Old Burying Ground
The Old Burying Ground and Cutter Cemetery are overseen by the town of Jaffrey’s Cemetery Committee. These cemeteries are open for people to visit but if a person or persons wish to use them for burial purposes, permission must be sought from the Department of Pubic Works (603-532-6521).
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Daily, 8am to dusk
"That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather, My Ántonia
Behind the Meetinghouse lies the Old Burying Grounds, Jaffrey’s oldest cemetery, laid out in 1774. Some of Jaffrey's prominent citizens from three centuries are buried here, including Laban Ainsworth, Amos Fortune (immortalized by writer Elizabeth Yates McGreal), the well-known 20th century author Willa Cather and bandbox maker Hannah Davis. Historical notes and a grave map are located at the entrance to the Old Burying Grounds.
The author Willa Cather (1873-1947) spent months in Jaffrey, usually in the fall from 1917 until 1940. She completed My Ántonia here and wrote portions of nine other novels, including the Pulitzer Prize winner, One of Ours. She asked to be laid to rest in the Old Burying Grounds, and visitors leave tokens by her grave to pay homage to her work.
Old Burying Grounds History
▪︎ Amos Fortune died at the age of 91 and was buried at the Old Burying Grounds. He instructed the executor of his will to erect “handsome gravestones” for his wife and himself, after other bequests were paid, including a “handsome present” to the church.
▪︎ Fortune’s wife, Violate Fortune, died one year after her husband and was buried beside him.
▪︎Their epitaphs were written by his friend, the Reverend Laban Ainsworth and read:
Sacred to the memory of Amos Fortune, who was born free in Africa, a slave in America, he purchased liberty, professed Christianity, lived reputably, and died hopefully, Nov. 17, 1801, AEt. 91
Sacred to the memory of Violate, by sale the slave of Amos Fortune, by marriage his wife, by her fidelity, his friend and solace, she died his widow Sept. 13, 1802, AEt. 73
▪︎ Willa Cather’s grave is marked with a plain headstone that doesn’t identify her as a writer. It is instead inscribed with a line from My Ántonia, ". . . that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great."
▪︎ The marker also perpetuates Cather's polite fiction about her age, giving the year of her birth as 1876, which was three years later than her actual birth year of 1873.
▪︎ Cather’s lifelong partner, Edith Lewis, is buried next to her.
Willa Cather's Gravesite in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, Willa Cather Center
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