Contributed by Joan Cruickshank, Feb 11, 2006, last edited Jan
17, 2012 [dean.cruickshank@sympatico.ca].
Total records = 6,331.
From King Street West in downtown Sherbrooke, Quebec, take Blvd.
Queen Victoria, and follow it until you reach Elgin Street. Make
a left turn onto Elgin, followed by an immediate right turn onto
Hyatt Street. The cemetery stretches along this short street.
Newspaper reports indicate that the old Union Cemetery, located
on Belvedere Street, had grown up to brush, and it had become
a hangout for young kids to smoke and drink.. The citizens of
Sherbrooke had become concerned about this, and made the decision
to move the bodies, and what was left of their headstones, to
the Elmwood Cemetery.
Shortly after Elmwood Cemetery was established, this process
was initiated, and for the most part, these bodies were re-interred
in single lots, one beside the other, without any markers. The
cemetery records provided me with information regarding most of
these burials, as well as others with no markers, and I have included
them in my listing and identified them with an asterisk (*). Please
keep in mind that the dates provided with an asterisk are burial
dates in Elmwood Cemetery, and not necessarily the original burial
date in the Union Cemetery. Any burial dates or names found in
brackets also came from the cemetery records.
Elmwood Cemetery is one of the most picturesque cemeteries I
have seen, with it's hilly terrain, wooded areas, and paved roads
throughout. An Embellishment Fund allows lot owners to buy perpetual
care and through it, the annual planting and maintenance of summer
flowers, and shrubs, adds to the beauty of this cemetery.
A unique feature of Elmwood is its Crematorial Garden and Columbarium.
Many of the prominent English-speaking social and industrial
developers are interred within this cemetery, and a walk through
the grounds or a stroll along the cemetery's roads, constitutes
a virtual history of the region.
I began walking this cemetery in the fall of 2005, transcribing
from the stones to the best of my ability, and completed it in
October 2006.
- Joan Cruickshank
