HISTORY
Joseph Hudson Plumb
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Ralph Plumb
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C.C. Torrance
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Porter Welch
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When the first settlers from New England arrived in what is now Gowanda, deaths were followed by burial on private properties. There were no public burying grounds until members of the community came together and began interment of the deceased in a clearing some 200 yards west of Buffalo Street on the Isaac Aldrich farm, between what are now Union Street and Bader Avenue. Today, the exact location of this graveyard is unknown.
As the community grew, the need arose for new cemeteries, and a site was chosen on the hill overlooking the valley from the west. Thus, the Pioneer Methodist, or Sisson Cemetery was established in 1830, along the main stage route between Buffalo and Jamestown. That route today is known as Maltbie Road. Later, other cemeteries were established, including the Broadway Cemetery (1836) to the south of the village, Pine Grove Cemetery (1856) in the Rosenburg district to the east, and the Buffalo Street Presbyterian Cemetery to the north at the foot of Sand Hill.
In 1863, some prominent citizens of the village, by then known as Gowanda, admiring a piece of land above the valley to the east, approached the owner, pioneer merchant Ralph Plumb. He agreed to cooperate in their plan to establish a new cemetery. Two years after Mr. Plumb's death in 1865, his son, Joseph Hudson Plumb, offered 20 acres of ground covered with fragrant pine trees.
A meeting on June 1, 1867, at the law office of Cyrenius Chapin Torrance, resulted in the formation of the Gowanda Pine Hill Cemetery Association, with Joseph H. Plumb as chairman, and C. C. Torrance as secretary. Six trustees were chosen, including Messrs. Plumb and Torrance, John E. Morse, James H. McMillen, Charles Rollinson, and Porter Welch. They resolved to hold annual meetings on the first Saturday in May. The proceedings were then certified by Elisha W. Henry, Justice of the Peace, on June 4, 1867.
The first burial in the new cemetery was that of Orville Starr on October 9, 1867, in Section C, Lot 27. Over the next fifteen years, nearly 400 burials occurred at Pine Hill, including 110 re-interments from other cemeteries.
On December 3, 1869, Joseph H. Plumb and his wife deeded the original 20 acres to the cemetery association for the sum of one dollar. Their intention was expressed in these words: “This land is conveyed for the purpose of a cemetery or burial place, and for no other use or purpose, and upon the express condition that the proceeds from the sale of lots, after reimbursing the stock holders for their advances, shall be expended to properly laying out and improving the grounds, and when so laid out and improved, the balance of the receipts from the sale of lots shall constitute a fund, the interest of which shall be used for all time to come in keeping the grounds in order.” Later acquisitions brought the total acreage to 24.
In 1897, a water works system was proposed to provide a water source for maintaining the cemetery grounds. Funded by lot owners with liberal contributions from Joseph H. Plumb and Franklin Day Locke, a prominent Buffalo attorney with local roots, additional acreage to the north was purchased. A 13-foot high dam was built across a ravine, impounding over a million gallons of water. This was above the railroad tracks and nearly behind the former Moose Club on Buffalo Street. Using a hydraulic ram, water was pumped more than 1,000 feet, at an elevation rise of 135 feet, to a 50,000 gallon concrete reservoir. From there, water was distributed through smaller pipes to all parts of the grounds. This system has long been abandoned, but traces of the piping system are still visible in certain parts of the cemetery.
Burials have continued at Gowanda Pine Hill Cemetery for more than 150 years. Today, approximately 4,143 people lie interred in its beautiful confines. Careful maintenance and management of the grounds have kept the pledge of the original founders alive. In 2002, an undeveloped area at the north end of the cemetery was logged off, graded, and marked out as new Section J, which will provide burial space for decades to come. A Cremation Garden was laid out along with an artisan-created concrete meditation bench paid for by the Friends of Gowanda Pine Hill Cemetery, and Gowanda native Brett Hawkins, Sr.
Many stately trees grace the grounds of the cemetery, including several oaks, maples and hemlocks, as well as a number of white pines which gave the cemetery its name. A rare sassafras tree towering more than 50 feet high is located in the central portion of the cemetery. The cemetery's crowning touch is a decorative aluminum arch spanning the main entrance, which was installed in 2006.
