Dwight Camp Restoring Headstones on a Summer Day
There’s picky people and picky work. We found Woodstock’s Dwight Camp doing some picky work this afternoon in the River Street cemetery. If you’ve been walking the area, you may have noticed some headstones with orange tape around them. These are the ones in need of restoration damaged by the elements, poor construction or vandalism.
Camp explained that the headstone he was working on — that of the very late Electa Montague, d. 1879 — had started to erode and chip away where the posts had been put in to hold the stone stable. He chips away at and then puts in some marble stabilizers depending on the extent of damage. It’s picky work getting the weeds out and keeping things neat and tidy. We hope Electa appreciates it as I’m sure her descendants do.
In fact, Camp noted, as he worked, that the Cabot Funeral Home which he owns and operates in Woodstock was purchased from the Montague family.
Another point of historical interest: While most of us today refer to it as the River Street Cemetery, the large family plots at the back were known as the Woodstock Burial Grounds. Many of the town’s most prominent citizens “rest” there — among them members of the Billings, French and Williams families.
Camp says unfortunately kids have taken to partying in the Burial Grounds area and have been leaving beer cans and other debris there. Cemeteries are wonderful places. Is it too much to ask our kids to, at the very least, be respectful of well-maintained grounds and pick up after themselves?
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 