Jump to content

Mount Hermon Cemetery

Coordinates: 46°46′43″N 71°14′48″W / 46.77851°N 71.24657°W / 46.77851; -71.24657 (Mount Hermon Cemetery)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dcflyer (talk | contribs) at 16:20, 10 November 2018 (Government / politics: + burial). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mount Hermon Cemetery National Historic Site of Canada
Native name
lieu historique national du Canada du Cimetière-Mount Hermon (French)
Mount Hermon Cemetery
Mount Hermon Cemetery’s entrance lodge
Entrance lodge
TypeNational Historic Site of Canada
Location1801, chemin Saint-Louis,
 Quebec City, ( Quebec),  Canada G1S 1H7
Coordinates46°46′43″N 71°14′48″W / 46.77851°N 71.24657°W / 46.77851; -71.24657 (Mount Hermon Cemetery)
Area109,010 m2 (0.042 sq mi)[1]
Elevation60 m (196.85 ft)[1]
Construction1848
Formed30 May 1849
Founded11 February 1848
FounderGeorge O’Kill Stuart, Jr.[2]Jeffery Hale[3] • Dr. James Douglas[4]
Built1848
Built forQuebec City’s Protestant community
Original usecemetery
Current usecemetery
ArchitectDavid Bates Douglass (landscape) • Edward Staveley (lodge and gates)
Architectural style(s)garden cemeteryGothic-Revival lodge
Websitemounthermoncemetery.com
Official nameMount Hermon Cemetery National Historic Site of Canada
TypeNational Historic Site of Canada
Designated8 June 2007[5]
Reference no.11837
Mount Hermon Cemetery is located in Quebec City
Mount Hermon Cemetery
Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery, Quebec City

Mount Hermon Cemetery is an AngloProtestant garden cemetery located in the Sillery neighborhood of the Sainte-Foy-Sillery-Cap-Rouge borough of Quebec City, Canada.[6][7] It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada, in 2007.[5][8]

The cemetery is located at the corner of Saint-Louis Road (Template:Lang-fr) and Cote de Sillery (Template:Lang-fr, formerly Template:Lang-fr), on a 26-acre parcel of land overlooking the Saint Lawrence River, in the southeastern direction.[7] The main entrance is accessed at 1801 Saint-Louis Road, at the northern end of the cemetery. There is a pedestrian entrance located at the southwestern portion of the cemetery, accessed at the northern terminus of avenue des Voiliers, one-block east of Cote de Sillery. The cemetery grounds contain both paved and gravel roads.[7]

More than 17,000 people are buried at Mount Hermon.[2] Mount Hermon Cemetery draws distinction as being the first garden cemetery (Template:Lang-fr) established in Canada.[9] Mount Hermon, and other garden cemeteries formed in North America, took inspiration from Paris's cimetière du Père-Lachaise de Paris.[9]

A memorial was dedicated to the victims of the sinking of the shipwrecked Empress of Ireland, in 1914, and other memorials were erected at later dates on the garden cemetery grounds.[7] The major loss of lives aboard the shipwrecked Empress of Ireland had significant impact upon Mount Hermon, along with its neighboring cemetery on chemin Saint-Louis: Saint-Patrick's Cemetery, which also relocated from the city of Quebec, in 1879. Both of the cemeteries took on responsibility for a significant amount of the ship's passengers whom perished aboard or at sea.

