Monument honours those buried in unmarked paupers’ grave

In early December, a headstone was erected in a cemetery in Perth, Ontario, a town southwest of Ottawa, to honour the more than 400 people who were buried in a paupers’ grave 100 years ago.

These men and women had been destitute and homeless. They had lived, worked and died at the old Perth House of Industry, a poor house, between 1903 and 1965.

For decades, the names and burial sites of these people had been unknown.

Eric Halpin, president and board chair of the Perth Cemetery Company, told the CBC the bodies were wrapped in bed sheets and buried the same day without ceremony, casket, or grave marker. At the time, he said, caskets were often uncommon.

CBC reported, “The bodies were discovered over time by Perth Cemetery Company workers digging new graves, who kept finding human remains in areas of the cemetery they expected to be empty. Workers immediately reburied the remains.”

Thanks to Mr. Halpin research, the remains of about 300 people have been identified. He used an 1872 survey map and cemetery records and, according to Inside Ottawa Valley, “He enlisted the help of Wayne Harris who delved into the records for more information on just who these people were, leading to as exhaustive a list of those buried on the site as possible.”

The names have been etched into a two-sided black granite monument, donated by Cosello and Company Monuments. The inscriptions were paid for by Lanark County Council.

You can read more in the CBC report, Monument erected to honour 400 buried in unmarked grave, and find more information and several photos in the Inside Ottawa Valley article, Perth’s Elmwood cemetery dedicates ‘paupers’ section of graveyard.