Broad Farm Cemetery

(AKA Thaddeus Broad Cemetery)

Location: Exact location not found.

South side of Merrill Corner Road on the old Amos/Thaddeus Broad Farm (cellar is at 43.92687, -70.93102). A potential area up on a hill with what could be grave depressions was found at 43.92685, -70.93145.

Historical Information:

Amos’ wife Abigail bought the hundred acres of Lot #12 on 3-28-1829 (Book 12, page 620). She and Amos then sold the land to their eldest son Thaddeus on 4-2-1834 (Book 16, Page 46). After Thaddeus died in 1864, his widow, Mary Ann (Hill) Broad, sold the homestead farm to Marquis L. Brooks on 11-19-1866 (Book 52, Page 471). The deed states: “Reserving however from the first described parcel, the burying ground the same as now enclosed.” This reservation stayed on the deed for three more sales, but after a foreclosure in 1885, the description became shortened. (The cemetery remains the property of the Broads, as according to Maine law a cemetery cannot be sold, but it is no longer listed on the property description.)

The following are buried on the Broad Farm:

–Amos Broad (b.1786, d.6-5-1864 in Thornton, NH after moving there with his son, Ezra)

–Abigail (Carter) Broad, wife of Amos (b.1790, d. 12-24-1853)

–Eliza (Broad) Elliott, wife of Ephraim and daughter of Amos and Abigail Broad (b.1822, d.11-30-1854)

Likely the other children of Amos and Abigail who died young are also buried here:

–Amos Jr. 7/2/1811 – 2/28/1814 (potentially buried near their old farm on Phen Hill Road)

–Abigail 9/9/1813 – 3/9/1829 (potentially buried near their old farm on Phen Hill Road)

–Hannah 12/23/1826 or 1827 – 1/13/1827 or 1828 (potentially buried near their old farm on Phen Hill Road)

–Sally 3/22/1818-2/4/1838 or 1839

–Mary 3/22/1828-9/4/1846

–Silas 8/24/1832-4/2/1833

–Thomas A. 5/8/1834-8/15/1838

There is a plot in Pine Grove that includes original gravestones for Amos, his wife Abigail, and his daughter Eliza Elliott. It also includes an older marble tablet stone for the “Amos Broad Family” that includes the names and birth/death dates of four of their children (Sally, Mary, Silas and Thomas). It is unknown whether the graves were moved to Pine Grove or just the headstones. Likely the children were originally only marked with fieldstones.

Thaddeus Broad, his wife Mary Ann (Hill) and their son William were all buried at the nearby Merrill Cemetery and later moved to Pine Grove Cemetery where their daughter Olive eventually joined them.

Amos Broad Family Plot in Pine Grove Cemetery

Deacon Samuel Bean owned this farm before the Broads, from about 1812 until about 1828. During this time he had a son, Moses, who died. There are no records of him being buried in any area cemetery. Therefore it is probable that the following is also buried here:

–Moses Bean, son of Samuel and Sally (Bedell?) Bean, born 2/15/1811, died 3/4/1816.