The stately old Skiff Cemetery, accessed at the juncture of Ford Hill and Wright Road in the town of Jewett.
By Michael Ryan
JEWETT - There may never have been a better time to be among the dearly departed in Jewett than the Here and Now.
Town historian Elaine Warfield recently submitted her annual report to local government leaders, detailing her multitudinous efforts on behalf of the souls within the community’s dozen or so cemeteries.
Burial sites are often places people prefer to avoid at any cost. Warfield is the seemingly eerie opposite, happily hobnobbing with dead folks.
“God only knows why I do it,” Warfield said, laughing when asked about the source of her attention and devotion.
Some of the graveyards are hidden or at least hard to find, many with no discernible signage, others discovered only after “walking down a back road and turning right at that weird looking tree,” she says.
Warfileld’s deepening interest in the post mortem wellbeing of boneyards quite possibly stems from her introduction to the job in August, 2024.
“When I became historian, in some ways it was me doing what I was doing anyway,” says Warfield, already a well-respected documentarian and author and a former town councilwoman.
“Susan Neugebauer offered to take me to all these graveyards,” Warfield says, referring to one of her local archival predecessors.
“This all started there and, since then, I’ve gotten pretty involved, trying to get every bit of information on who is buried where,” she says.
It has resulted in a book, “Jewett, NewYork, Cemeteries,” and a care-taking of eternal resting spots that makes them desirable real estate.
Well, almost. As she mingles with the mourned, Warfield keeps fastidious notes, informing government leaders of her deeds such as:
—”Spoke with David Slutzky and Louise LeBrun regarding Mills Cemetery on David Slutzky’s property.
“Dug into the ground to locate three gravestones at Mills, uncovered some stones laying down in his backyard.”
—"Cleaned up Solomon O. Merwin gravestone which was hidden under dirt at a Jewett Heights cemetery and added it to the memorial list on findagrave.com,” the online database website.
—“Sent letter to Muriel Acres at Jewett Center regarding sign at Gass Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in the town,” in Jewett Center.
—“Ordered new metal signs for the following cemeteries; Lord, East Jewett Church, Woodworth, Old (on Farber Farm property along Route 23C), Hull Peck, Jewett Heights, Gass, Skiff, Towner and Miles.”
—“Documented a child’s grave on Merwin Street, small monument in the woods.”
—“Documented lone gravestone found face down at a property on Colgate Road in East Jewett, Grant McCoon, date of death 1926.”
While there are only two active graveyards in the town of Jewett, including Maplewood Cemetery and the East Jewett Methodist Church, all are equally deserving of reverence for Warfield.
She is joining the legendary ranks of Margaret O’Bryan and Olive Newall Woodworth who traversed the mountaintop in search of all-but-forgotten final resting pastures.
Warfield also confabulates with Sylvia Hasenkopf, a kindred spirit dabbler- in-death and the general business manager of, and a columnist for, “Porcupine Soup,” a popular, local online newspaper.
The book, “Jewett, NewYork, Cemeteries,” is a compilation of information gathered from Warfield, Neugebauer, O’Bryan, Newall Woodworth and Hasenkopf along with Windham town historian Patty Morrow and the storied Jewett history buffs Gerry Loucks and Elwood Hitchcock
Each tale of entering the Great Beyond is unique, not excluding that of a beloved horse, Flora, and her earthly master, Chauncy Lord.
“While going up the road one day, Flora fell dead,” Warfield recounts. “Chauncy buried her along the Eastkill in East Jewett.
“He carved a stone and it remained there for over 100 years until it either was swept away by rising storm waters, or the stone was removed by someone,” Warfield says, noting Chauncy had no marker for himself.
As for Warfield’s personal demise, she says, “we have eight family plots behind the East Jewett Church. My husband Buck is there.
“My name is on the stone,” Warfield says in easy-going fashion. “So I say to my kids all the time, the only thing they have to do is add the end date,” and maybe stop by some sunny mornings or peaceful evenings.
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