The Howland Flat Cemetery

Many people have been curious about the cemetery at Howland Flat and I decided to post this seperate entry to describe it as best I can. The most common questions are whether it's haunted, the ages of the oldest and youngest people interred there and what are the oldest and most recent gravesites in the cemetery.

Well, we didn't see any paranormal activity but there are about forty years of reported sightings - some as recent as early 2007. Most tend to be 'faces' and orbs of light that are seen in pictures taken at the cemetery. There are also some sightings of translucent 'figures' engaged in various activities from their previous lives. The pictures on this page are all the ones I took of the Howland Flat Cemetery, so if you see something interesting and would like a larger, high-resolution copy to look at, feel free to contact me.

The youngest person buried in Howland Flat is Louisa Meikle who passed away on January 26, 1883 after living only 11 days. Mary Chittenden was barely two months old when she died on August 23, 1874 and her sister, Eunice A. Chittenden, died at ten months on December 31, 1877. Nellie Goard had just turned eight when she passed away on June 19, 1907. Barely two weeks later, on July 4, her one-year-old sister Alice also succumbed. Edna Hayes passed away on February 13, 1907, just four months prior to the Goard sisters at the age of four. The only other death recorded in that year was of Joseph Wehrle who died at the age of 73 on June 9, 1907. I would presume some illness befell the area, claiming all four lives in less than five months. Tragedy once again struck the Goard family on August 14, 1913 when Walter Goard passed away at the age of four.


The oldest person buried there is Mary Walls who passed away in 1939 at the age of 82. Patrick O'Kean was 81 when he died, having served his country in both World War I and World War II. The earliest known grave belongs to Mark Brown who died at the age of five on May 12, 1866 and is buried near Miner's Pond. The most recent grave belongs to Fr. Erland R. Twede who was buried at Howland Flat in 1980.

There are actually three cemeteries in the immediate area. The one we visited is the largest and is a Catholic cemetery. The Protestant and military cemeteries are a short walk away near Miner's Pond and are heavily overgrown. Many of the headstones near Miner's Pond have deteriorated completely or have been stolen, leaving a large number of unmarked graves. There are approximately sixty people buried in Howland Flat, about half of which are in the Catholic cemetery.

The graves here are in very good condition. Trees have fallen and damaged some of the head- stones and wooden fences, but most of them look practically brand-new. It was also interesting to see that many of the graves looked as though they were regularly tended. Some had pinecones or stones arranged decoratatively around them and the pieces from one crushed headstone had been retrieved and placed neatly on its original granite base. I don't know if these sites are tended by family, volunteers or travellers as they pass through.

Wherever possible, I have included the names, birth and death dates for each of the people buried in Howland Flat and they are arranged chronologically. There are a number of people whose graves we either could not find, were unmarked or destroyed. On our next trip to the area, I will attempt to locate and document these other sites. Another feature I have never seen before were 'footstones' which sat opposite the headstone. I photographed a number of these and will post them later as well.

When we arrived, it was after struggling through seven miles of thick mud and slippery rocks with the constant drone of engines and CB radios filling the cab of our trucks. As we pulled up and everyone unloaded, the first thing I noticed was how intensely quiet the area was. Even our normally-raucous crew was speaking in low tones, as we walked through the light rain and up a slight hill toward the gravesites. Sunlight filtered down through the trees, bathing the entire area in a soft light and I couldn't help but feel like I was intruding upon this serene place. The boys didn't understand the signficance of where we were, but the adults walked amongst the trees and headstones, until with barely a word spoken between us, we mounted up and continued on our way.

Out of respect for the individuals who risked so much to settle this frontier, I felt it was important to document this site as completely as possible, without disturbing the graves or altering the scene's natural decay. Eventually, this part of our history will be lost - reclaimed by the very forest these famillies struggled to tame.

Unknown

Daniel McKeever
1836 - October 30, 1882

Maurice M. Moriarty
1832 - December 6, 1885

William Hughes
1824 - May 19, 1890

Margarate Hughes
1831 - October 28, 1895

Patrick Costello
1834 - January 8, 1892

Mary Costello
1827 - August 1, 1905

William C. Totman
1828 - 1895

Ellen Totman
1842 - 1891

Andrew Hellbach
February, 1845 - May 5, 1901

Andrew J. Hellbach
May 18, 1879 - July 3, 1916

Edna Hayes
June 30, 1902 - Feburary 13, 1907

Willie Hayes
1897 - 1917

Nellie Goard
May 11, 1899 - June 19, 1907

Alice Goard
April 26, 1906 - July 4, 1907

Walter Goard
March 14, 1909 - August 14, 1913

Henry Goard
1870 - 1927

Mary A. Goard
1874 - 1949

C. Henry Goard
1897 - 1956

Michael Sinnott
September 27, 1828 - August 23, 1908

Catherine Sinnott
April 29, 1835 - July 3, 1909

Patrick O'Kean
November 26, 1892 - December 29, 1973

Fr. Erland R. Twede
January 9, 1920 - June 15, 1980