History of the Westfield Presbyterian Church Burial Grounds

“Burial Grounds…Genealogy in Stone” will be presented at The Presbyterian Church in Westfield on March 17, at 9:30 am in the George Plenty room.  David Rogers, who co-chairs the church’s Cemetery Committee with Lee Hale, will share his knowledge of the history, the activities, the revitalization and restoration program and the tours and the events of  “The Burial Grounds of the Presbyterian Church in the West Fields of Elizabethtown.”

     The nearly 300-year-old cemetery is the resting place for founders of Westfield, the early settlers of the town, the veterans of six American wars and twentieth century Westfield Presbyterians (cremains.)  Several of the markers are of special interest, with the remembrance of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War starting in April of this year.

     With a slide presentation, Rogers will review the history, the breadth of the revitalization plan, the carvers, the soldiers and the genealogical clues carved in the monuments.

     David Rogers, after retiring from Singer Company, subsequently assumed co-ownership of a monument business in New York State, cultivating an appreciation of monument art, cemetery records and conservation stonework.  Using that experience and having managed achievement of Historic Designation for the Burial Grounds of the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, he and Hale are leading the latest revitalization of the cemetery. 

     Members of the public are invited to learn about another source for tracing their roots.  Refreshments will be served and a short tour of the cemetery will be available, weather permitting.  The program is sponsored by Presbyterian Women.