Article contentThe group, with the help of a local church, had come into some land elsewhere on Parade Street. What began as 20 acres was eventually expanded to 40 acres.Article contentA company was formed – the Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery Company – which is a non-profit that is run by a volunteer board.Article contentAnother concern with the burial grounds behind what is now the library had also been that there wasn’t enough space to continue burying people.Article content“We now have over 10,000 people (buried) at Mountain Cemetery. So, you can see the impact of not having enough land really does matter,” Dease said.Article content During a memorial dedication ceremony, Jack Dease of the Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery, standing next to a new memorial behind the Yarmouth library, shared the history of those who were buried here, and also those who were relocated. TINA COMEAUArticle contentVERY MEANINGFULArticle contentThe previous memorial wall and the new memorial are aimed at remembering the past.Article content“I think you really should be congratulated on what you’ve done. Moving that from there to here, beautiful. Well done,” Dease said about the memorial’s refurbishment and new location.Article contentThere is much pride in the new memorial.Article content“One hundred years after the first building of the wall, we’ve moved (the memorial) again, to a permanent location,” Virginia Stoddard, president of the Yarmouth Public Library Board of Trustees, said during the dedication ceremony.Article contentArticle content“This was a graveyard. The existing stones that were still able to be rescued have been set in this arrangement,” she said. “The few that were not able to be rescued were set in this monument. Stones that were in pieces with no identification, they were gathered up and they are buried here in this monument.”Article contentStoddard said this site and Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery will always share a historic connection.Article contentBarb Rodney, who is also with the trustees, provided a dedication to the new memorial.Article content“We dedicate it to all the former residents of this cemetery and also to the ones that are at Mountain Cemetery,” she said. “We treasure the history of Yarmouth and our elders.”Article contentYarmouth MLA Nick Hilton also spoke at the ceremony.Article content“It’s such an important time to gather and rededicate this memorial, and to recreate it. It is such an important piece of history,” he said, acknowledging that prior to the ceremony, he didn’t know about the history.Article content“I want to thank Jack for sharing that story,” he said. “Our heritage is our story, and there is no better place to share it and protect that story than here at the public library.”Article contentArticle contentHilton also feels a special connection to the new memorial.Article content“This memorial is especially meaningful to me because my father helped create it,” he said. “It has always been special to me to drive around the community and see the projects he’s involved with. I’ll be able to share that with my family for years to come. This is a beautiful vision that’s come to life.”Article content A new memorial site on the grounds behind the Izaak Walton Killam Library in Yarmouth honours those who are, and also were, buried here. TINA COMEAUArticle contentTHE FAMILIESArticle contentThere are still people buried behind the library.Article contentAcross the street in Frost Park, there are also some gravesites.Article contentAbout those who were buried behind the library, and those relocated to Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery, Dease said costs and family circumstances didn’t always allow all family members to stay together that long time ago.Article content“It had to be heartbreaking for someone who had family buried here. One that I looked up this morning showed the daughter was buried here and the parents were buried there. Most likely they would have wanted to be buried together,” Dease said. “So there are certainly heartbreaking stories that, in that transition, would have existed.”Article contentStill, said Dease, if those people could see what has been done in their honour and memory, he’s certain they would find it deeply moving.Article content“I’m sure this would have made a big difference to them. I’m sure this would be so meaningful to them.”Article content
New memorial honours past burial ground’s important link to Yarmouth’s history
