Local
Fairfield Museum leads cemetery clean-up effort
By Fairfield Museum
Apr 30, 2008 - 8:14:21 PM

FAIRFIELD, CT (April 30) To assist the Fairfield community in caring for its cemeteries and the valuable history they hold , the Fairfield Museum and History Center is seeking volunteers interested in participating in a day of community clean up in the Greenfield Hill Cemetery. The cemetery, located on Bronson Road, is one of Fairfield’s oldest.

Buried in the cemetery, are owners of some of Fairfield’s most recognizable surnames, including Burr, Gould, Hull, Jennings, Lyon, Morehouse, Ogden, Osborn, Perry, Sherwood, Sturges, Wakeman and Wheeler, to name a few. The stories of the men and women who lay there are fascinating, with many having served in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. For example, Isaac Bronson rests there, who was a surgeon in the American Revolution and his home was converted into Fairfield Country Day School.

Following the graveyard clean up, the Fairfield Museum will be working with the Town and other community organizations on a plan to repair and restore some of the important historic makers at the Greenfield Hill and other cemeteries. Grant funds will be solicited so that the Museum can hire conservators properly trained in the restoration of those historic grave markers.

Fairfield Museum has experience with preservation of our town’s graveyards. In 2003, the organization worked with a group of eagle scouts to develop a conservation survey of the gravestones in the Old Burying Ground, located on Beach Road. The outcome was a photographic record, tomb description and row location of all tombs in the cemetery. This three volume report can be found in the Fairfield Museum and History Center’s Research Library.

“We invite adults and young adults to take an active part in preserving our past,” said Michael Jehle, Executive Director of the Fairfield Museum.

Anyone interested in participating in community clean-up of the Greenfield Hill Cemetery should contact Laura Roberts at the Fairfield Museum and History Center at 203-259-1598. Further details, including a date for the clean-up will be advertised in the coming months.

Fairfield Museum and History Center is an initiative of the Fairfield Historical Society. The museum is located at 370 Beach Road, behind Old Town Hall, in Fairfield, Ct. The museum’s mission is to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of Fairfield, Connecticut and surrounding regions for present and future generations. Visit www.fairfieldhs.org to learn more about the museum, it’s exhibitions, programs and community events.

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