SEYMOUR – A father and son have embarked on a mission to repair and restore the graves at Seymour’s Great Hill Cemetery, one headstone at a time.
“Last fall, my family buried the ashes of my grandfather in the Great Hill Cemetery,” said Keith Hotchkiss, Sr., of Oxford. “As I looked around, I noticed the poor condition of the old section of the cemetery. Many are broken and laying on the ground, some in multiple pieces. Many of the stones have been completely covered over.”
Hotchkiss, who retired three years ago after running an auto body shop for nearly 30 years, recruited his son, Keith Hotchkiss, Jr., and the two got to work restoring the headstones at the 242-year-old cemetery last fall. Using YouTube for guidance, Hotchkiss built a chain hoist with a tripod to lift heavy stones off the ground. He uses a special cleaner to remove dirt and fungus from the surfaces and a special epoxy to bond broken pieces back together.
The historic cemetery, established in 1783 on Cemetery Road, has served as a final resting place for some of Seymour’s earliest families, as well as veterans who served in the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World Wars I and II. Among them are members of Hotchkiss’ own family, including his sixth great-grandfather Christopher Smith, a Revolutionary War veteran who fought in the Battle of Saratoga.
“Many of the names in this cemetery – Holbrook, Chatfield, Botsford and Canfield – will be recognized around the town of Seymour in the way of roads, schools and parks,” the elder Hotchkiss said.
Hotchkiss said he and his son have repaired about 24 stones and cleaned another 20 or so. The cemetery has about 440 memorials, and in the older section where the Hotchkiss’ are working, there’s about 300 stones. Hotchkiss said he and his son have spent about 120 hours, and about $800 out of pocket, toward the restoration efforts.
And that’s why the Hotchkiss’ recently launched a GoFundMe page, hoping to raise some money to keep their two-man, volunteer project going.
“Every donation will go directly toward preserving these historic monuments so future generations can learn about and honor the people who came before us,” Hotchkiss said.
The Hotchkiss’ set a fundraising goal of $2,200 to help cover costs of materials and other supplies. Although they’ll have to take a break from working soon – the epoxy the Hotchkiss’ use only works at temperatures above 50 degrees – they plan to hit the ground running again next spring.
The duo is working with the permission of Cliff Strumello, the cemetery’s caretaker. Hotchkiss said their goal is to get as many of the damaged stones repaired as possible in time for America’s 250th birthday next July 4. A special effort is being made to fix all the stones where some 14 Revolutionary War veterans are resting.
“There is no better time to honor those who built and defended our nation by preserving their memory,” Hotchkiss said.
The younger Hotchkiss, who works as a land surveyor, said the project has given him a deeper connection to Seymour’s history.
“It’s a very interesting project seeing how old these stones are and then connecting the names to a lot of roads and schools,” he said. “A lot of these old stones have been broken over the years and would just slowly disappear without someone putting in the time to make sure that they are fixed so these people are remembered.”
Strumello, the cemetery’s caretaker, said he’s grateful to the care the Hotchkiss’ are taking with the stones.
“They’re doing a wonderful job,” Strumello said.
As for the urban legend surrounding the cemetery – also known to some as Hookman’s Cemetery – Hotchkiss doesn’t buy into it. Local folklore says the earliest caretaker haunts the burial grounds to this day. It’s also said if you park your car under a specific tree, your car will stall and you’ll hear his hook scratching the roof of your car.
“I’ve been here many times, sometimes at night, and I haven’t seen (the Hookman) or heard anything,” Hotchkiss said.