AKA Charles Wadsworth Cemetery
Location: 43.85204 -70.82443
From its intersection with Pequawket Trail (113) at Hiram Bridge, drive south on River Road 0.8 miles. Turn right (west) onto Douglas Road and drive 0.4 miles to the historic home at the end. After obtaining permission, continue walking south along the old road 1.3 miles to a cellar hole on the left (east) side. The cemetery, which is surrounded by granite posts, is on the right (west) side, 230 feet from the road on a knoll. Note: This cemetery is in the gated Lowell E. Barnes Wildlife Management Area and it may be possible to drive a 4WD vehicle here during the summer with permission from Buddy Barnes.
Historical Information: This cemetery was originally created for the Capt. Charles Lee Wadsworth family, who lived in the house nearby. Later Charles and his wives, Ruth (Clemons) and Jane (Ingalls), were moved to the Hiram Village Cemetery. (Strangely, Jane has stones in both cemeteries, while Charles and Ruth only have stones in Hiram Village.) It is also likely that his son Samuel and Samuel’s first wife Mary Jane (Rowe) were originally buried here then moved to the new plot in Hiram Village, possibly by Samuel’s second wife, Jane I. (Clemons) Wadsworth. She may have been buried directly in the new plot. There is a noticeable exhumed area in one corner of this cemetery consistent with this theory.
Also buried in the cemetery are two of Charles and Ruth’s adult daughters: Lucia (Wadsworth) Butterfield and her husband Edmund; and Jane (Wadsworth) Wadsworth, wife of Capt. Seth Wadsworth. Another daughter, Betsy, married Henry W. Barnes and is buried with him on their nearby homestead; however, their adult children Augustus Barnes and Jane W. (Barnes) Brown are buried here. Charles and Ruth’s son Henry Wadsworth is also buried here with his wives Mary Ann (Wentworth) and Catherine S. (Wentworth), and their children John, Dolly, and Dolly Ingalls. It is also possible that their children Henry Jr and Ellen are here, since they died in 1864 and cannot be found elsewhere.
The only non-family member buried here is Michiel Harken, an Irish farm hand that was living with the Samuel Wadsworth family on the 1860 census. His boss was kind enough to put a carved headstone on his grave when he died in 1867 at age 65 years.
Condition (10/31/2020): This cemetery is not maintained and has trees and saplings growing up inside it. Most of the stones have broken off and have been leaned against nearby trees and granite posts.