Separately, on the Mount Hermon grounds is the Treggett Bell, which was presented in gratitude to the Treggett family, who had members from four different generations of its family serve as Mount Hermon's caretakers, encompassing the years 1865—2014.[2][7]

In addition, the cemetery contains sections dedicated for individuals of Greek (Template:Lang-fr), Chinese (Template:Lang-fr), and Cambodian (Template:Lang-fr) descent.[7]

History

In the spring of 1847, a group of Protestant businessmen, shipbuilders, merchants, and clergy convened a public meeting to determine the possibility of buying land for a rural cemetery.[2][7] Quebec City's original Protestant cemetery, located adjacent to Saint Matthew's Church on Saint-Jean Street (Template:Lang-fr) had reached its capacity and city officials requested that a new Protestant cemetery be established outside of the city limits.[2][7]

With aid from the lumber merchant John Gilmour, a prominent member of the local Protestant community, as well as a member of first municipal council of Sillery, the Quebec Protestant Cemetery Association was formed on 11 February 1848. Its first president was George O’Kill Stuart, Jr., and its main objective was to collect the funds necessary to purchase land and establish a cemetery on it.[2][7] Other founding members included the philanthropist Jeffery Hale and the physician Dr. James Douglas, the later whom served as a member of the cemetery's first board of directors in 1848.[3][4][7]

On 14 June 1848, Christopher Ferguson, 42-years of age, who was the master of the brig Transit, died of erysipelas. He became the first person to be buried in the nascent cemetery and the first person to be recorded in the cemetery's burial register. The only other details recorded were that he was a member of the Church of England and that the officiating clergyman was the Rev. J. Cornwall.[10][11]

The legislation (12 Vict., chap. 191) which legally incorporated the new cemetery was adopted by the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada on 30 May 1849.[12] It was at that time that the new cemetery was officially given the name of Mount Hermon.

The membership of the association's first board of directors was noted for being an example of ecumenical cooperation in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic majority city and province of Quebec. Between June 1848 and December 1883, out of 6,164 burials, close to half of the decedents were members of the Anglican Church (2,991), followed by Presbyterians (1,117), and Methodists (583).[11]

Cemetery design

lodge and gates design plans
"Design for proposed entrance lodge and gates for the grounds of the Quebec Cemetery," by Edward Staveley, 6 September 1848, Quebec

An American civil and military engineer, David Bates Douglass, designed the layout of Mount Hermon, in 1848. Douglass, who garnered acclaim for his 1838–1839 design of Green-Wood Cemetery, as a landscape of "bucolic serenity" in Brooklyn, New York, modeled both Albany Rural Cemetery (1845—1846), located on the outskirts of Albany, New York, and Mount Hermon Cemetery, after Green-Wood.[13][14]

All three of Douglass' cemeteries were designed from the philosophical perspective of the architect Sir Christopher Wren, who in the year 1711, began to argue for cemeteries to be located in pastoral settings, away from crowded and disease-plagued cities. The three David Bates Douglass designed garden cemetery landscapes all have achieved historic and cultural landmark statuses: in addition to Mount Hermon's designation as a National Historic Site of Canada, his Green-Wood Cemetery was designated a United States National Historic Landmark in 2006, and his Albany Rural Cemetery was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[15]

Architect Edward Staveley (1795–1872) designed the cemetery's Gothic Revival entrance lodge and gates in a set of plans that were signed and dated on 6 September 1848.[16][17][18] On 24 August 1849, Staveley completed a design plan for a burial vault at Mount Hermon for the family of the Hon. Henry Black.[17][19]

At the time of its establishment, Mount Hermon was the first cemetery to be located in a rural area, outside of Quebec City's jurisdiction, in addition to being Canada's first garden cemetery. On 10 July 1859, the Roman Catholic Notre-Dame-de-Belmont Cemetery (Template:Lang-fr) was blessed and its first burial took place two days later.[20] This was the second garden cemetery to be created in a rural environment outside of the city limits of Quebec.

