CEMETERY A MYSTERY

By Cathi Bruno

Tribune Staff Writer

[Welland Tribune, 6 May 1983]

WELLAND-It is a small unkempt cemetery on the north bank of the Welland River near the old railway bridge in Thorold and it just might be a landmark in the history of this part of the Niagara Peninsula.

Why is it so unkempt? No one knows who the owner is. But under the provisions of the Cemetery Act, the municipality has the right to take over the property.

Section 62 of the Act reads: “Where the owner of a cemetery cannot be found or is unknown or is unable to maintain it, the council of the local municipality in which the cemetery is situate shall maintain it and the corporation of the local municipality shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be the owner of the cemetery.”

So what’s the big deal about this cemetery?

For starters, it’s a link to the price family, and in particular, the first white settler in Welland, David Price.

A look around the cemetery shows overgrown weeds, a broken fence, sunken tombstones and sodden trenches. There’s no evidence that human hands have touched this parcel of land in many years, yet the Cemetery Act clearly states that the duties of the owner of a cemetery are: to keep and maintain fences about the cemetery sufficient to prevent dogs, cattle, and other animals straying there in; keep the cemetery and the building and the fences thereof in good order and repair…

The Act goes on to say that it is the duty of the local board to see that “every cemetery is properly fenced, kept clear of weeds and otherwise cared for in a proper manner…”

A look through the collection of Dr. W.G. Reive on cemeteries and graves in the Niagara District done between 1920-1930 gives clues as to who was buried in these forgotten plots.

Several members of David price’s family lie here, but Price’s tombstone was unearthed at an excavation site at the northeast end of Denistoun St., just past Welland High back in 1968. His epitaph reads: “In memory of David Price of the Township of Crowland, who departed this life 26^th February 1841, aged 91 years.”

An historical account states that David Price, his wife Margaret Gonder, and his family were buried on the original Gonder farm near Welland, later to be known as the Stoner farm. Was this farm located in the vicinity of the high school? Nobody knows.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Consumer Relations, Cemeteries Branch, says there has been a lot of discussion as to who the owner of the abandoned tract is, but no names have turned up as of yet. “But we can’t just let it disappear, we have to find out who the owner is.”

He says that under the Cemetery Act, if no owner can be found, the property becomes the responsibility of the municipality it is located in. However, he says, in the rightful owner can prevent the city from initiating repairs. “This cemetery is on private property and we can’t decide who owns it.”

“All we can do is make sure we are aware of the cemetery and so is the municipality. And make sure nothing happens to it,” he says. “I’m just afraid in cases like this that someone forgets about it and ploughs over while building.”

A Welland Tribune article headlined “Who Owns This Cemetery?” (20 March, 1975) states the provincial consumer relations ministry had ordered the city to “maintain and clean up” the abandoned land parcel. In that same article, Dan Ryan, city parks superintendent at the time said,” We don’t know if we own it or not. But we must take over any abandoned cemetery and we don’t know where the boundaries are.”

He also said the city could not be expected to maintain the cemetery grounds if the boundaries could not be found. It was suggested to have a land survey be conducted, but it was never carried out.

Attorney Jim Swayze who was city solicitor in 1975 agrees with the Cemetery Act. He says that by law the city should have taken over all cemeteries and Ownership of the land can be traced to the Price family as far back as 1814 when it was owned by a Joseph Price, said to be the uncle of David. Land registry records have shown that various lots on the land off the Welland River have belonged to different Price family members but trying to find anything recent leads to a dead end.

Robert Funk, a land surveyor in Welland, says the city owns the property because of the Cemetery Act. He says he bought some of the property in that area some 40 years ago and owned the land for a long time before the Lincoln Street extension was constructed. But Funk says he sold the property quite a while ago.

So, who owns it now?

Maybe we’ll never know…