Lorraine Briscoe

If you have ever taken a walk through or attended an interment in the Knowlton Cemetery at 178 St. Paul Road on a lovely summer day you have surely said to yourself “this would be the perfect place to be laid to rest”. There is something about its location at the top of a hill, its old trees and undulating terrain that make for a very peaceful setting.

Because most people don’t like to think about death and the loss of loved ones, they may not think about the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep a cemetery well maintained. The Knowlton Cemetery Company, which owns the cemetery land and keeps it running, is a charitable organization run by 13 volunteer board members. Among other things the board ensures the financial viability of the cemetery and it establishes the cemetery rules (for example no artificial flowers are allowed) which are posted at the entrance to the cemetery.

The cemetery caretaker since 2010, John Rhicard, says “the rules often go out the window when you are dealing with mourners.”

John says it takes 20 hours to mow the cemetery and another 20 to whipper snip around all the gravestones. “And you can’t do that when the grass is wet or you end up with clumps on the gravestones”, he explains. John is the only one allowed to dig the graves in the cemetery. It takes about an hour to dig a 4 X 10-foot grave for a casket with a backhoe and more time to drive the backhoe back and forth from his home on Bailey to the cemetery. Of the 27 burials last year only 3 were caskets the rest were urns which do not require a backhoe. The trend towards urns means burials can be scheduled later. Today most burials are in the summer. A 4 x 10-foot plot costs $450 and there is room for up to 6 urns. There is also a $350 one-time maintenance fee. Today, most plots are purchased ahead of time.

The oldest gravestones going back to the 1800s can be found on northern side of the cemetery that runs along St. Paul Road. There you will find Senator Foster, Paul Holland Knowlton, the founder of Knowlton and Captain James Ball, who donated the original cemetery land. Every year 200 miniature Canadian flags are placed by a volunteer at the gravesites of war veterans. According to findagrave.com there are 2,774 memorials in the Knowlton Cemetery.

In his 14 years as caretaker John has collected some interesting stories about the cemetery.
There is the story of someone who dropped their cell phone in the grave after the casket was lowered and having to crawl in around the coffin to fetch it because one a coffin is lowered you are not allowed to raise it. John has seen people being buried with all kinds of things including maple syrup and a bottle of alcohol. One grandmother was buried with her chili pot because she refused to share her recipe. Then there is the story of one man with his name on two gravestones because he remarried and decided to be buried with his second wife instead of his first one. Another family laid down some plywood on the gravesite and danced to some music.

When asked if anyone can be buried in The Knowlton Cemetery, Helen Rhicard, the board secretary replied, “Anyone who is dead”.