fitchburg-hometown
A mirage of a shimmering blue lake isn't always the result of a weary
traveller's thirst in the parched desert.  In fact, you can see a lake
appear and disappear right before your very eyes, only a few minutes from
where you live.  Many a time has one jounced down Marshall Rd. from its
intersection with Fisher Rd, and observed the still waters of "Marshall
Pond" with its sandy beach on the far shore.  No sooner does one drive by
when all heads do a double take and look in vain for the pond.  Such is the
magic of an optical illusion, in actuality but a few coats of white paint on
an apple storage building.

Though buildings come and go, and the wrecker's ball destroys much of our
irretrievable past, one witness to Fitchburg's colonial heritage still
remains.  These are the cemeteries, for the most part overlooked as they are
tucked away and not discernible to the average person bustling about.

The South St. cemetery, the oldest still standing in Fitchburg, is located
on a steep hill near the bottom of South St.  Many of the stones bear the
names of Fitchburg's settlers -- Kimball, Thurston, and Payson, and date
back from the late 1700's.  Many people don't even know the cemetery is
there, although they pass it every day.  Laurel Hill Cemetery, a quarter of
a mile from the South St. burying ground, is some what more noticeable,
being prominently elevated between Laurel and Franklin Sts.  The tomb of
Alvah Crocker, the famous Fitchburg industrialist, is atop Laurel Hill,
which is one of the best places for viewing the city.

Several hills away are found two other old cemeteries:  Dean Hill and the
Hartwell family cemetery.  From the Upper Common take Main St. west to
Greektown and bear right up the hill onto Ashburnham Hill Rd.  About an
eight of a mile on your right is the stone-enclosed town pound, built in
1798 for keeping stray cattle.

Keep going up the hill, and then turn right onto Ashby West Rd.  At the
bottom of the hill, park your car and walk in along the dirt road.  Turn
right onto the first trail, and the Hartwell family cemetery will be high on
a knoll above the first trail junction.  The six stones here are silent
reminders of a family long past.  Abijah Hartwell and both his wives rest
here, three of the stones being the original ones, and the other three being
somewhat more elaborate replacements.  The latter were probably erected in
the last quarter of the 19th century.

Go back up the hill, and at the big white house take a right onto Scott Rd.
Keep bearing right for two miles until you reach Caswell Rd., near the red
frame Dean Hill Tavern, built by Jacob Upton in 1777.  This fine old
structure once served as a hostelry to travellers bound for Canada from
Boston on the old Crown Point Rd.  Here you'll take a right onto Caswell Rd.
beside which the old Dean Hill cemetery quietly lies.  At the turn of this
cehtury, the D.A.R. fixed up the cemetery, which had been neglected for many
years.  The verses on the stones comtain interesting lyrics, some of which
leave an indelible impression of us.  The matter-of-fact poetry engraved on
John Maritn's stone assert this:

Though greedy worms devour my skin
And gnaw my wasting flesh,
When God shall build my bones again
He'll clothe them all afresh.

(to be continued)