Cemetery Review #3

Here we are, a third cemetery review. This time, I've got two from Manchester, New Hampshire and one from Alburg, Vermont. Enjoy!

1.Bush Cemetery, Alburg, Vermont
Bush cemetery is a very small cemetery off the highway, outside the small farming town of Alburg, Vermont. It's surrounded by fields, and maybe a farm or two. It is fairly close to the Canadian border, so you often see Border Control cruisers sitting in it's tiny little parking area. It is surrounded by a low iron fence in the front, and a chicken wire fence around the back and the sides.
Despite its size, Bush cemetery is still active, at least it was when I last visited it in 2010. The oldest gravestone I could find was from 1786, so I have reason to believe that it has been active since the late 18th century. Most of the graves date from the 19th century.
Being a small cemetery, you will not find any impressive mausoleums or statuary. The most impressive grave belongs to a young man who died during the Civil War. His pink granite monument, topped with a flag draped urn, is easily the largest stone in the entire cemetery.
There is a good variety of monuments to see. There are some slate monuments from the early 19th century, carved with willows and urns. Some of these very tall. There are plenty of Victorian marble gravestones carved with flowers, wreaths and clasped hands. There are a few family stones, and a good amount of new granite ones.
The cemetery itself is in rather good condition. The grounds are very well kept, but there are a few damaged stones, mostly in the front. Whether this damage is caused by nature or vandalism, I cannot tell.
There are a few graves that stood out to me. One of them is a heart-breaking homemade monument dedicated to a little boy who died before his 2nd birthday. It appears to be made from a bulletin board, and is often decorated with lanterns, balloons, toys and flowers. I noticed a grave from the 1920's painted silver, a group of family graves from the early 19th century, surrounded by very fragrant roses and a grave made of marble and iron. I also saw a family plot where almost all their children, and the father seemed to die at a relatively young age. Of course, I wondered if tuberculosis was involved.
Some of the people buried in Bush cemetery have their photos on display at the town's little Civil War museum in the New England Via Vermont gift shop. It was very interesting seeing the museum, and then going to the cemetery to find their graves.
I don't think Bush cemetery is haunted. While I have had feelings of being watched, I have never outright experienced anything paranormal.
All in all, Bush Cemetery is a very pleasant little place to see if you're interested in cemeteries, Civil War history, and Vermont history. As always, if you choose to visit, please be respectful.

2. Manchester Hebrew Cemetery, Manchester, New Hampshire.
Hebrew cemetery is small, and appears to contains multiple Jewish cemeteries moved onto one plot of land. My reasoning for this theory, is that during my visit, I saw several small small granite plaques bearing the names of different cemeteries. It is still an active cemetery, many beautiful and heartfelt monuments. The oldest stones appear to be from the late 19th century. Some of them are entirely in Hebrew.
The grounds are extremely well kept, and I only saw a few broken stones in the back. When I visited, there were several newly dug graves. The soil is very sandy, unlike Pine Grove. I can't tell you how this affects burial.
There were a lot of monuments with verses from the old testament, loving epitaphs and photos. The best monument I saw was one belonging to an old woman that said: "You are visiting, this is my home. Please do not touch my monument". Getting scolded by a Jewish grandma from beyond the grave!
There were a lot of identical monuments, and a lot of monuments were decorated with stones, which is a Jewish tradition. Some graves even proclaimed that the deceased was a Holocaust survivor.
One interesting thing I noticed was that the walkways were lined with stone plaques bearing the names of important people from the old testament.
The cemetery was did not appear to be haunted. If it was, however, then the spiritual residents did not bother me. If anything, I felt welcome in there, more welcome than I've felt in some Christian cemeteries.
Hebrew cemetery is a very beautiful, interesting cemetery. It tells you a lot about a very ancient, and very wonderful culture, filled with resilience and faith. I can't wait to go back.

3. St. Augustin's Cemetery, Manchester, New Hampshire
This medium sized Catholic cemetery is right next toe Manchester Hebrew. They are separated by a chain link fence. The earliest burials appear to have taken place in the 19th century. It is still active, and like MHC, had recent graves displaying sandy soil.
The cemetery is in great condition. Very few broken or damaged stones, and the grounds are well-maintained.
Most of the graves belong to French Canadian families, though some Irish are interred there. There are a few very large and impressive monuments, with statues and crosses. There are lots of monuments with photos of the deceased and very interesting carvings. There are also a lot of flat iron grave markers in one section of the cemetery. This are all decorated with flowers and lanterns. Some belong to war veterans, and some do not. I am very curious about this part of the cemetery and would like to know more about it.
The creepiest part of St Augustin's was the 'Baby' section. This was a plot of land, in a shady corner, where every single grave belong to a baby or a toddler. Their markers were all tiny little squares of stone, some with carvings some without. Some of the babies were very very young. The creepiest parts of this experience was nearly stepping on a newly dug dead baby grave, belong to an infant who had died very recently. This part of the cemetery was very sad and scary.
This cemetery did not feel haunted. Even though I got a lot of sad feelings in the Baby Section, I did not feel threatened at all in this cemetery.
In conclusion, St. Augustin's is a very interesting cemetery with lots of heartfelt and gorgeous monuments. Some may think that the gold lettering and weeping Jesuses might come off as a little gaudy, but that's all the fun of being French-Canadian.