Exploring the Perkins Hill Cemetery

Driving down a curvy country road in New Hampshire, we passed a small cemetery. It looked quite old and piqued my curiosity.

We stopped and explored the isolated graveyard. It was on Perkins Hill Road and not far from the village of East Wakefield. Not surprisingly, the gravestones featured the names Perkins and Hill throughout the family plot. I don't know the official name for this small cemetery.

I'll take you on a guided tour of the vintage burial place.

(photo of Moses Perkins grave by Virginia Allain)

Enter through the stone archway. This is more elaborate than many of the family plots that I see in New England. The stone walls around the cemetery are not the stacked stone walls of field stone that I usually see. These are cut stone which looks more formal.

The stones are mostly substantial ones though not ornately carved. There are some very simple ones with just initials on them. I'm guessing those are infants.

The first book features notable ones in the state. I'm guessing that this small family plot didn't make it into the book. None of the people buried here were famous writers or governors that I recognized anyway.

The second book tells of haunted cemeteries. As far as I could tell, there were no strange vibes coming from this burial place. It was a sunny day when I walked around photographing the stones. The site was peaceful in feeling with no restless spirits hanging about.

The third book looks promising for a good read even if it doesn't pertain to this exact graveyard.

• James Hill (6 Aug 1883) and wife Charlotte (14 July 1882)

  Their daughter Sarah A. (4 August 1886) and daughter Elmira A (9 April 1845)

• Rachel A. (28 Nov. 1868 wife of Josiah J. Hill (born 4 May 1828, died 31 May 1899)
• Lucy M. Hill (born 24 Jan. 1837, died 18 Dec 1919)
• James W. Hill (born 6 Mar 1820, died 7 June 1910)
• Asa W. Hill (born 16 July 1834, died 4 June 1898)
• Matilda F. Hill (born 30 Apr 1842, died 27 Feb 1922)
• Viella F. Hill (died 20 Feb 1908)
• Almon D. Hill 1871-1952 and wife Hattie M. 1975-1972

I'm hoping this page provides some useful genealogy information for ancestors of the people buried in this family plot. Perhaps you are seeking one of these long lost relatives.

• Joshua Hill (born 1809, died July 27, 1880). His parents are Ebenezer Hill (1758 - 1853, age 95) and Sarah Bryant (1764-1856, age 92). Ebenezer's father was Deacon Timothy Hill born in New Haven, CT. Ebenezer's grandfather was Daniel Hill (1692-1744, born in New Haven, CT).
• The 1870 census shows Joshua Hill (age 61) with wife Jemima Hill (age 64). He's a farmer and she's a housewife. With them are two children which surely are relatives. The children were born in Massachusetts.

  Lilla M Hill 8

  Joshua E Hill 3

• The 1870 census shows 4 households (one each side of Joshua) that also have the Hill surname. Then there is the home of Moses Perkins.

• A Moses Perkins and Rachel Rogers of Brookfield married June 14th, 1802 (NEW DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE VITAL RECORDS online). This is not the Moses whose stone is shown above, possibly this is a son or other relative.

I looked for books with the genealogy of the Perkins family. There are several listed on Amazon, but I'm not sure yet if they fit the family names I'm seeing here.

One is for Massachusetts and that is not far away. Perhaps they are related to that family.

I'll have a look around on ancestry.com too. Maybe I can find some interesting tidbits about them there.

This video tells how to use the Find-a-Grave website. I have an account there, so I really need to put the information from these gravestones into that database.