Historic recognition

Park space for public use
"Park-like space for public use"

On 8 June 2007, Mount Hermon Cemetery was officially recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada.[5][8] Additionally, the cemetery is located on the Sillery Heritage Site, which was designated as a historic district in 1964.[21] On 24 April 2009, Parks Canada listed Mount Hermon Cemetery on the Canadian Register of Historic Places ("Canada's Historic Places"), which it administers.[8]

Amongst other attributes, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada noted, in its initial December 2005 research report, the heritage value of the blending of art with nature that its board members had witnessed onsite, including Celtic crosses, neoclassical monuments, obelisks, globes, and the cemetery's Gothic-Revival style lodge, all in a layout that was "park-like space for public use."[5][22]

War graves

The War Graves Photographic Project, a volunteer initiative which has recorded the graves or memorial listings of every Commonwealth service member death since World War I, has indexed the details regarding 170 servicemembers buried at Mount Hermon, including photographs of their headstones.[23][24] Hard or digital copies of the photographs may be requested from the non-profit organization, along with a donation.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission identified 68 individuals buried at Mount Hermon Cemetery whom it determined were casualties from World Wars I and II.[25] Of those burials, 49 are of servicemembers whom were killed in active duty during the first World War; 14 from WWII, one of whom is an unidentified Canadian airman.[25] In addition, there are three American war graves, as well as one interned Austrian civilian's grave. The Commonwealth burials located in Section G are buried in Plot 1368.[25]

Section G, located in the northeastern portion of the cemetery is dedicated as "The Canadian Armed Forces Section and the Memorial to three United States Army Airmen who died in 1942" (Template:Lang-fr).[7]

Notable burials

Education

Government / politics

Literature

Medicine

Military

Forsyth family grave marker
Forsyth family headstone
cemetery sign on street
Street signage
Entrance lodge
Entrance Lodge
garden cemetery
Garden landscape

