as new, and somewhat younger, board members replaced their elderly predecessors.

Farmington Savings Bank. Photo by Brooke Martin.

In the 1970s the close ties of the association with the Farmington Savings Bank began to fray. Just as a certain "Miss Hart" had been directed in 1925 to draw up a list of graves and lot owners (and was almost certainly a bank employee and the typist for the minutes), so Mrs. Mary Crossman, an employee of the Farmington Savings Bank, served as the Assistant Treasurer from 1925 to 1975. She received an annual honorarium of $100. The directors noted her retirement with praise and gratitude and an additional honorarium of $300. The Farmington Savings Bank subsequently suggested to two more employees that they assume this role. Although offered a regular stipend considerably more than that paid Mrs.Crossman, both of these women soon declined the honor.

In 1983, David Haworth, son of board member Arthur Haworth, was appointed assistant treasurer with an annual salary of $1,200. In 1987, when Budwitz and Meyerjack took over some of the assistant treasurer’s duties, he was named assistant to the superintendent, “to assist and understudy Jim Collins in sales and grave openings, to be his back-up.” Perhaps this was an acknowledgement that the sort of round-the-clock, seven-day-a-week availability provided by the superintendents in the past was no longer a reasonable expectation.

Between 1987 and 2000 the directors of the board oversaw major new developments. New operational disciplines were approved: the investment portfolio was to be transferred to a brokerage firm (Smith Barney); expenses over $300 were to be reviewed with the president; an annual advance budget was to be submitted; and a dispute resolution protocol – recommended by the Connecticut Cemetery Association – was adopted.

Columbarium from above. Photo by Brooke Martin.

With the expansion north and west on the lower ground came questions and challenges. Should the association ease future space requirements with a columbarium (special vaults for cremation ashes)? Were other new facilities required? How elaborate should the landscaping of the new areas be? And what should the new sections be called?

In 1992 the last question was addressed. The area to the left (south) of the new road, as a visitor entered from Garden Street, was to be developed immediately and named for John Christensen. On the west, the land on the left of the new road would be called the Canal Section and that on the right, Riverbend. With this final gesture to honor its past superintendent, the board moved vigorously forward. New committees were formed (including long range planning and columbarium) and more frequent meetings – often on the site – recorded. One such meeting was adjourned “because of the extreme cold.”

Columbarium. Photo by Brooke Martin.

The decision to build a columbarium was not controversial, but the effort and time required was significant. For nearly ten years the columbarium committee – Evan Cowles, William Lidgerwood and Lucius Whitaker – researched the topic and reported to the board. Society's increasing acceptance of cremation was reflected in the rapid increase in cremation burials in the 1980s and 1990s (as mentioned), and the idea of saving even more space with a special columbarium was attractive.

The long steep bank overlooking the Christensen section was chosen as the site for the columbarium. (This decision effectively ended a long tradition of sledding on the slope by village children.) Niches were sold as early as 1993, but the first were probably not occupied until 1997. In 1996 Chairman Cowles reported, "Our cost seems firm, $93,744 for 252 niches." (Future expansion is anticipated.) The price of a two-urn niche was set at $950, with the owner responsible for any engraving.

Brownstone wall along Garden Street. Photo by Brooke Martin.

An ambitious idea of extending a new brownstone wall along Garden Street to the columbarium was not realized (the proposed cost was $36,700), nor were elaborate planting schemes endorsed. Small trees and practical shrubs (juniper, barberry and potentilla) were chosen to soften the outlines of the stone walls and metal containers.

As the grading and leveling of the new areas was finished, the directors determined that an on-site office and work garage was needed. This would provide an office for the superintendent, a meeting place for the public and superintendent in inclement weather, a storage place for records (many of which had been kept at the superintendent's home), and a work and storage area for equipment. A 20-foot-by-40-foot building was erected in 1990 and 1991 on the newly cleared lower level. In the minutes, Director Larry Rose was complimented for a job well done.

A landscape architect and planner were engaged to prepare plans for some of the new areas. But in 1992 these plans were rejected as too elaborate. A practical-minded director, himself a landscape architect, wondered about planting hemlocks that were subject to adelgid infection and about the wisdom of planting perennials that would require high maintenance. True to their tradition, the directors "reached a consensus that the openness of the [present] setting was most pleasing to the eye." Also, the plan's perennial garden (north of the garage), where ashes might be scattered, was tabled. But other improvements reflected the directors' pride in their newly refurbished cemetery.

North gate, Riverside Cemetery. Photo by Brooke Martin.

In 2000, after nine years of consideration, the board authorized, in an unusual split vote, the construction of new brownstone columns to mark the new north entrance as well as the main drive. "Riverside Cemetery, North (or South)" were to be etched in granite on the faces. In the same year the old aluminum fence along Garden Street was replaced with a handsome six-foot tall black steel fence, with finials on the posts. The $35,632 cost would have staggered the directors' predecessors as would the $57,800 spent on a stone retaining wall authorized the same year. This brownstone wall made possible a new sidewalk along the length of the cemetery on Garden Street. The cost of the sidewalk was shared with the town.

