Every stone has a story; Local Mormons donate South Cemetery records.

Byline: Ellie Oleson

OXFORD - Tucked away by itself in the north corner of South Cemetery, behind the Congregational Church on Main Street, is a small, dark, slate stone that reads, "Dinah, a faithful slave - died 1829. Supposed to be 100 years old."

Dinah and more than 1,200 other deceased Oxford residents are being remembered, thanks to several generous members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also called Mormons, and a very active Oxford Historical Commission.

Jean M. O'Reilly, chairman of the Historical Commission, said that local Mormons gave the commission and Oxford Public Library four large volumes detailing what is inscribed on every stone in the town's oldest known cemetery.

"It is absolutely wonderful. They have documented the early history of Oxford. We would love to see South Cemetery refurbished for the town's 2013 tricentennial celebration."

Timothy A. Kelley, library director, said, "Occasionally, we get people researching their family history. This is a great resource."

One of those who participated in the research is Sutton resident Nanci H. Cox, a member of the Mormon church, which is at 49 Old Webster Road, Oxford.

"Some of the stones were very hard to read. We did the best we could to document everything," she said, adding that former Oxford residents and church members Jay and Delene Holbrook and Earl and Mary Randall organized the gravestone project.

"One stone touched me in particular. It was a boy who had died ice skating," Ms. Cox said. His stone reads: "James Briant Davis, died Nov. 21, 1827 at age 16. Was drowned by skating on a pond at Dudley. He was underwater 18 hours."

Ms. Cox was also touched by the grave of the slave named Dinah.

Mrs. O'Reilly said, "When the family that `owned' Dinah moved away, they left her behind. She was taken in by the Wolcott family. She is buried in the Wolcott's cemetery plot."

Buried at South Cemetery and now recorded are children and veterans, ministers and politicians, and hundreds of citizens of Oxford.

There is a stone dedicated to textile manufacturer and U.S. Rep. Alexander DeWitt, who served in the state House of Representatives and Senate before being elected twice to Congress in 1853 and 1855.

There are Revolutionary War veterans Ensign David Day and Brigadier General Ebenezer Learned., and Civil War heroes A. Bradford Hudson, "a prisoner of war in Andersonville, GA," and George Bacon, who "died from wounds received in Battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864."

Other markers tell about "Mooktee, a native of Bombay, India"; "Luman Corbin, died 1863. Age 20. Our only child;" Loren F. Russell, age 18 in 1812, "Member of Amherst College"; and "Rev. George Champion, missionary in Southern Africa, died at Santa Cruz, West Indies, Dec. 17, 1841, and was buried there."

Among the oldest stones is one to "Mrs. Mary Davis, Consort of Capt. Elisha Davis, died Sept. 26, 1706."

There are large plots for the Larned, Olney, Towne, Sibley, Shumway, Thurston, Campbell, Wolcott and Sigourney families.

Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has connections to two of these families, the Townes and the Shumways, according to freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com.

Mr. Smith's great-great-grand-aunt Mary Smith married Lt. John Towne on Feb 2, 1679, in Topsfield and moved to Oxford shortly after Mr. Smith's great-great-grandfather, Samuel Smith, testified against his own aunt, Mary Towne Easty, at the Salem Witch Trials. As a result, Mrs. Easty was hanged on Sept. 22, 1692. Lt. Towne died in Oxford in 1740. Later members of his family who are buried in South Cemetery include Mary S. Towne and Benjamin F. Towne.

Another of Joseph Smith's great-great-grand-aunts, Mariah Smith, married Peter Shumway in 1700 and moved to Oxford to raise their sons, John and Jeremiah, who, with his wife, Experience Learned Shumway, had 15 children.

Their descendent, Charles Shumway, who was born on Aug. 1, 1806, in Oxford, became one of the earliest Mormon converts when he was re-baptized into that religion in 1840. He traveled to Nauvoo, Ill., and moved his family there shortly after meeting Joseph Smith.

Mr. Shumway eventually moved to Utah, where he worked closely with Brigham Young and became a member of the Territorial Legislature. After his death, Mr. Shumway was named a patriarch of his church. He had four wives and 36 children. The town of Shumway, Ariz., is named after him. Members of the Shumway family buried in South Cemetery include Peter, Sarah, May, Danforth, Rebecca, Amos, Benjamin and Caroline Shumway.

ART: PHOTOS

PHOTOG: ELLIE OLESON

CUTLINE: (1) In photo at top left is the stone of a slave named Dinah. (2) Above is the Larned family monument and stones for Capt. Stephen Larned. (3) Oxford Library Director Timothy A. Kelley looks over one of the donated volumes that details what is inscribed on every stone in South Cemetery. (4) A Shumway family stone at South Cemetery. A great-great-grand-aunt of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was married to Peter Shumway.