Gridley Family Graveyard (Dan Keleher Collection)

 Gridley Family Graveyard¹

The Gridley Family Graveyard, located at Kinsley Place, was established in 1764, according to a sign posted at its entrance. It is a very small graveyard, measuring barely 20 by 25 feet, and was the final resting place of members of the Gridley, Leonard, and Billings families; the latter two interred there as a result of the 1764 smallpox plague. Alongside the graves of the smallpox victims, the Gridley family is buried. Gridley’s son, Scarborough, was interred December 1787; Gridley’s wife, Hannah Demming, was buried in October 1790. Gridley’s two daughters, Becky and Polly, might also be buried in the same area; this has not been proven or disproven. On June 23, 1796, General Gridley himself was buried in the graveyard; he was later reburied at the Canton Corner Cemetery in the fall of 1876. In 1821, Adam Kinsley bought the land. There are no official records of the graves, though Daniel TV Huntoon transcribed the epitaphs of the three stones remaining in 1893 for his history of Canton, none of which still stand.

Resources¹

History of the Town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, by Daniel T. V. Huntoon. 151-153.

“True Tales from Canton’s Past: A Grave Matter,” by George T. Comeau. <http://www.thecantoncitizen.com/2011/06/01/true-tales-gridley/>