Boy scouts uncover history during Hammond Cemetery cleanup
Jul 19, 2024
Kevin Gretton, Zachary Bellefeuille, Timothy Lassiter and Logan Bradshaw look at a grave marker at Hammond Cemetery on Friday, July 19. Photos by Erez Ben-Akiva
Rochester Boy Scouts Cole Gretton, Timothy Lassiter, Zachary Bellefeuille, Carl Veeder and Logan Bradshaw stand by two graves during the cemetery cleanup.
Ray Hanks, chair of Mattapoisett’s Cemetery Memorial Advisory Committee. looks at a gravestone.
Bellefeuille works at a yucca plant.
Lassiter cuts at a yucca plant.
MATTAPOISETT — A group of Rochester Boy Scouts were hacking at a yucca plant inside Mattapoisett’s Hammond Cemetery when one hit stone.
They cut and removed the invasive plant, revealing a grave marker. The faded gravestone had been obscured by the yucca.
The Boy Scouts on Friday, July 19 cleaned Hammond Cemetery, which serves as the resting place for several veterans of the Revolutionary War.
The cleanup was in preparation of an approaching ceremony in 2025, part of an effort to recognize Revolutionary War gravesites in advance of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 2026, according to Ray Hanks.
“There’s a lot to do here,” said Hanks, chair of Mattapoisett’s Cemetery Memorial Advisory Committee.
Hanks said they’re trying to get the cemetery “as nice as possible.”
For the Rochester Boy Scouts on Friday morning, that entailed cleaning some stones and digging out yucca plants throughout the historic cemetery.
“You have to get down to the root or else it doesn’t die,” Cole Gretton said.
The plant removal was particularly labor-intensive.
“My hands hurt,” Timothy Lassiter said.
The ceremony in 2025 will feature chapters of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution and be “full regalia,” with muskets, drums and a fife, according to Hanks, who has led efforts to restore the cemetery.
For the first time in years, grass — instead of moss — lines the cemetery grounds, he said.
A few trees will be taken down later this year that are impacting a front wall in need of repair; there are plans to build some benches in the cemetery, according to Hanks.
“Unfortunately it’s kind of a forgotten little cemetery,” scoutmaster Kevin Gretton said.
Hanks has also researched the history of the cemetery and its resting occupants.
Revolutionary War veteran Nathaniel Hammond is buried there, along with some members of his unit during the war, Hanks said.
There are at least 20 veterans of the revolution confirmed to be buried in Hammond Cemetery, according to Hanks.
An American flag next to each headstone marks their graves.