The grave of Foone is perhaps the most visited landmark in the cemetery. Foone died while living in Farmington with the Amistad captives in 1841, and his abolitionist friends erected a sandstone marker in his memory. (Was the site of his grave south of the main drive and west of Tier 16 determined by the 1835 directive about the burial of "colored persons?")

Gravestone of Foone. Photo by Brooke Martin.

As on the Indian memorial, time and weather had made the inscription hard to read. In 2001 the board spent $500 to have the words inscribed on a new bronze plaque and placed at the foot of the weathered monument. At the same time, the directors agreed that the state and local historical societies could mark this grave as part of the Freedom Trail, a route commemorating the African-American struggle for freedom in Connecticut.

Gravestone of Foone: "A native African was drowned while bathing
in the centre basin Aug. 1841. He was one of the Company of Slaves
 under Cinque on board the Schooner Amistad who asserted their
rights  & took possession of the vessel after having put the Captain,
Mate, and others to death, sparing their Masters Ruez & Montez."

The subject of salary and benefits was a topic the board returned to annually. Modest salaries were the norm. Retirement benefits were a vexing problem. When Otto Christensen retired in 1961, the directors had paid him $100 a month until his death in 1964. In 1974, when caretaker Collins' salary was about $7,000 (plus health and workmen's comp and Social Security contributions) the board increased his salary by an unusually high 6.5 percent because of inflation. In 1987, when he succeeded John Christensen, his salary was $17,500 plus $3,500 "for Superintendent's duties." At the same time, he was advised that he should not expect a pension. The $3,500 might continue, the minutes noted, in retirement for part-time work. In the event, when Collins elected partial retirement in 1994, the board paid him $11,000 (the maximum allowed with Social Security benefits) and hired what might be described as an apprentice superintendent.

Freedom Trail marker, Riverside Cemetery.

The transition to a new superintendent was perhaps a difficult one. Neither the board nor Collins was eager to end their long relationship. The young assistant, Don Antigiovanni, chosen because of his local origins and connections, was complimented in reports to the board. But by 1999 Collins was still very much the person in charge and by 2001 was paid $21,000, plus compensation for use of his truck. He resigned again in 2001 as "Acting Superintendent," and the assistant was named superintendent at a salary of $35,000 plus truck rental. Nevertheless he quit in the same year.

In 2002, Collins was reappointed "in burials and sales and ... inventory summary on hand." In 2002 he was also asked to reset tilting tombstones at $2,500 a year. This was raised to $3,000 in 2003. (In this year Collins' name appears as a director.) Though he now took long winter vacations, Jim Collins was still so employed at his death in 2005. When he resigned in 2001, the minutes were eloquent in his praise. "Jim Collins has resigned as Acting Superintendent for a well deserved day of rest after so many years of dedicated service. The whole town is indebted to you, Jim."

With the hiring of Ken Johnson as superintendent in 2002, the board hoped to rediscover the long term trusting relationship it had enjoyed with its caretakers/superintendents. To help with the transition, David Haworth was paid a salary of $12,000 for that year, and a special committee (Kevin Ray, Alden Warner, Lawrence Rose) was appointed to supervise the transition. In the year 2003 David Haworth also became a member of the board. By 2003 Johnson was paid $45,000, his part time assistant $17,500. Perhaps the directors had finally found a balance between fiscal prudence and the need to pay competitive salaries. They had also entered, if belatedly, the modern world of computers. David Haworth as assistant treasurer had doubtless used a computer for some time. Now $2,500 was appropriated to buy a computer for the office, and it was hoped that Johnson could begin the job of computerizing the records during the winter.

Not only did the minutes become less detailed at this time, they also reflect less momentous events, as before 1988. The roads must be repaired ($29,000 in 1998); a new mower bought ($5000). Complaints are dealt with. (The superintendent is to use his best judgment in removing, after a decent interval, artificial flowers or unusual decorations.) A contractor's backhoe and dump truck are stored on the property for ready access. The directors hope to find younger members for the board.

Were Toqueville to return to America, in 2006 he might not find as many citizens as in his day who were willing to give of their time and talents for the public good. But he would surely acknowledge that the Riverside Cemetery Association remained a vigorous example of that honorable tradition. There appears regularly in the CPA's annual financial statement the following:

"Contributed Services. A number of unpaid volunteers have made significant contributions of their time to accomplish the organization’s objectives primarily through organization and management activities. The value of these contributed services are not reflected in the financial statements since they are not susceptible to objective measurement or valuation." Perhaps a conventional disclaimer in reports to non-profit organizations, this tribute is nevertheless an apt description of the role of the Directors of the Riverside Cemetery Association."

View of Riverside Cemetery from Main Street. Photo by Brooke Martin.

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