I'll be restin in St.Lawrence Valley Cemetary
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St. Lawrence Valley (Union) Cemetery is a not-for-profit, charitable and
non-denominational cemetery that was established in 1957 as a direct result of the St. Lawrence Power Project of the Ontario Hydro Electric Commission with
involvement from the governments of Canada and the United States of America.
The purpose of the project was to construct, maintain and operate power development works in the International Rapids section of the St. Lawrence River, which necessitated the flooding of the land where eighteen cemeteries were located.
These eighteen burying grounds were located on the St. Lawrence River Project front of the St. Lawrence River within the Townships of Matilda, Williamsburg, Osnabruck and Cornwall. Fifteen of those cemeteries were relocated to the new cemetery, which was provided by the Ontario Hydro Commission on Lots 6 and 7, Concession 1, Township of Osnabruck, County of Stormont. It was a giant undertaking by the Power Commission.
The data on those cemeteries was compiled by James A. Smart, O.B.E. in a manual dated April, 1956. Detailed information is available in the Cemetery office. Reference must be made to those former cemeteries. Most were of historical interest, some of them dated to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and were established by the United Empire Loyalists, discharged veterans of the 1st Battalion of the King's Royal Regiment of New York, who fought in the American War of Independence.
Within the boundaries of those cemeteries lie the remains, some unmarked, of those people, for the sake of honour, loyalty and duty sacrificed their all, and in some cases suffered great hardships, indignities and persecution at the hands of the American Revolutionaries. In later years, many of their sons again took up arms in the defence of their new homes during the War of 1812-1814 and in the Rebellion of 1837-1838. During those years and subsequently, some of those people and their descendants won distinction in government, judicial, religious and the cultural life of Canada.
Therefore, those cemeteries, which were disturbed by the development are a continuing link with past history of the district and, insofar as was possible, the headstones were carefully preserved on a permanent site as a gesture of respect to the memory of those and their descendants whose remains lie within them. Many headstones dating back from the late 1700's to the mid 1800's, were in poor condition, cracked or broken. They were placed in a Memorial wall at the Crysler Memorial Park, Upper Canada Village, midway between Ingleside and Morrisburg. The cemeteries are commemorated by name, the various divisions are crossed by walkways all around them, and in the center of each section are beautiful flower beds each year.
Prior to closing the former cemeteries, extensive notice was given to that effect by the Ontario Hydro Commission. By family request, bodies were moved and
re-interred in the new cemetery, headstones were moved and placed on new foundations and families were allocated graves according to the number held previously or in accordance with the available data.
St. Lawrence Valley Cemetery today is a beautiful and active cemetery, honouring those former cemeteries by preserving their history and continues to provide services to their descendant families and to the general public from all denominations and localities.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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