Campbellville Burial Ground
Location:
McLaren Road North (Campbellville), Milton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada.
Concession 3, lot 6, Nassagaweya Township.
GPS:
Latitude: 43.48554°N
Longitude: –79.982126°W
History:
In 1831, John Campbell and his wife Lexy (Alexine Buchanan) left the Isle of Islay with three grown sons, one grown daughter and three small children and sailed for Canada. After a year in Montreal, they purchased 100 acres on Lot 6 Concession 3 Nassagaweya.
On May 19, 1853, at a meeting held at their home, John and Lexy Campbell donated, for the sum of one pound, land for a burying ground. It was south of the tracks on the south side of the Campbellville pond. The plots were to be 15 feet square with a space of 40 ft. by 36 ft. to be reserved for a church. A road was also reserved from the bridge to the burying ground. The first three trustees (to be appointed annually) were Hugh Frazer, Alex McLaren and George McEwen.
Although 1853 was the official date for the opening of the cemetery, several burials had already taken place there. The earliest recorded was that of Lexy, daughter of John and Lexy Campbell who died Mar. 9, 1840, at the age of 8. Other children, grandchildren and neighbours of the Campbells were also buried there before the purchase.
On April 24, 1854, John Campbell put his mark on the receipt for the purchase of the burying ground, and on April 25, he was killed by lightning in his barn beside the pond. He was buried beside his friends and family on the land he had owned since 1832, in the town that bears his name.
In May 1875, work began on a frame church and on Nov. 7, 1865, the church was opened. It was a branch of the Nassagaweya Presbyterian Church (Sodom) until 1869 when permission was granted to organize a separate congregation. An addition was built in 1884, but membership increased so rapidly that, at a congregational meeting in 1890, it was decided to construct a new and larger church. Mr. David Wheelihan donated some land, and, in gratitude, the new church was called “St. David’s Presbyterian”. In 1893, the old church was moved across the road where it is still used as a residence – 46 McLaren Rd.
The iron fence around the cemetery was erected in 1949 by the widow and three former students of Thos. Blacklock, and in 1976, a cairn of fieldstones from the area, with the cemetery name on it, was built at the gate.
Elaine Bertrand Robinson
Reference:
Nassagaweya — a history of Campbellville and surrounding area, published by the Campbellville Historical Society.
Transcription purchase:
Transcriptions of this cemetery are available for digital download from the OGS website – click here to order via credit card.