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Kinne Cemetery

Coordinates: 41°33′24″N 71°53′15″W / 41.55667°N 71.88750°W / 41.55667; -71.88750
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Kinne Cemetery
Kinne Cemetery is located in Connecticut
Kinne Cemetery
Kinne Cemetery is located in the United States
Kinne Cemetery
LocationJarvis Rd., Griswold, Connecticut
Coordinates41°33′24″N 71°53′15″W / 41.55667°N 71.88750°W / 41.55667; -71.88750
Area0.8 acres (0.32 ha)
Built1713
NRHP reference No.01000351[1]
Added to NRHPApril 12, 2001

Kinne Cemetery, also known as the Glasgo Cemetery and Old Kinne Burying Ground, is a historic cemetery in Jarvis Road in Griswold, Connecticut. The earliest marked stone is for Daniel Kinne who died in 1713. In the 1930s, the inscriptions of 79 stones in the Kinne Cemetery were recorded for the Hale Index. There are around 80 fieldstones with no carving or identification, but it is unknown if this stems from wearing of the gneiss stone or that there were no skilled carvers locally available. The seven carvers that have been identified are Lebbeus Kimball, Jotham Warren, Josiah Manning, Peter Barker, Mr. Huntington of Lebanon, E. Marston of Mystic Bridge and O. Doty of Stonington. The National Historic Register of Places nomination notes, "the cemetery is significant artistically because the carving on the stones gives many good examples of the funerary art that was characteristic of the 18th and 19th centuries in New England." The cemetery is notable because of the burial of Isaac C. Glasko, the namesake of the village of Glasgo, and a prominent African American land-holding man who ran a blacksmith shop that was important to the marine industry of the area. The cemetery was made a part of the Connecticut Freedom Trail in 1995 and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 12, 2001.

History

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Established around 1713, the Kinne Cemetery is one of eighteen family cemeteries in Griswold.[2] It rests upon the land of Joseph Kinne, who came to Griswold from Salem, Massachusetts in 1704 and includes the land of Thomas Kinne, also came from Salem in 1714.[2] The exact date of its founding is unknown, but the earliest extant stone is for Daniel Kinne, died 1713.[2] According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination, the cemetery was an active burial site for the Kinne family, including those of married Kinne daughters, until the interment of Clark Robbins Cook in 1912.[2] However, the Hale Index lists the last marked interment as that of Herbert Kinney, died August 24, 1916.[3] Gravestone carvers identified in the burial ground include Richard Kimball and his son Chester Kimball, John Huntington, the Manning Family of Windham, and Jotham Warren.

In order to improve and enlarge the cemetery, the Kinne Historical and Genealogical Society was incorporated by special act of the Connecticut General Assembly in 1884.[2] In 1887, the land adjacent to the Glasgo Pond was purchased by the society, though the boundary of 168 feet (51 m) by 170 feet (52 m) does not match the town's record.[2] The land's grantor, Nathan B. Lewis, purchased the land thirty years prior in 1857 from a Kinne family connection, Alexander Steward.[2] According to the Town of Griswold's records, the property is designated as "map 78, block 136, lot 3".[2] In the 1930s, the inscriptions of 79 stones in the Kinne Cemetery were recorded for the Hale Index.[2] According to another study, 71 of the 74 interments are related by blood or marriage to the Kinne family.[2]

In the Summer of 1999, a group of volunteers worked to restore and clean up the cemetery that led to a ceremony in October 1999 with more than 60 people in attendance. The article in The Day highlighted the difficulty in finding the cemetery which is located on the banks of the Pachaug River, in the village of Glasgo, located in the town of Griswold.[4] Iva Arpin said that the town would repair the stone walls and that the Children of the American Revolution would return in the spring to continue their work on the cemetery.[4] In 2002, the cemetery had undergone a significant restoration which included the unearthing and accounting for all the burial markers that had been strewn about the grounds.[5] Arpin noted that some of the stones showed signs of vandalism.[5] The Day described how some of the marker stones and monuments were covered in nearly a foot of pine needles and that the roots had uprooted the anchor stones causing the headstones to fall and break.[5]

By 2007, concerns about public use of the land for recreation and reflection had provoked concern from Kinne descendants, but there is little that descendants could do. The grounds were once under the control of the Kinne Family Historical Society, but it was disbanded "generations ago" and the town owns the cemetery by default.[6] The cemetery had been disturbed by the gravestones being stacked to "help climbers reach their optimum height before swinging" from a rope on a tree into the pond.[6] Pieces of the wall and a gravestone had been thrown towards the pond and came to rest on a ledge.[6] Courtland Kinne, a descendant of Thomas Kinne, wants a jersey barrier erected to stop vehicles from parking next to the gravestones, the wrought iron fence around the burial ground and the trees within the grounds to be removed because their roots could disturb the plots.[6]

Importance

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The Kinne Cemetery shows the evolution of funerary art over the course of the centuries.[2] The earliest marked stone is for Daniel Kinne who died in 1713. Daniel Kinne's stone has a simple rounded top with only his name carved into it.