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Champagne, Serge (2018-06-16). "Cimetière Mount Hermon (Québec) — Cimetière #1058" (in Canadian French). Fédération Écomusée-de-l'Au-Delà. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Mount Hermon Cemetery". MountHermonCemetery.com. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  3. ^ a b "History of Jeffery Hale — Our History Shapes Our Future". Jeffery Hale Saint Brigid's. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  4. ^ a b c LeBlond, Sylvio. "Biography – DOUGLAS, JAMES (1800-86) – Volume XI (1881-1890)". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  5. ^ a b c d Mount Hermon Cemetery National Historic Site of Canada. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  6. ^ Lessard, Rénald. "History of Mount Hermon Cemetery in Quebec City (1848-1950)". pbalkcom.com. Translated by Gagné, Jacques. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Aubin, Thérèse; Michaud, Hugues (Fall 2007). "Dévoilement d'un panneau patrimonial au cimetière Mount Hermon" [Unveiling of a Heritage Sign Panel at Mount Hermon Cemetery] (PDF). La Charcotte : le bulletin de la Société d'histoire de Sillery (in Canadian French). 21 (numéro 2). Québec: Société d’histoire de Sillery: 6–7. ISSN 0843-7335. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |nopp= (help)
  8. ^ a b c Mount Hermon Cemetery National Historic Site of Canada. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  9. ^ a b Cornellier, Manon (2011-08-15). "Comment l'exemple des cimetières-jardins interprète la mémoire funéraire québécoise". Conserveries mémorielles. Revue transdisciplinaire [Online] (electronic) (in French) (# 10). IHTP — Institut d'Histoire du Temps Présent, CELAT. ISSN 1718-5556. OCLC 959662214. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  10. ^ "DÉTAILS pour Ferguson Christopher - Registre d'inhumation du Mount Hermon Cemetery, 1848-1904". Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  11. ^ a b "Description — Cimetières — Registre d'inhumation du Mount Hermon Cemetery, 1848-1904 — Cimetières — Bases de données — Généalogie — Outils de recherche" (in Canadian French). Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  12. ^ Journaux de l'Assemblée législative de la province du Canada — Depuis le 18me jour de janvier jusqu'au 30me jour de mai — Session, 1849 (in Canadian French). Vol. 8. Montreal: Desbarats & Cary. 1849. p. 306. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "David Bates Douglass — The Douglas Archives". DouglasHistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  14. ^ Cox, Rob S.; Heslip, Philip; LaPlant, Katie D. (July 2017) [1812]. "Finding aid for David Bates Douglass Papers, 1812—1873" (1,191 items). M-1390, M-2294, M-2418, M-2668, M-5038, M-6083. David Bates Douglass. Ann Arbor: Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved 2018-11-02. Returning to engineering and consulting work, Douglass laid out the Albany Rural Cemetery in 1845-46 and the Protestant cemetery in Quebec in 1848, both in the style of Greenwood Cemetery. In August 1848, he moved to Geneva College (now Hobart)...
  15. ^ "About Us — The Green-Wood Story". The Green-Wood Historic Fund. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  16. ^ Richardson, A. J. H. (1970). "Guide to the Architecturally and Historically Most Significant Buildings in the Old City of Quebec with a Biographical Dictionary of Architects and Builders and Illustrations". Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology. 2 (3/4): 93. doi:10.2307/1493384. ...the Gothic Revival entrance lodge to Mount Hermon Cemetery (still standing) (1848),...
  17. ^ a b "Staveley, Edward — STAVELEY, Edward (1795-1872) — EDWARD STAVELEY – (works in Quebec City unless noted)". Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800 – 1950. Retrieved 2018-11-06. MOUNT HERMON PROTESTANT CEMETERY, St. Louis Road, entrance lodge and gates, 1848 (Quebec Mercury, 16 Sept. 1848, 3, t.c.; dwgs. at ANQ, Staveley Coll. 04; A.J.H. Richardson, 508, 520, illus.) MOUNT HERMON PROTESTANT CEMETERY, burial vault for the family of Hon. Henry Black, 1849 (dwgs. at ANQ, Staveley Coll. 08).
  18. ^ "Design for proposed entrance lodge and gates for the grounds of the Quebec Cemetery / Edward Staveley . - 6 septembre 1848 - 1 dessin(s) d'architecture : Encre et aquarelle sur papier — Cote : P541,D4 — P541 — Fonds Famille Staveley — Centre : BAnQ Québec". Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  19. ^ "Burial Vault for the Family of Henry Black. / Edward Staveley . - 24 août 1849 — 3 dessin(s) d'architecture : Encre et aquarelle sur papier — Cote : P541,D8 — P541 — Fonds Famille Staveley — Centre : BAnQ Québec". Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  20. ^ "Historique du cimetière". Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  21. ^ arrondissement historique de Sillery. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  22. ^ "Maison d'accueil du cimetière Mount Hermon" (in Canadian French). Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec, Ministère de la Culture et des Communications. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  23. ^ "About The War Graves Photographic Project". The War Graves Photographic Project. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  24. ^ "QUEBEC CITY (MOUNT HERMON) CEMETERY — LISTING PHOTOGRAPHS FOR QUEBEC CITY (MOUNT HERMON) CEMETERY". The War Graves Photographic Project. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  25. ^ a b c "QUEBEC CITY (MOUNT HERMON) CEMETERY — FIND CEMETERIES & MEMORIALS". Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  26. ^ "Prisoners, Students and Thinkers: George Weir". Morrin Centre. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  27. ^ "Biography of Thomas Cushing Aylwin". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  28. ^ "Biography of Frank Carrel". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  29. ^ "Biography of Bartholomew Conrad Augustus Gugy". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  30. ^ "Biography of Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  31. ^ "Mount Hermon Cemetery". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
  32. ^ "Biography of John Munn". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  33. ^ "Mount Hermon Cemetery". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
  34. ^ "Biography of William Rhodes". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  35. ^ "Mount Hermon Cemetery". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
  36. ^ Seton-Karr. "Seton-Karr, Sir Henry". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |accessed= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |othernames= ignored (help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  37. ^ "Biography of Richard Turner". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  38. ^ "Prisoners, Students and Thinkers: William Wood". Morrin Centre. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  39. ^ "Prisoners, Students and Thinkers: Joseph Morrin". Morrin Centre. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  40. ^ Bishop, Arthur (May 2004). "Saving The Guns In South Africa Part 3 of 18 — Canada And The Victoria Cross". Legion Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-08.