Merritt Settlement Cemetery - West Lincoln, ON, Canada
Posted by: Bon Echo
N 43° 06.196 W 079° 36.803
17T E 612832 N 4773215
Merritt Settlement Cemetery / Bassingstoke Cemetery
Waymark Code: WM12RFZ
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 07/07/2020
Views: 0
Also known as the Bassingstoke Cemetery, the cemetery is located on Range Rd 2 west of Smithville in the Town of West Lincoln. Managed by the Town of West Lincoln, this one of 14 active cemeteries managed by the town. (
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"Joseph Merritt Sr. was a United Empire Loyalist. In 1792, he came to Upper Canada with his son Isaac who was about 18 years of age at that time. They were ‘directed to', and cleared land on the south side of Twenty Mile Creek (‘The Twenty') (Located near Smithville in the Niagara region of Southern Ontario) Once that was done they planted a crop of wheat and then returned to Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York, to bring the rest of the family north with them. In June of 1793 Joseph and his family settled on Twenty Mile Creek on "Lots 3, 4 and 5 in the Range south of The Twenty, later called Merritt's Settlement" which was in Range II south of the creek, near Smithville.
In clearing off part of his home which has the cemetery, he said to his eldest son; ‘This is a nice high piece of ground. I will give one acre gratis for a cemetery that, in time, will be needed as the country becomes settled.' His eldest son William was the first one to be buried there at the early age of twenty-one."
-- Source: www.findagrave.com/memorial/68507191/joseph-merritt; Accessed July 7 2020 (
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"Land for the church was purchased in 1864, the church closed around 1910 and was torn down about 1922. Following cemetery restoration work, many of the old stones have been repaired and are laid down on a cement pad. (Has also been known as Merritt Settlement, Basingstoke)."
-- Source: ogs.on.ca/shop/3338-merritt-settlement-cemetery-19-pgs/; Accessed July 7 2020 (
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Links
Find A Grave: (
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CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project: (
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