The late Theodore F. Welch, a former member of the cemetery's Board of Trustees, wrote many years ago about the mission of the cemetery's trustees, carried down from his time to the present, “To insure therefore that it shall never become neglected and unsightly, that it shall always be cared for as it now is, always beautiful, restful to the eye, peaceful to the thought, it is necessary that it shall continue to have the interest, solicitude and gifts of the lot owners and the public generally.”
As the community grew, the need arose for new cemeteries, and a site was chosen on the hill overlooking the valley from the west. Thus, the Pioneer Methodist, or Sisson Cemetery was established in 1830, along the main stage route between Buffalo and Jamestown. That route today is known as Maltbie Road. Later, other cemeteries were established, including the Broadway Cemetery (1836) to the south of the village, Pine Grove Cemetery (1856) in the Rosenburg district to the east, and the Buffalo Street Presbyterian Cemetery to the north at the foot of Sand Hill.
In 1863, some prominent citizens of the village, by then known as Gowanda, admiring a piece of land above the valley to the east, approached the owner, pioneer merchant Ralph Plumb. He agreed to cooperate in their plan to establish a new cemetery. Two years after Mr. Plumb's death in 1865, his son, Joseph Hudson Plumb, offered 20 acres of ground covered with fragrant pine trees.
A meeting on June 1, 1867, at the law office of Cyrenius Chapin Torrance, resulted in the formation of the Gowanda Pine Hill Cemetery Association, with Joseph H. Plumb as chairman, and C. C. Torrance as secretary. Six trustees were chosen, including Messrs. Plumb and Torrance, John E. Morse, James H. McMillen, Charles Rollinson, and Porter Welch. They resolved to hold annual meetings on the first Saturday in May. The proceedings were then certified by Elisha W. Henry, Justice of the Peace, on June 4, 1867.
The first burial in the new cemetery was that of Orville Starr on October 9, 1867, in Section C, Lot 27. Over the next fifteen years, nearly 400 burials occurred at Pine Hill, including 110 re-interments from other cemeteries.
On December 3, 1869, Joseph H. Plumb and his wife deeded the original 20 acres to the cemetery association for the sum of one dollar. Their intention was expressed in these words: “This land is conveyed for the purpose of a cemetery or burial place, and for no other use or purpose, and upon the express condition that the proceeds from the sale of lots, after reimbursing the stock holders for their advances, shall be expended to properly laying out and improving the grounds, and when so laid out and improved, the balance of the receipts from the sale of lots shall constitute a fund, the interest of which shall be used for all time to come in keeping the grounds in order.” Later acquisitions brought the total acreage to 24.
In 1897, a water works system was proposed to provide a water source for maintaining the cemetery grounds. Funded by lot owners with liberal contributions from Joseph H. Plumb and Franklin Day Locke, a prominent Buffalo attorney with local roots, additional acreage to the north was purchased. A 13-foot high dam was built across a ravine, impounding over a million gallons of water. This was above the railroad tracks and nearly behind the former Moose Club on Buffalo Street. Using a hydraulic ram, water was pumped more than 1,000 feet, at an elevation rise of 135 feet, to a 50,000 gallon concrete reservoir. From there, water was distributed through smaller pipes to all parts of the grounds. This system has long been abandoned, but traces of the piping system are still visible in certain parts of the cemetery.
Burials have continued at Gowanda Pine Hill Cemetery for more than 150 years. Today, approximately 4,143 people lie interred in its beautiful confines. Careful maintenance and management of the grounds have kept the pledge of the original founders alive. In 2002, an undeveloped area at the north end of the cemetery was logged off, graded, and marked out as new Section J, which will provide burial space for decades to come. A Cremation Garden was laid out along with an artisan-created concrete meditation bench paid for by the Friends of Gowanda Pine Hill Cemetery, and Gowanda native Brett Hawkins, Sr.
Many stately trees grace the grounds of the cemetery, including several oaks, maples and hemlocks, as well as a number of white pines which gave the cemetery its name. A rare sassafras tree towering more than 50 feet high is located in the central portion of the cemetery. The cemetery's crowning touch is a decorative aluminum arch spanning the main entrance, which was installed in 2006.
The late Theodore F. Welch, a former member of the cemetery's Board of Trustees, wrote many years ago about the mission of the cemetery's trustees, carried down from his time to the present, “To insure therefore that it shall never become neglected and unsightly, that it shall always be cared for as it now is, always beautiful, restful to the eye, peaceful to the thought, it is necessary that it shall continue to have the interest, solicitude and gifts of the lot owners and the public generally.”
