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Burlington Vermont's
Elmwood Cemetery
By James P. Millard
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Nestled
between the city's old north end and its bustling downtown, is
Burlington's Elmwood Cemetery. The tale of its establishment is
fascinating:
In 1801 Levi Allen, the brother of Ethan Allen died,
as did his brother Ira, bankrupt and penniless. He died within the
Burlington gaol, confined as was often the case during those times, for
his debts.
Unfortunately, relations between the Allen's were
poor at the time and no one claimed poor Levi's body. This was because
Vermont law specified that anyone removing a body from within the actual
town limits assumed his debts and Burlington's only cemetery at the time-
Green Mount, lay outside those limits.
The town fathers solved their dilemma by setting aside the five acre
lot now known as Elmwood Cemetery as a burial ground. Levi Allen was the
first person interred here.1
Marker at the entrance to Elmwood Cemetery.
Photo by the author |
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David J. Blow in his excellent Historic Guide to
Burlington Neighborhoods, tells us that "hundreds of graves have been
lost", either because they were buried in a haphazard manner, never
received a marker, or fell prey to vandalism. Evidently due to the small
size of the burial ground, some who were interred here were later reburied
in Lake View Cemetery.
Buried at Elmwood, in addition to many of Burlington's earliest
residents, are some individuals very familiar to students of local
history. We were able to locate some of their graves during a brief visit
in the Fall of 2001. |
 This
is the plot containing the mortal remains of
Fanny Montressor Penniman,
Ethan Allen's second wife. Buried here in 1834, she lies alongside the
remains of her third husband, Jabez Penniman.
 Interestingly enough, the
family name, Montressor, is spelled Montezuma
on the stone, and she is identified on the stone as being "Formerly the
wife of Ethan Allen."
Click on the thumbnails to see a full-size
photo. |
 Another
Allen, Ebenezer, distant cousin to the famous Ethan and a hero in his own right,
is buried here. His badly weathered stone is located close to the front
entrance of the cemetery, easily visible from the sidewalk.
Ebenezer was a hero of the Revolution, playing a key role in many
conflicts occurring on the Historic Lakes. For many years he ran a tavern
on the southernmost tip of what is now South Hero. For more information
about Ebenezer Allen, click
here.
Also buried at Elmwood are early Vermont historian Zadock Thompson and
Vermonters prominent in the early maritime and transportation history of
the region, Gideon King and Timothy Follett. Fortunately the lovely and
distinctive homes of King and Follett still stand in the city. Harvey
Blush, a deckhand on the ill-fated steamer Phoenix, sunk at
Providence Island September 5, 1819, has a memorial stone here.
Interestingly enough, Joseph Barron, pilot of Macdonough's flagship
Saratoga at the Battle of Plattsburgh, is listed as being interred here after he fell
in battle on September 11, 1814. A visit to our
All about Historic Plattsburgh, New York page shows Barron as having
been buried in Plattsburgh's Riverside Cemetery. For a photo of the
Plattsburgh grave of Joseph Barron, click
here. If
any site visitors can shed light on this mystery for us, we'd love to hear
from you! |
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 Buried
at Elmwood are other early residents of Burlington, less prominent
perhaps, but nonetheless loved and mourned by those they left behind.
Not far from Ebenezer Allen's stone marker is this simple monument to
George Keyes, eldest son of Elnathan and Jane. George died, the marker
tells us, at the tender age of 5 years, "on the 7th day of April 1802
with the Smallpox." |
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Sources/Notes:
1 David J. Blow,
"HISTORIC
GUIDE TO BURLINGTON NEIGHBORHOODS" Edited by Lilian Baker Carlisle (Burlington,
Vermont: Chittenden County Historical Society 1991) 191 |
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