Clear Lake Cemetery

Clear Lake Cemetery occupies a location on the north side of Clear Lake Road to the west just before the road turns south.

CLEAR LAKE CEMETERY

A PIONEER CEMETERY UNDER THE
ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT
AND
MUNICIPAL-BY-LAW 43-90

RESTORED IN 2007, ON THE 175TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE RIDEAU CANAL
BY
THE CHAFFEY'S LOCK & AREA
HERITAGE SOCIETY
AND COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS

WORKING IN COLLABORATION WITH
THE TOWNSHIP OF RIDEAU LAKES
AND
DESCENDANTS OF
THE STANTON AND KERR FAMILIES
RE-CONSECRATED JULY 29, 2007

Cemetery History

Clear Lake Cemetery is the burial place of some of the earliest settlers to the community. The Rideau builder and master carpenter, James Stanton, is buried here with members of his family.

The cemetery property, which includes the pine woods, is approximately 1,000 square metres in size. It lies on a portion of land in the southwest corner of what was originally 200 acres granted to Ann Henderson by the British Crown on December 17, 1806. This land was divided in two halves. On April 8, 1824, these were sold to Thomas Ratcliff and James Stanton, who might have been squatters on the land. The next spring Ratcliff drowned when he went through the ice at Chaffey's. In 1826 John Rowswell bought his land.

An error on the original deed cites Stanton as the owner of the "S.W. 1/2 100 acres." The survey recorded the "N 1/2." When their son, William Thomas, died in November 1830, James and his wife, Sarah, located their family cemetery here, on land they thought they owned. The pleasing location on the hillside, with a view of the lake and soil that was easy to dig, made the site ideal. The error on the deed was corrected in 1853, with an equal payment between Stanton and Rowswell.

Verses and symbols on the tombstones speak of tragic loss, family relationships and religious faith.

Many marble tombstones fell into disrepair, their inscriptions worn by weathering and acid rain. Both weathering and vandalism caused tombstones to break. Some may have been stolen.

In 1979, Mr. I. Miller from the Leeds and Granville Genealogical Society recorded the inscriptions on the tombstones to preserve the information. In 1990, the Township of South Crosby designated Clear Lake Cemetery for its architectural and heritage value under the Ontario Heritage Act. Since 1998, the Township of Rideau Lakes has assumed responsibility for the cemetery. In 2005, the Chaffey's Lock & Area Heritage Society began to restore the cemetery and reclaim the history of those buried here.

Who's Who at Clear Lake Cemetery

Buried here are James and Sarah Stanton, seven of their eight children, and the couple's two sons-in-law, John Kerr and his nephew Edward Kerr. Both men came from Greenbush, north of Brockville.

John Kerr and his wife, Matilda Stanton, were the first settlers on what is now Eddie Rowswell's farm near Chaffey's Lock. John raised pigs and sheep. He was self controlled, but was never present on slaughtering day. It is said that he had a wonderful singing voice and would walk to Brockville, carrying a sack of grain, and return with a sack of flour.

Edward Kerr and his wife, Sarah Ann Stanton, farmed near Crosby. At first they lived in the house shown below, which had belonged to Hattie Kerr Bass, Edward's aunt, and her husband, Thomas Bass.

Others buried in the cemetery are James' and Sarah's grandchildren with the surname "Kerr," and a great-grandson, baby Kenneth, son of Lucas Kerr and his wife, Daisy, (shown below), who are also buried here. Lucas was a butcher at Crosby.

The grave of grandson James "Slim Jim" Stanton, (shown below), who died in 1939, was not marked.

Unmarked graves are suspected for three children of john and Matilda Kerr: Elizabeth, Susannah, and James (1847-1897), and a baby grand-daughter, Enid. It is probable that their tombstones sank underground or were stolen.