Interments

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This is an alphabetical list of interments recorded from the Hale Index survey with all data stemming from a copy of the Charles R. Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions.[3] Additional field stones are noted, but were not listed in the Hale Collection.[3] According to the National Historic Register, names are missing from this list, including Isaac C. Glasko (1776–1861) who was "of mixed Indian and Negro blood."[2] The listing here is not complete because the records of many field stones were incomplete and did not contain identification, including the earliest stone for Daniel Kinne who died in 1713. Kinne's stone only had the name carved.[2]

First Name Last Name Born Died Age Notes
Olver Bordman October 3, 1777 9 months Son of Daved and Jemime
Clark R. Cook December 6, 1835 May 28, 1832 42
Elizabeth Cook May 28, 1832 42
Betsey Crary January 30, 1856 65 Widow of George Crary
George Crary August 25, 1831 48
Charles E. Fletcher June 29, 1870 20 Son of John W. and Sarah J. Fletcher
John W. Fletcher March 1, 1895 67
Sarah Huston Fieldstone
Hugh Kennedy October 31, 1778 86 (about)
John Kennedy May 12, 1752 50
Abby Robbins Kinne February 8, 1868 82 Wife of Sterry
Abigal Kinne Field stone
Capt. Ezra Kinne February 8, 1795 66
Capt. James Kinne November 4, 1807 72 No marker
Capt. Joseph Kinne July 12, 1745 67
Daniel Kinne 1713[2] Field stone.
Edwin Byron Kinne October 23, 1845 20 years, 7 months Son of Sterry and Abby Kinne
Elizabeth Kinne November 20, 1823 76 2nd wife of Capt. James Kinne
Eunice Kinne Field Stone
Gideon Kinne February 25, 1802 78
Gideon Kinne May 3, 1753 2 Gideon and Thankfull Kinne
Hannah Kinne August 7, 1791 40–49 Wife of Capt. James, the second digit of age is unreadable
Hannah Kinne Field stone
Jonas Kinne May 6, 1766 13 Son of Gideon and Thankfull
Joseph Kinne July 15, 1777 0–1 Son of Samuel and Amy Kinne, died in first year
Joseph Kinne 1777 Field Stone
Keziah Kinne Wife of Capt. Joseph Kinne
Lydia Kinne Field Stone
Lydia Kinne 1751 Field Stone
Lyman Kinne October 24, 1788 3 Son of Samuel and Amy
Sally Kinne February 22, 1797 10–19 years Samuel and Amy, second digit of age is unreadable.
Sally Kinne May 20, 1825 44 Wife of Sterry Kinne
Sarah Kinne Field Stone
Sarah Kinne March 1, 1792 58 Wife of Ezra Kinne
Solomon Kinne July 4, 1799 22
Stery Kinne November 29, 1830 50
Thankfull Kinne December 29, 1798 72 Wife of Gideon
Andrew Kinney December 1, 1826 35
Archibald Kinney April 16, 1815 Mar. 29, 1904 88 Husband of Emily Boardman Kinney
Betsy Kinney February 9, 1849 84 Widow of Lot Kinney
Elisha Kinney April 11, 1848 65
Emily Boardman Kinney Oct. 23, 1820 Dec. 5, 1877 62 Wife of Archibald Kinney
Gideon Kinney August 9, 1790 June 13, 1875 84
Hannah Kinney May 21, 1817 36 Daughter of Jacob and Lydia
Herbert Kinney March 28, 1847 Aug. 24, 1916 69
Jacob Kinney May 1, 1813 56
James Kinney October 11, 1834 25 Son of Sterry and Sally Kinney
Lot Kinney May 30, 1825 60
Lydia Kinney August 29, 1832 73 Widow of Jacob Kinney
Mary E. Kinney October. 29, 1850 18 Daughter of Elisha and Rebecca Kinney
Pierpont Kinney February 1, 1829 31
Charles Rix November 12, 1837 1 month, 9 days Name illegible, but may be Charles H. – Son of Ephraim B. and Lucy
Marcy Scranton June 14, 1837 58 Wife of Thomas
Alexander Stewart November 16, 1849 64 years, 5 months, 11 days.
Thomas Stewart September 9, 1834 48 years, 4 months, 18 days
Thomas Stuwart August 13, 1783 3 Son of Alexander and Thankfull
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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ransom, David (27 February 2001). "National Register of Historic Places – Kinne Cemetery". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Kinne Cemetery Records Town of Griswold New London County, Connecticut". hale-collection.com. 1934. pp. 92–95. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  4. ^ a b Gathers, Katrina (Oct 25, 1999). "Summer of hard work restores memorials, history of burial site". The Day. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Community effort refurbishes 'forgotten' cemetery". The Day. September 5, 2002. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d Bard, Megan (September 24, 2007). "Family Cemetery Needs Gentle Consideration". The Day. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2014.