Yarmouth County Gravestone Inventory

The Yarmouth County Gravestone Inventory began in 1985, initially as a project of the Genealogy Group, Yarmouth County Historical Society, chaired by Peter Crowell.

Deborah Trask, of the Nova Scotia Museum and author of Life how short Eternity how long: Gravestone Carving and Carvers in Nova Scotia, conducted a workshop on September 7, 1985, on the proper methods for recording inscriptions of gravestones. She designed a form to be used for the recording of these inscriptions. This form was designed to capture a variety of information on the gravestones themselves, and also ensure an orderly and systematic approach. These forms record the following information:

Name of the cemetery
Date of recording
Marker number
Name of recorder
Marker type (head, foot, etc.)
Material (marble, granite, etc.)
Number of carved surfaces on the marker
Carving motif
Condition of the marker
Condition of the inscription
Dimensions of the marker
Number of people commemorated
Direction the marker faces
Inscription on the marker
Epitaph
Cataloguer’s remarks

The first recording by members of the Genealogy Group began in September of 1985. The initial work by this group was sporadic and not very successful. However, various individuals from the group were highly diligent and successful in recording the information from a number of cemeteries. Kenneth and Doris Peters, of Pubnico, NS, succeeded in recording all of the gravestones and their inscriptions from every cemetery at the County Line in Lower East Pubnico, NS, to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, at Argyle, NS. This recording took place between the years 1985-1988.

In 1987 the Argyle Township Court House Archives undertook a continuation of the inventory in Argyle Municipality. This was done using summer staff and volunteers, under the supervision of Peter Crowell, Municipal Historian and Archivist. From 1987 to 1991 a number of cemeteries were completed by ATCHA. This included the large Catholic cemeteries at Ste.-Anne-du-Ruisseau, Surette’s Island, Amirault’s Hill, and Wedgeport. A number of smaller cemeteries were also completed.

In 1989 Eric Whitehouse, chairman of the Genealogy Group at the Yarmouth County Museum attempted to resurrect the inventory project in that part of the County. While the group did not accomplish very much, Eric Whitehouse himself competed a number of cemeteries in the Deerfield area. In the last few years Janice Stelma and Lucille White, of the Yarmouth County Museum, have recorded a number of additional cemeteries in the Yarmouth Municipality (Carleton, Forest Glen, Port Maitland, etc.)

In Argyle Municipality Doreen Anderson recorded the Plymouth cemetery. Phyllis Pothier and Gordon Muise recorded the cemeteries at Quinan. Carol Jacquard recorded the cemeteries at Tusket Falls, Canaan, Pleasant Lake & Summerville.

The inventory continues in this manner, one cemetery at a time.

Indexed Table Yarmouth County Cemeteries

The following is a list of cemeteries that have been completed and are available at ATCHA:

Name of Cemetery	Location of Cemetery	Year Recorded	Recorders
Arcadia	Arcadia, NS	2001	Carol Jacquard Trudy Olsen
Beaver River	Beaver River, NS	1987	Betty Newell Kenneth & Doris Peters David Sollows George & Ann Sorensen Gwen Trask
Brenton	Brenton, NS	1989	Eric Whitehouse
Bunker Island	Bunker Island, NS	1987	Maple Grove History Club
Canaan	Canaan, NS	1999	Phyllis Hayes Carol Jacquard
Cornelius Hatfield Family	Gavelton, NS	1999	Carol Jacquard
Deerfield	Deerfield, NS	1989	Eric Whitehouse
Free Baptist	East Kemptville, NS	1985	Peter Crowell Dan Mackill
Green Grove	Argyle Sound, NS	1986	Kenneth & Doris Peters
Greenlawn	Gavelton, NS	1995-96	Phyllis Hayes Carol Jacquard
Hatfield Memorial	East Kemptville, NS	1990	Una Hubbard Kelly Sweeney Peter Crowell
Lakeview	Kemptville, NS	1988	Peter Crowell Dan Mackill Gordon Wood
Lake George	Lake George, NS	1989	Eric Whitehouse
Lower Argyle	Lower Argyle, NS	1988	Kenneth & Doris Peters
Mount Pleasant	Argyle, NS	1988	Rhonda Earle Kenneth & Doris Peters Susan Spinney
Nickerson Family	Summerville, NS	1994	Carol Jacquard
Old Argyle	Argyle, NS	1988	Kenneth & Doris Peters
Old Cemetery	Lower West Pubnico, NS	1986	Kenneth & Doris Peters
Old Methodist	East Kemptville, NS	1985	Peter Crowell Dan Mackill
Old Morrissey	Lower East Pubnico, NS	1986	Kenneth & Doris Peters
Old Trinity	Yarmouth, NS	1985	Peter Crowell Blanch Firth Nancy Hood Kenneth Peters David Sollows
Pleasant Lake	Pleasant Lake, NS	1999	Carol Jacquard
Pleasant Valley	Pleasant Valley, NS	1989	Eric Whitehouse
Plymouth	Plymouth, NS	1990	Doreen Anderson
Port Maitland (no name)	Port Maitland, NS	1993	Alan Rockwell
Richard Rose	Overton, NS	1985	Greig Trask
Riverview	South Canaan, NS	1999	Phyllis Hayes Carol Jacquard
Sainte-Agnes	Quinan, NS	1993	Phyllis Pothier Gordon Muise
Saint-Michel	Wedgeport, NS	1991	Doreen Anderson Marcel Boudreau Colin Bourque Peter Crowell Una Hubbard Donnie Jacquard Patti Surette Kelley Sweeney
Short Beach	Short Beach, NS	1992 [?]	Unknown recorder
Ste.-Anne-du-Ruisseau	Ste.-Anne-du-Ruisseau, NS	1990	Doreen Anderson Colin Bourque Peter Crowell Una Hubbard Heather Surette Kelley Sweeney
Ste. Famille	Amirault’s Hill, NS	1990	Colin Bourque Peter Crowell Una Hubbard Heather Surette
St.-Joseph’s	Surette’s Island, NS	1990	Colin Bourque Peter Crowell
St.-Pierre’s	West Pubnico, NS	1987-89	Kenneth & Doris Peters
Tusket Lakes	Gavelton, NS	1994	Carl Raynard

Sample Gravestone Inventory Forms

St.-Joseph’s Cemetery, Surette’s Island, NS

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Ste.-Anne-du-Ruisseau Cemetery, Ste.-Anne-du-Ruisseau, NS

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Greenlawn Cemetery – Gavelton, NS

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