Sunday, May 26, 2013

The Morrell Cemetery, Eliot, Maine


MORRELL CEMETERY RESTORATION PROJECT UPDATE: SPRING/2013
The Morrell Cemetery Restoration Project began early last Spring … Students from the Marshwood High School of Eliot, Maine as part of their Annual Community Service Project cleaned the cemetery of leaves and debris in preparation of the restoration … James Driver, a Boy Scout from Eliot, Maine selected this cemetery restoration as his Eagle Scout Project with the assistance of Donald Driver, his father and troop leader and overseen by members of the Eliot Historical Society …

After many weeks of cleaning the area they were able to locate close to all of the original ornate ironwork, including corner posts, center section posts, long side sections including the entrance gates which are now in full use on the north and south side …  Many large trees needed to be removed before James and Donald could begin their work of laying out the stones from town records to their original location …Each headstone has been beautifully reset along with each of the corresponding footstones … Some of the headstones that were broken from many long harsh New England winters and years of neglect were saved and restored … This was a painstaking task throughout the hot and humid summer encountering poison ivy and mosquitoes along the way … The project was considered completed late Fall/2012 …

We cannot begin to express our gratitude for the hundreds of hours of work that James and his father did in the restoration of The Morrell Cemetery … Now and into the future fellow researchers and family members of the Morrell Family will be able to clearly see how important this cemetery is to the History of Eliot, Maine … Rarely, do you see an entire family buried in one cemetery …
In January/2013, abutting residents to the cemetery, The Stein Family and The Glynn/Wachtel Family adopted The Morrell Cemetery from The Eliot Historical Society as part of the "Adopt a Cemetery Program" and will continue to maintain this cemetery ...
Below you will see photographs of the restored Morrell Cemetery in Eliot, Maine


The Morrell Cemetery - West Side

The Morrell Cemetery - South Side

The Morrell Cemetery - West Side
 
The Morrell Cemetery - Ornate Ironwork - West Side



1 comment:

  1. Thank you! According to this article -
    http://network.mainegenealogy.net/profiles/blogs/old-morrell-estate-in-eliot-maine-has-a-most-interesting-history
    the cemetery was in the back of the house, the house burned in 1933 and in the front of the house there is a hill. At the bottom of the hill was where the original John Morrell is buried and it is "marked by a cluster of stones". Do you have any idea where that might be? Also there was an original Friends/Quaker meeting house within a mile. Do you know where that might be? Thanks so much - Jennifer Morrell

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