Though the Mahone Bay area began to be settled by Protestant immigrants around 1754, burials took place in Lunenburg until the establishment of Bayview Cemetery. Lunenburg was their initial landing place, from which the immigrants slowly fanned out, settling localities ever further afield from Lunenburg. The cemetery contains many rare early hand carved Germanic gravestones, the earliest that of Ana Catheriena Barbara Schmidt Zwicker, who died in 1780.
In the cemetery were built both Mahone Bay’s original Anglican Church (built in 1833) and later the Presbyterian Church (built in 1861). By 1887 both churches had been moved out of the cemetery, the Presbyterian Church, now Trinity United Church, still standing along the waterfront. It is the northernmost of Mahone Bay's justly famous "
Three Churches". The Anglican Church, the southernmost of the three, was replaced by the present St. James' Anglican Church between 1885 and 1887.
Below is the text from the large interpretive sign erected at the entrance to the cemetery by the Bayview Cemetery Corporation.
BAYVIEW CEMETERY
Bayview Cemetery is the final resting place of this area's early settlers. Most were "Foreign Protestants" - families from Germany, Switzerland and the Montbeliard region of France - who arrived in Halifax between 1749 - 1752 to settle this part of Nova Scotia. This lot was designated as a burial ground. In 1833 John William Kedy deeded an adjoining plot to the Bishop of Nova Scotia on which the first anglican Church was built. The cemetery became known as "THE OLD BURYING GROUND AT MUSH-A-MUSH" after the nearby river that flows into the bay.
The first written record of burial is dated March 2. 1774 and the earliest surviving stone is that of Ana Catheriena Barbara Schmidt Zwicker, who died in 1780. Most burial sites of first generation settlers were either unmarked or designated only with a wooden cross or fieldstone that is long since gone. A few identifiable markers have survived from the pre-1800 period. At Bayview Cemetery there are some wonderful examples of early German gravestones and carving. Of all the documents of early settlement, those carved in stone are very rare indeed and deserving of special attention.
The earliest stones in the cemetery are identified by blue markers. The inscription on the left was transcribed a number of years ago while the information was still legible. The inscription on the right is a loose translation of the german text. Accurate transcription was made more difficult by the deterioration of the slate surface over time, the disregard for spacing by the carver and the style of German used which has been obsolete since the early 19th century.
The old German stones of Lunenburg County were homemade. Their simple carvings of motifs and messages give us some feeling of the isolation that these communities felt from the rest of Nova Scotia. They were, in some way. strangers in their chosen home and yearned for home.
Auf diesem Friedhof befinden sich Graber von den ersten Siediern in Mahone Bay. Sie sind markiert and Ihre Aufschriften Ubersetzt.
The name "Bayview Cemetery" was given to the burial ground in 1872. The Bayview Company was formed in 1925 and since 1955 restoration and improvements have been carried out by this small, dedicated group. On August 4. 1991. The cemetery was granted a heritage designation.
The Bayview Cemetery Corporation has erected this interpretive sign to assist visitors in their understanding of this site. The motif on the top of this sign is decorated with a very Germanic dancing tulip similar to the tulip carving on the top of the Johan George Eisenhauer stone.
Bayview Cemetery
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Bayview Cemetery is situated on a hillside above Edgewater Street at the head of the harbour in Mahone Bay, NS. Some grave markers date from the late 1700’s, including several rare Germanic gravestones. Bayview Cemetery is located close to seven other heritage properties on the main route leading into the town from the east. Municipal heritage designation applies to the land at the corner of Main Street and Clearland Road.
HERITAGE VALUE
Bayview Cemetery is valued for its tangible associations with the early history of Mahone Bay; for its particular association with the “foreign Protestant” settlers and their rare Germanic gravemarkers; and for its continuous use as a community burial ground since the late 1700’s.
The historic value of Bayview Cemetery is evident in its late eighteenth and early nineteenth century gravestones. Several of the earliest stones mark graves of foreign Protestants, mainly German-speaking Europeans, who immigrated as part of the British initiative to colonize the area. Initially based in nearby Lunenburg, they began claiming their farm land grants at Mahone Bay in 1754. Burials took place in Lunenburg until 1774 by which time the settlers had established a burial ground at Mahone Bay. The “burying ground at Mush-a-Mush,” so-called after the nearby river, eventually became Bayview Cemetery.
Bayview Cemetery and its early grave markers are valued as memorials to Mahone Bay’s founding families whose names and descendents are found today throughout Lunenburg County. Thousands of Zwicker descendants can trace their roots to Johann Peter Zwicker I (d. 1789) and his wife Maria Magdalena (d. 1787) whose graves are here along with those of their eldest son and his wife – Johann Peter Zwicker II (d. 1813) and Ana Catherina (d. 1780). A spreading Ernst family tree began with Christian Ernst (d. 1798) and his wife Ann Regina (d. 1801) who are interred here. Also buried here are other settlers whose descendants remain in the area: George Eisenhauer (d. 1805), Johann Philip Heyson (d. 1813), and Alexander Kedy (d. 1818).
The early gravestones at Bayview Cemetery are valued as an expression of the austere life experienced by the settlers and as testament to their faith and fortitude. The primitive quality of the earliest markers and the use of Germanic symbols and language evoke a sense of the settlers’ isolation within the colony.
Bayview Cemetery is also valued for its rare early Germanic gravestones marking the graves of foreign Protestant settlers. Lunenburg County’s oldest surviving German inscription – that of Ana Catherina Zwicker (d. 1780) – is here. Her stone is roughly crafted of soft local slate with touchingly awkward and uneven block letters in German. Other hand-carved stones have Gothic script. Some depict traditional Germanic images – a tulip on the 1805 Eisenhauer marker, a heart on an infant’s stone.
The influence of the foreign Protestant settlers persists today in the continued use of German motifs on gravestones, and also in the widespread presence of German foods and patterns of speech throughout Lunenburg County.
Markers and materials from later eras are valued for their ability to evoke a sense of different historic periods. These include Victorian grave curbing and cast-iron railings with linked heart and stepped cross motifs.
Bayview Cemetery is also valued for being the site of Mahone Bay’s original Anglican Church (built 1833) and Presbyterian Church (built 1861). By 1887, when both church buildings had been relocated, their vacated churchyards offered new burial sites. A noteworthy grave in the former Anglican churchyard is that of the Reverend William Henry Snyder, Rector of St. James' Anglican Parish from 1852 until his death in 1889. His monument, erected by parishioners, consists of formed concrete with marble insets.
By 1872, when the community was well-established, the burial ground was named “Bayview Cemetery.” The Bayview Cemetery Company, whose volunteers managed ongoing operations, was incorporated in 1925. When the Company disbanded in 2007, operations were assumed by the Town of Mahone Bay.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
- all features relating to the foreign Protestant settlers including headstones of local slate and sandstone, Germanic inscriptions and scripts, and Germanic symbols such as heart and tulip;
- all historic materials and elements such as Victorian cast-iron grave fencing with linked heart and stepped cross motif and grave curbing;
-all grave markers;
- fence at Edgewater Street boundary;
- location near the shore with its view of Mahone Bay harbour.
From Historic Places Canada