A rural cemetery in Port Robinson has been robbed of its historic plaques.
Established in 1798, and off the beaten path, the Carl, Misener, Bald Cemetery is culturally and historically significant, and Coun. Fred Neale revealed at a recent council meeting that members of the Bald family have asked the city to assume ownership of the heritage cemetery.
“The Carl family notified us the plaques had been chiselled off,” Heritage Thorold chair Craig Finlay told Thorold News. “One was a designation plaque and one was a historic plaque.”
Located on the northwest side of Carl Street/Towpath Road, overlooking the Welland Canals Parkway Trail on the west side of the Welland Canal, just north of the village of Port Robinson, the plaques have been missing for months, and will have to be replaced with replicas, added Finlay, at an estimated cost ranging from $500 to 600 for the two.
According to the Heritage Thorold website, “This cemetery has cultural heritage value as the resting place of some of the earliest settlers of the Port Robinson village area in the former Thorold Township. It is closely associated with the first two non-native residents in the Port Robinson area and their families - United Empire Loyalists John Carl, who set aside this land which was part of his crown grant for a burying ground, and Leonard Misener, who is buried here, along with his wife Barbara Bender.
“Several other members of the Carl and Misener families are known to be buried here along with members of the Bald family, descendants of Thomas Bald. John Carl and Leonard Misener both settled in this area in the 1780s and Thomas Bald settled here circa 1794.
“The cemetery also has cultural associations with the history of the first Welland Canal. Among its 75 graves there are undoubtedly those of victims of the cholera epidemic which raged among canal workers and their families from 1832-34.
“Key attributes of the cemetery that link it with the earliest settlers of Port Robinson and their descendants and the history of the first Welland Canal are:
- The cemetery consists of approximately one acre of land containing at least 75 unmarked graves of early pioneers who settled the Port Robinson area and those who dug the first Welland Canal, located on a grass covered knoll with several mature trees overlooking the current Welland Canal and Welland Canal Parkway Trail
- There are original gravestones of early settlers Barbara Misener, Hannah Misener and Thomas Bald
- A replica of the original cemetery sign was erected 1999 by descendants of these early families
- There is a granite monument installed 1999 with history of the cemetery and the Carl and Misener families.”
A designation ceremony was held in recognition of the cemetery’s heritage on June 9, 2007.
Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of the two plaques is asked to contact the city at 905-227-6613.
