Cemeteries

The Interment Rights Holder, also known as the plot owner, must provide written authorization or Order for Interment Form before a burial can take place. If the owner is deceased, the person(s) authorized to act on their behalf must provide the authorization. That is usually the Estate Executor, spouse, or adult children. (Please refer to Section 5 of the Cemetery By-law

Burleigh (Burley) Cemetery is found down a laneway beside the driveway of 2052 Withers Road.

This cemetery was an eighteenth-century family cemetery and has three small fieldstones for markers.

Two United Empire Loyalist brothers settled in the location following the death of their father, John Burley, in or following the Battle of Freeman's Farm in Saratoga, New York on September 19, 1777.

They were buried with their wives:

• John Burley (1768-1851) & Lydia Richmond (1777-1854)
• Freeman Burley (1759-1838) & Susannah Weis (1770- abt. 1838)

Early burial sites often had fieldstone rolled onto the grave; sometimes with painted names or initials scratched onto the stones – now worn away. If markings were originally made on the Burleigh stones, none sadly remain.

Fourth Line (Fellows) Cemetery is located at 6385 County Road 2 and is one of the oldest European cemeteries in the Township.

Fourth Line is a medium sized former United Church cemetery established as a free burying ground. It had the distinction of serving the oldest Methodist congregation in Upper Canada (1792 - 1967). The church itself was remodeled in 1875 and closed in 1967. During demolition in 1982, the memorial window was preserved and is the property of the Lennox & Addington County Museum.

The cemetery has approximately 200 graves with the earliest grave record dating back to 1805. 

In addition, the Ontario Genealogical Society has published a cemetery transcript "Ernestown Fifteen Cemeteries" which is available for purchase.

A large memorial plaque is situated on the footprint of the demolished former church.

This island cemetery is located at 2052 Stella Forty Foot Road, about three quarters of a mile from the ferry dock, directly southeast of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church. It is for the use of all religious denominations.

The first burial was made in this Cemetery on June 22nd, 1886 when Alexander Glenn's remains were interred in a field of barley. Subsequent planting of maple trees gave the cemetery its name. Many of the original trees still survive.

The original cemetery was purchased in 1886 for one dollar by the former Township of Amherst Island from Robert Perceval-Maxwell of Groomsport House, County Down, Ireland. It included approximately two acres of land and provided for 1,000 burial plots, plus suitable walkways. In 1977, a further two and a half acres of property for burials was purchased which provided another 760 spaces, many of which are still available.

The cemetery contains a stone burial vault (no longer in use) dug into the slope which was built in 1886 to house bodies that could not be interred because of frozen ground.

Lutheran Union Cemetery is located at 1506 Ham Road and is one of the oldest European cemeteries in the Bay of Quinte area. The cemetery was already in use by the 1790's with the first known minister, Reverend John Wigant.

The early burial sites had fieldstone rolled onto the grave; some had painted names or initials scratched onto the stones - now worn away, others had wooden markers. With the opening of the Rideau Canal, stonecutters moved to the area and families would commission them to carve a memorial to relatives who had died years earlier. An example is that of Mary Laughlin, 1760 - 1796, whose marker was placed by her children.

In 1819, an acre was designated as a cemetery and three denominations used the church building erected about the same time. The Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan Methodist congregations took turns holding services for over 60 years until the Lutheran congregation dwindled and the church was given to the Methodists. St. Peter's Church became the Union Church, burned in 1932, rebuilt in 1937 and again destroyed.

The cemetery runs alongside Mill Creek and contains many fine examples of well carved headstones including mourning scenes. One of the earliest stones is dated 1814 and lists many United Empire Loyalists and later generations. "The cemetery is a pilgrimage site for descendants of the first European settlers in Ontario" and an inventory of the surviving markers is maintained in the Lennox and Addington Museum in Napanee.

There is more information, including some transcriptions and photographs of headstones, at findagrave.com

McIntyre Bell's Cemetery is located near the northwest corner of the intersection of County Road 7 and McIntyre's Road. It is set back from the road, at the rear of the old schoolhouse property.

In the early 1800's, a wooden framed Dutch Reformed Presbyterian church stood near this site. It became a Presbyterian church in about 1828 and two acres of land were set aside for a cemetery.

The church was still standing in the 1860's and it is believed that dozens of the early settlers are buried here.

In time the cemetery was abandoned. The stones have been gone for many years although one for Andrew Bartels, aged 10, was found by workmen while clearing the grounds in preparation for fencing the cemetery. This is the only stone to survive.

The following people are thought to be buried here:

• John Bell, d. 1853
• Cyrus E. Bell, d. 1844
• Samuel G. Bell, d. 1848
• Cornelius Sharp, d. 1863
• Andrew Bartels, d. 1839

Ontario Genealogical Society

Morven Cemetery is located on the grounds of Morven United Church at 1183 Fralick Road, Morven.  Morven Cemetery dates back to 1834.  Ownership of this cemetery was recently transferred to the Township and little is known about the cemetery beyond:

• Graves originally cost $5.00
• The first record of burial in the cemetery was for Daniel Henwood.
• The minutes of the first shareholders meeting is in possession of the Township

This cemetery is Amherst Island's first designated non-denominational cemetery and in the late 1820's consisted of half an acre probably enclosed by a wooden structure.

In 1831, Samuel Pentleton was the first person to be buried here as his headstone denotes. Although there are stones with earlier dates, they were burials transferred here once the cemetery was designated. There are a high number of children's graves in Pentland due to house fires but primarily due to the diphtheria epidemic that swept the Island in the mid 1800's. As a result, the cemetery contains hundreds of burials and many unmarked graves, as swift burials were essential due to the diphtheria and other epidemics during this period.

