Fonds P247 - Fonds Elmwood Cemetery Inc. fonds

Elmwood Sherbrooke Incorporated is a private non-profit non-denominational cemetery that is managed by a board of directors. It has been a registered charity since 1983. The organization prides itself on a system of perpetual care for graves, which guarantees that no graves are reused or abandoned. Elmwood also maintains a searchable grave index which is regularly updated and accessible on their website.

The history of Elmwood Sherbrooke Incorporated dates back to 1849 with the purchase of land for the Union Cemetery, a burial ground for Protestant and Congregational communities. Member of Parliament, Samuel Brooks, was the first person to be buried in this cemetery.

In the 1890s, concern began to grow over the lack of maintenance and misuse of the Union Cemetery, which launched a movement amongst the Trustees of Congregational Church to purchase land for a new burial ground, and the Elmwood Cemetery Incorporated was formed. The money was raised via the issuing of bonds valued at one hundred dollars each, with a total of 4400$ being raised for the purchase of land on Hyatt Street. In March 1890, records indicate that John Woodward was the first to be buried at Elmwood Cemetery. In the summer of that year, the Lord Bishop of Quebec consecrated the land for burials.

By 1907, Trustees of the Congregational Church began to discuss moving those buried in Union to the Elmwood Cemetery, in order to sell the land for commercial use. At this point, it was estimated that there were 1500 burials in the Union Cemetery and the cost for moving them would be 13,200$. However, it was only in 1918 that the final decision to move the burials was made, with a total of 895 bodies and 116 headstones being transferred to Elmwood Cemetery at a total cost of 21,096.15$. The cemetery has since erected a marker to commemorate the transfer of remains.

In 1910, as the Elmwood Cemetery became the main place of burial for Sherbrooke’s Protestant and Congregational Communities, the Trustees decided to purchase an adjacent piece of land. A ravine initially divided these two portions, however, in 1916 a bridge was built to connect the different sections.