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The earliest stone and unmarked now |
This cemetery had opened in 1860. It was third military burial ground in Toronto. This cemetery opened in 1860 and was the third
military burial ground in Toronto. It replaced one situated a short
distance to the west, which was abandoned after a few burials and the
bodies were moved to this location. The last known internment here was in
1911.
The following is an extract from Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto, Vol. 1, 1894:
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The most recent |
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an unknown soldier in today's street war |
There
are about two hundred graves distinguishable by the mounds of earth. In
the whole cemetery there are only twenty-eight stones or wooden slabs
standing to tell who lies beneath. A few broken stories have fallen;
most of them are indecipherable and the rest are nameless. All the
headstones are of the simplest and plainest character. There is not a
monument or shaft in the yard. On a few graves are simple wooden crosses
without any inscription. Here and there is a square picketed enclosure
about a grave, the fence in a very dilapidated condition and overgrown
with grass, thistles and ivy. But one grave bears token that its
occupant is still cherished in memory. The grave is that of
Sergeant-Major F.W. Gathercole, of the Canadian School of Infantry, who
died at the new fort, Toronto, February 13, 1883, aged forty-two years. A
neat marble slab, simple but quite as pretentious as any in the
cemetery, bears the inscription that it was erected by his comrades in
affectionate remembrance. About the grave the grass and thistles have
been cleared away, and four pots of geraniums in bloom had been placed
on it. The stone marking the resting place of assistant
Commissary-General, John Moirs McLean Sutherland, is broken and down.
Everything about the grounds bears evidence that they are seldom
visited. The proportion of soldiers drowned among the twenty-eight whose
names are decipherable is large. They are John Manley Rattle, Deputy
Assistant Commissary-General, J. Ramsey Akers, Ensign in the 16th
Regiment, James Walsh, Private in the 30th Regiment, and Corporal John
Smeeton, of the 13th Hussars. Several graves are those of the wives and
children of soldiers. The head stones range in date, from 1860 down to
that of Private E. A. Heath, of the Canadian School of Infantry, who
died in 1885, being the most recent. Among the graves is one of Walter
Toronto Lewis, the one-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Lewis, who
died in 1868. The 13th Hussars has the greatest number of burials. At
two graves are tiny marble slabs, not over five inches wide and a foot
high, bearing simply the inscriptions: "G. M. and G. F. S.". They are
evidently remembered, for loving hands had recently propped up the
broken and fallen memorials with pieces of wood. Most of the stones bear
inscriptions to the effect that they were erected by comrades. But
little attempt at decoration has been made on the slabs. Here and there
is a flag, a pair of crossed swords, a wreath, a cross, a crown, and
other usual emblems of this character all very simply executed. Among
the dead who lie here are: Trumpeter James McMahon, 13th Hassars;
Rachel, wife of Sergeant-Major William Ross, of the 4th Artillery;
Isabella Thompson, Private George Miller, 13th Hussars, and
Colour-Sergeant John Hanney, 47th Regiment.
This memorial area was created to preserve the remaining headstones and to commemorate all those who lie here.
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