I saw Laurel Hill Cemetery on a beautiful sunny day. I have already been there many times, but just for walking. I have never really looked at any of the gravestones in the cemetery. When I was searching some of the people in Saco on the web, I came across the Saco Bay walking trails. They have mapped out a walking trail through the cemetery where you can see the gravesites of some of the famous people of Saco. The map was not that great and it took me an hour just to find the four that I did. Not to mention I was walking around the cemetery with a camera, which may have looked a little strange. The four sites that I did find were of people that I have already looked at in this blog. the first one pictured above is the Dyer plot. He is the man that the Dyer library is named after, he was a very influencial and wealthy member of Saco society.The second photo is of the chapel that is located in the cemetery. I was unable to find much information on the chapel, but as you can see it is very old and I would think was built around the same time that the cemetery as created.
The third photo is of the Deering family plot. There are five stones representing different memebers of the family, and then there is a plaque in the front that says "A determined worker loyal to his friends, a devoted student of the cultural arts ever seeking to improve this community in which he live." Frank Cutter Deering was the son of J.G Deering, and he is the one that the plaque refers to. He followed in his father's footsteps as a local merchant and banker. The Deering dynasty has done a lot for the town of Saco and they represent a huge part of Saco history.
The first photo to the left is of the Sweetser family plot. Cornelious Sweetser was from Reading, Massachusetts, and he was an entrepeneur, industrialist, and philanthropist. He left most of his estate to the town of Saco to establish social , cultural, and educational programs. The plaque in front of his plot states that "His name is well worthy of lasting rememberance." I would say that, based on what I have found about him, that is the truth. His cousin built many of the houses on Maine Street and Sweetser, provided tons of money for different programs and buildings throughout Saco.The last photo is of the Hamilton Plot. The two graves pictured are of Sarah Fairfield Hamilton and her husband Benjamin Franklin Hamilton. Not pictured are the graves of their three sons. Sarah, as stated earler in this blog, was a huge part of the women's suffrage movement in Saco. She started the first kindergarten and vocational education. She was also an aquaintance of Susan B. Anthony.
All of the people mentioned above and many others are buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery. I chose to complete my blog with this visit because it seems to be a literal ending to the research that I have done for this blog. This is where all of the people I have learned about this semester have been laid to rest.
