Page 235 - Dictionary of Heraldry and Related Subjects

SHELDON CPlETERY

ELIZABETH S. SWART AND IBRA L. CONNERS

A recording of the Sheldon Cemetery on Lot 5, Concession 10,
of the Township of Bastard, Leeds County, Ontario, was made by us
on September 21, 1971. Unfortunately, not until August 8, 1975,
were the inscriptions rechecked by I.L.C. and George A. Neville.
We are also indebted to George Neville for the photographs, the
plotting of the stones, and the preparation of the map. The cemetery
was in a semi-abandoned state when E.S.S. made her visit. By 1971,
it had been reclaimed, but it was clear that many of the stones were
no longer in their original location as evidenced by the stonea piled
against others still standing and by the large vacant area in the
north-central part of the cemetery. The name, Sheldon Cemetery, is
displayed on an ornamental arch, below which was recently set up
stone No. 13, a memorial to Mother Barnes [Jane Elizabeth (Martin)
Barnes]. When the cemetery was visited in 1971, only the vital
information was recorded. Later, an effort was made to record the
exact wording and spelling, while rechecking the vital information.

This cemetery was of particular interest to both of us, as some
of our ancestors are buried there. For instance, Lanah Stevens, an
ancestor common to both of us, was born in the Schoharie Valley, New
York, 22 December 1776 and was baptised 18 January 1777 Maria
Magdalena Mattice, daughter of Johann Nicholas Mattice and his wife
Maria, her sponsors being her grandparents, Hendrick Mattice and his
wife Maria Magdalena Ingolt, as recorded in the High and Low Dutch
Reformed Church register, vol. 1, pt. 1, p. 407 (Mattice Family
History, 1964, p. 330). She is enumerated in the Census taken
30 November 1783 at Niagara, where her father was a soldier in Capt.
Hare's Company of the Butler's Rangers (Ont. Register 1: 204. 1968).
Lanah was already married to William Stevens when she petitioned
for land as a daughter of a United Empire Loyalist on 7 October 1797.
In response to her petition, she was granted Lot 18, Concession 4 of
Bastard on 30 June 1801. She survived her husband, who died 13
December 1825, and her name appears in the Assessment Rolls of Bastard
for 1826.

William Stevens was a cousin of the well-known Abel Stevens.
William applied for land in 1794: and on a list of Abel Stevens'
settlers drawn up in 1797, he is shown on Lot 5, Concession 9 of
Bastard. This location is that of the beautiful Plumhollow farm
of the late Frank Tackaberry, where William Stevens and his wife
Lanah raised 12 children. Among the children, two at least were
buried in the Sheldon Cemetery: Nancy (78), who married Elisha