The Old North Cemetery

When Ellin Austin learned from a neighbor that she had relatives buried in the Old North Cemetery on Cedar Street, it piqued Austin’s interest to learn more. Winter Street resident Betsy Varga’s mother’s family, the Gallot’s (and old Holliston name) are buried on the left-hand side of the cemetery which is situated on one acre of land.

For several years Austin has taken the cemetery under her wing and placed flags supplied by the town’s Memorial Day Committee prior to Memorial Day. “At first, I found only nine veterans but after doing a little research, I now have a total of fifteen, Austin told the Holliston Reporter.

Austin’s research shows that around one hundred and eighty people are buried in the cemetery, ninety of those have headstones. Of those without a memorial Austin said “it’s sad that no one will ever find them. The last burials to be made were twenty years ago, that of Anna Payne and Elizabeth (Gallot) Stacalski.

Prior records that Austin obtained show many plots owned by the Town of Holliston which Austin believes were for paupers’ graves. The stones at the graveyard are in relatively good shape considering the age of many of the headstones.

Austin is working with the town’s Facilities Manager, James Keast to see what can be done to bring the cemetery back to its former glory. Trees (very large) have grown up over the years to the right and left of the existing stones.

While the cemetery has been known locally as the old Indian Burial Ground, Austin says she has no proof of that lore from her research. On Sunday morning Austin and her husband Joe planted several hundred daffodils donated by the Downtown Marigold Project along the cemetery’s front retaining wall for next spring’s bloom.