The headstones record the predominantly Irish pioneer families that settled on Amherst Island and today, many of their descendants continue to reside on the Island. In 1980 the Kingston Genealogical Society published a detailed listing of all headstones/monuments in Pentland at that time. The last body to be interred was in 1954 and the ashes of another were placed in 2001.

One of the most notable persons buried here is Daniel Fowler, (1810-1894), who emigrated from England, settling, and building his home, The Cedars, now a historical site on Amherst Island. A watercolourist, he was a founding member of the Royal Canadian Academy and his works are found in English galleries, the National Art Gallery of Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum, and many private collections. Mr. Fowler lived for forty years on the Island, designing, and building an Anglican Church and planting the cedars at the entrance to Pentland Cemetery.

The cemetery was first enlarged in the 1860's and enclosed with stone walls or fencing. This specific type of fencing is only found in two known areas, Ireland and Adolphustown, Ontario. John Crowe, an Irishman from the Ards Peninsula, County Down, built a rod a day and charged a dollar a rod and usually room & board as well. The fencing is constructed of fieldstones stacked upon one another for the body of the fencing with the top of the fence using fieldstone standing on end giving a unique architectural and ornate appearance.

In September 2015, the cemetery was visited by CBC's Rick Mercer during the first Irish-Canadian International Dry Stone Festival to be held on Amherst Island and featured in the Rick Mercer Report @ Amherst Island.

The restoration of the Irish dry-stone walls or fences was initiated by the Amherst Island Women's Institute in 2004 with the hiring of a master stonemason to instruct volunteers on the art of rebuilding these unique structures. Restoring Pentland's 300-foot west stone wall involved dismantling nearly the entire wall, before rebuilding to John Crowe's original design and specifications. It took eight years to complete the project which saw 1,400 feet completely rebuilt along three sides of the cemetery. In 2015 the last stone was placed on the north wall after eight summers of restoration. The Kingston-Whig covered the story in an article published in 2017

While restoring the west fence, a stone corner was uncovered which indicated that the cemetery once had stones fences encircling it. Work started on the southeast fence but as stones from these fences had disappeared over time, new stones were required for the last two sides. All artifacts found in the fences were kept and a time capsule was placed. The Federated Women's Institute of Ontario and the Ontario Historical Society has recognized the spearheading of this unusual project in which volunteers worked many hundreds of hours.

Monument restorers have been impressed with the inscriptions and designs found on the headstones, the quality of the quartz used and the unusual ironwork.

Pentland Cemetery is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act for both historical and cultural reasons. Its restoration documents Canada's pioneer history in rural areas and provides a tangible historical site for present and future generations.

Switzerville Cemetery is located by 1911 Newburgh Road. Historically, many local sites were used for pioneer burials, and the earliest recorded date indicating that Switzerville was a cemetery is in the land deed when members of an Episcopalian Methodist Chapel purchased land to erect a Chapel.

One of the earliest dates found is on the Madden headstone with two burials in 1817. Wooden markers or fieldstones were used to mark graves as there were few stone carvers and the cost of purchasing formal headstones was beyond the means of most pioneer farmers. Several pre-1842 headstones have survived and are noted as being fine examples by researchers documenting early pioneer cemeteries. The headstone of John Grange, erected by his sons, and dated 1835, has been recognized as outstanding. There are about 125 recorded graves that have markers but as with many pioneer cemeteries there are many unmarked graves as well.

The name, Switzerville, originated from an early settler, Christopher Switzer, who, along with his family, settled in the area and was a Palatine Methodist

Many Methodists were from upper New York State and migrated to Upper Canada in the 1790's in large numbers. The names of these pioneer families may still be found in the area: Switzer, Embury, Detlor, Miller, Huffman, Heck, Dulmage, Bininger, Sparling, Lawrence, Carscellen, Shorey, Madden, Empey, and Neville. 

Switzerville Cemetery is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act for both historical and cultural reasons. It documents Canada's pioneer history in rural areas, specifically a community of families brought together through the Methodist denomination and provides a tangible historical site for present and future generations.

Notable parts of this cemetery are some finely detailed carved headstones, some dating back as early as the mid to late 1820's. Several are examples of the skills of township resident carvers named Moore who marked their workplace as MillCreek (1854) and Odessa (1860's). A towering oak tree is a significant presence in the landscape with the rows of stones distributed across the ground.

Not part of the designation is the site of the church which is commemorated by the limestone monument with etched granite panels, erected in 1990, that represents both the 1826 Switzer Chapel and the brick church that replaced it in 1892, itself demolished in 1988.

On October 2, 1828, forty-eight of the most important Episcopalian preachers along with the Methodists met at the Switzerville Chapel to formally declare an independent Canadian Methodist Chapel. Native Canadians from Rice Lake attended the Chapel and erected their tents in the unused portions of the cemetery where they sang and displayed their crafts. While the Chapel has gone, the cemetery remains as a reminder of where many pioneer Methodists settled, worshipped, lived, and died. A cairn was erected in 1989 and dedicated in 1990 to mark the spot where the two Chapels had stood.

The Township acquired Violet Cemetery in 2024. It is an inactive cemetery. 

Violet Cemetery is located at 1346 Violet Road. From the village of Odessa follow Hwy #2 for approximately seven kms to Violet Road. Turn right on to Violet Road and follow for just over a kilometre and you will find the cemetery on the left.

Violet Cemetery dates back to the 18^th and 19^th century.  The names of all interred at Violet Cemetery are unknown as many of the old records were lost in a church fire in 1953.

In April 2022 nearly 20 monuments were vandalized. Three generations of Vanberkels, including 15 year old Joe Vanberkel, worked with a backhoe, rope, chain, and lots of muscle and determination to raise 12 of the damaged monuments.