Minuteman’s burial ground rededicated

Municipal historian cleans up city cemetery

TORRINGTON — A small historic cemetery where a Revolutionary War soldier is buried was recently rededicated in a ceremony that honored Minuteman Elijah Pond and his family.

The plot, surrounded by a fieldstone wall near 2360 Norfolk Road, was recently cleared of brush and fallen trees. Now, visitors can clearly see eight headstones dating back to 1799.

Municipal Historian Ken Buckbee presented information at the ceremony about the settlers who are buried there. He said the soldier, Elijah Pond, moved from Massachusetts to Torrington in 1794. While still in the Bay State, Pond was a captain of a company of Minutemen, Buckbee said.

The company “responded and helped to contain the British in Boston,” Buckbee said in his presentation.

Also notable is the grave of Abijah Holbrook, who also moved from Massachusetts to Torrington. He arrived circa 1787, Buckbee said, and, upon his arrival, built a flour and saw mill.

“He was a wealthy man and a slave owner. Abijah was quite ahead (of) his time,” Buckbee said. “He freed two slaves in 1798.” Those former slaves, Jacob and Ginnie Prince, were featured in the celebration of the city’s 275th anniversary, Buckbee said.

The rededication of the cemetery came about when Jennie Scofield, who lives nearby, noticed how badly the plot was overgrown.

“It was hard to get in there because of the trees,” she said.

Scofield’s grandmother, Lois Fields, owned the cemetery and the nearby house until 2012, Scofield said. Concerned about the condition of the historic site, Scofield started looking for someone who could help clear the area.

“Abijah was quite ahead (of) his time. He freed two slaves in 1798.”

Ken Buckbee, municipal historian, on one of the grave sites

Buckbee visited the cemetery when Fields lived there, he said, so he was familiar with the historic site. He heard about the cleanup effort and contacted the city.

“Ken came to my office and told me about this piece of history,” said Mayor Elinor Carbone. “It broke my heart to see how overgrown it was. The trees were falling and chipping away at the stones.”

A subcommittee of the City Council approved a small grant from the Community Development Stipend Program, which paid for the trees to be removed, and Scofield helped clear vines and brush at the site. “I’m so grateful for the attention the cemetery has gotten and the steward, or guardian of our history,” said Carbone.

She thanked Scofield for “recognizing the importance this has for the community.”

“It was so overgrown, you would not have known it was here,” Carbone said.

Now, she thinks the site may get quite a few more visitors.

“As a Minuteman, (Pond) fought to make American what America is today,” Carbone said.

Buckbee and his wife, Judey, offered a poignant interlude at the ceremony by reciting a Civil War poem, “Only a Soldier’s Grave.”

Here is an excerpt:

“Yet, we should mark it — the soldier’s grave, someone may seek him in hope to save! Some of the dear ones, far away, would bear him home to his native clay: ‘Twere sad, indeed, should they wander nigh, find not the hillock, and pass him by.”

Leslie Hutchison / Hearst Connecticut Media Judey and Ken Buckbee recite a poem during a recent rededication ceremony at a historic cemetery on Norfolk Road in Torrington.

The inscription on an obelisk at the Holbrook-Pond Cemetery reveals the name of Abijah Pond, who freed two slaves in 1798.

Leslie Hutchison / Hearst Connecticut Media From left are Jennie Scofield, who lives near the cemetery, Mayor Elinor Carbone and Municipal Historian Ken Buckbee, who spurred the clean up effort.