SOUTH HERO- Come join the South Hero Historical Society (SHHS) to learn interesting information and look
at pictures of old cemeteries located in South Hero. Ron and Sue Phelps, members of Community Association
for the Restoration of Neglected Gravestones (C.A.R.I.N.G), will present this fascinating topic on Friday, June 1
beginning at 7:00 p.m at the Folsom Educational Center.
This presentation would not be possible without the amazing insight of lifetime South Hero resident, Elinor
“Polly” McBride. Born in 1918, she grew up on Allenholm Farm, one of five older sisters to Ray W. Allen. Polly
graduated from Mary Fletcher School of Nursing and received her master’s degree from Columbia University.
She married Charlie McBride in 1947 and they raised their two children in South Hero. Polly passed away in
early 2018, just one day after turning 100 years old.
The idea of C.A.R.I.N.G. came to Polly over three decades ago after one of our infamous island storms. The
storm caused a large tree branch to fall and break an extremely old tombstone belonging to a Phelps descendent.
Polly was also a Phelps descendent and decided the damaged stone needed to be replaced.
While Polly was working on replacing the damaged gravestone, she noticed the “old” part of the cemetery
(from the Masonic Lodge to the second gate on South. St.) had many old gravestones in a terrible state of disrepair.
The graves in the “old” part of the cemetery date back to the 1700’s. These aging gravestones usually
do not have any remaining relatives able to tend to them.
This motivated Polly to get a group of people together
to help preserve the historic gravestones.
Polly founded the non-profit, volunteer organization
C.A.R.I.N.G in l984. At first it was mostly cleaning
stones and a lot of rubbings. Rubbings, a way of
transposing gravestones engravements onto paper
using charcoal, were very popular at the time.
There are other near forgotten private cemeteries
around town. Did you know there is controversy
around some historic tombstones in our area? For
example, if you examine the rubbing of the tombstone
of Lydia Allen, wife of Ebenezer and one of
the first settlers on the island, the stone clearly attributes
a site in South Hero as her grave. However,
a stone located in Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington
also claims to be her burial site. Only DNA testing
could settle the dispute, but C.A.R.I.N.G. has far too
many pressing needs to be able to spend their limited
funds digging up remains to confirm.
C.A.R.I.N.G. has evolved immensely from when
the group began. Members Ron & Susan Phelps are
joined by John and Alice Wells. John volunteers his
time mowing and installing flags on veterans’ gravestones.
The C.A.R.I.N.G. members visit the cemetery and
prioritize repair of gravestones by need. The group is
funded by donations and receives a small amount requested
from the town annually for upkeep. Currently,
when someone is buried in the cemetery there is
an endowment where relatives of the deceased provide
money for the maintenance of the burial site
and stone.
C.A.R.I.N.G. feels indebted to the many volunteers,
past and present, who have helped preserved our
heritage.
Please come, hear some island history, or share
stories of your own family. Everyone is welcome.
For easier access, please use the doors in the original
brick portion of the school near the library entrance.
Location: 75 South St.
There are other near forgotten private cemeteries
around town. Did you know there is controversy
around some historic tombstones in our area? For
example, if you examine the rubbing of the tombstone
of Lydia Allen, wife of Ebenezer and one of
the first settlers on the island, the stone clearly attributes
a site in South Hero as her grave. However,
a stone located in Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington
also claims to be her burial site. Only DNA testing
could settle the dispute, but C.A.R.I.N.G. has far too
many pressing needs to be able to spend their limited
funds digging up remains to confirm.
C.A.R.I.N.G. has evolved immensely from when
the group began. Members Ron & Susan Phelps are
joined by John and Alice Wells. John volunteers his
time mowing and installing flags on veterans’ gravestones.
The C.A.R.I.N.G. members visit the cemetery and
prioritize repair of gravestones by need. The group is
funded by donations and receives a small amount requested
from the town annually for upkeep. Currently,
when someone is buried in the cemetery there is
an endowment where relatives of the deceased provide
money for the maintenance of the burial site
and stone.
C.A.R.I.N.G. feels indebted to the many volunteers,
past and present, who have helped preserved our
heritage.
Please come, hear some island history, or share
stories of your own family. Everyone is welcome.
For easier access, please use the doors in the original
brick portion of the school near the library entrance.
Location: 75 South St.
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