The Fathers' Monument (Part One)

 Or: Searching for an “impressive structure of native boulders, 44 feet high,” according to William Cothren.

   Over thirty years ago, Woodbury CT's favorite historian William Cothren got me curious about Indigenous made stone constructions when he included absolutely no information about our family home (that I was looking for) but did include a woodcut of a stacked stone monument over what he claimed was the Grave of the Sachem Nonnewaug (that I wasn't looking for). 

Sachems' Stones illustrations from Cothren, by Curtiss

   Just a few weeks ago, in the last of the summer of 2022, while looking for something else, I came across a reference to a "boulder monument" that I thought I had somehow missed, even though Mr. Cothren relates that it was quite tall, almost fifty feet tall and composed of "native boulders."

   I'm very disappointed with Mr. Cothren who chose to describe these quarried rectangular blocks of stone as "native boulders." I didn't measure the structure and thus can neither confirm nor deny the "44 feet" part of the description. It is the tallest monument in the old Puritan burial grounds:

   "The Old Burial Ground lies on a 3.8 acre shelf to the West of Main Street, sloping to the Hollow. This location was considered ideal for burials as the area was not good for farmland, and the original section, on the southern end, was near the site of the first Congregational meetinghouse. Stones date back to 1678 with many gravestones, monuments and sarcophagi from the 17th, 18th & early 19th century. Early graves in New England were customarily marked with uncut boulders and many have become a piece of the stone wall that lines the east side of the land. In 1785, construction of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was begun on the northerly section of this parcel and a burial ground was developed in the church’s shadow. In time the two grounds expanded to merge, with no division line.

   The thin soil on this parcel has been kind to seedling pines and hemlocks, some of which have reached majestic proportions. In this cemetery each small plot holds its own story, all part of the warp and woof of the tapestry that is Woodbury.

   The Fathers’ Monument stands proudly at this site. It was dedicated during the Bicentennial Celebration of the organization of the First Church as the Second Church of Stratford, held May 5, 1870. This impressive structure of native boulders, 44 feet high, was erected in memory of the first three Congregational ministers in Woodbury: Zechariah Walker, Anthony Stoddard and Noah Benedict , whose united ministry covered a period of one hundred forty three years. The benefactors of this monument include William Tecumseh Sherman of Civil War fame. One third of the more than $1,500 cost was donated by an anonymous contributor.

   At the base of the monument is an old mill wheel that was brought from Stratford by Woodbury’s earliest settlers. It was carried between two horses on their journey and was used to grind the grain and corn for the whole settlement at the rate of one bushel per day..."

   "A flat, irregular slab of pasture granite lies at the foot of the monument. This original grave marker of Rev. Zachariah Walker, who passed away in 1699, is one of the oldest burial markers in the region..."

   Whether one is a Woodbury native, or a New England enthusiast, a slow walk through this ancient burial ground will evoke a strong sense of Woodbury’s heritage…” 

http://www.woodburycemetery.com/history/

  I pondered a bit about a similarity in shape to some Manitou Stones while standing there, as well as some that resemble single stones that might be "two horns" on certain Stone Snake Effigies...

Town Mowing Crew