Location: 43.86716 -70.91174
From its intersection with Norton Hill Road, drive north on Porterfield Road 0.3 miles. The cemetery is up a steep embankment on the right (east). There is no enclosure around the graves.
Historical Information: From Burch’s “Cemeteries of the Town of Porter, Maine”: “According to Walker and Durgin family records, Samuel and Phebe Day Durgin moved to Porterfield in 1814. It says they were buried on their family farm. Samuel Durgin was born in 1773 and died about 1843. They had first moved to an area of Hiram in 1795 along with Samuel’s parents, David and Abigail Durgin and settled in an area later called ‘Durgintown.’ Samuel and Phebe had 6 children, all born in Hiram. The youngest son of Samuel and Phebe was Caleb Durgin, (b.10/3/1814 and d. 10/1880). He married Jemima Ridlon, (b.11/21/1820, d. 2/22/1868). Caleb and Jemima took over the family farm from his father, Samuel. Family records say that Caleb and Jemima Durgin are buried in the family plot in graves marked with fieldstones, along with several of their children. They had 12 children which included Phebe, first wife of Leonard Walker and Flora Jane Durgin, second wife of Leonard Walker. The gravesites of Leonard and his wives, Phebe and Flora Jane, are marked with the handmade cement stone on the lower hill of the burial ground.”
The Walkers are buried in the lower, southern area of the cemetery. The Merrifields are further north and up the hill in the older section that most likely contains the graves of the Durgins. There was evidence of at least seven graves in this upper section marked either with fieldstones or grave depressions.
Benjamin Merrifield was the son of Ivory and his first wife Hannah (Williams) Merrifield. When his father died in 1858, Benjamin continued to live with his step-mother Catherine (Quint) Merrifield and his nine siblings. Soon after the 1860 census was taken, Benjamin married Sarah ? and in 1861 they had a son, also named Benjamin. Unfortunately both father and son died that year.
Condition (10/5/19): The graves in this cemetery are very spread out and have no enclosure around them. The Merrifield gravestones are broken and leaning against trees, though their grave locations are known by the presence of footstones and a base (for the elder Benjamin Merrifield only). The area is overgrown and has some fallen trees in it.
