Cemetery Commission

General Responsibilities and Duties

 

Winter Burial Policy

The Southampton Cemetery Commission continues its policy of no winter burials from December 1 to March 30. We reserve the right to use our discretion in reviewing December and March proposed burials only if, in the Commission’s sole judgement, local weather conditions permit.

Center Cemetery

Commissioners are voted to staggered three year terms at the May elections. The three Cemetery Commissioners may be contacted with questions or for request to purchase lots.

Southampton Center Cemetery is located on Route 10 (College Highway) about one quarter mile north of the center of town. It is a public cemetery, administered by a three member Cemetery Commission for the citizens of the town of Southampton.

The first recorded burial was in March, 1738. At that time a section of the forest was cleared to provide a burial space for nineteen year old Simeon Wait, who had died from “drinking too much water.” His stone still stands, though the words are now illegible. In the years that followed, town records document work to “clear ye burying yard” and the approval of money to maintain the cemetery. Wooden fencing was built and repaired. A town tomb was erected, and burial palls and a public horse-drawn hearse were provided. The town voted the funds to provide shovels and other necessary interment tools. The grass was first mowed in the summer of 1859.

In 1900 William Foley gave $1000.00 to the town for the cast iron fence that still encloses much of the existing cemetery.

The existing cemetery is at a near-capacity level for providing gravesites for the town. Recognizing that problem, the Cemetery, Water, and Conservation boards worked together and in 2002 pooled their resources and purchased an additional 80 acres of abutting land from past resident Enid Huntley. The land will safeguard the town well, provide opportunities for passive recreation and an area of protected open space, as well as ensuring much needed acreage for future burial space.

Records of the inscriptions on the gravestones are available at the Southampton Town Hall and the Edwards Public Library, both located on East Street. They were compiled in 1940 by Mrs. Max Lederer, and updated by Richard Frary in 1981 and again in 2000.

The Center Cemetery is a focal point of the Town’s annual Memorial Day Parade. The parade stops midway in its route at the cemetery grounds as veterans, scouts, schoolchildren, town officers, and local civic groups take part to honor our war dead.

In 1866 the town erected a Civil War Monument. In 2005 the monument (along with a number of other historically significant stones) was cleaned, repaired and preserved with money provided by private citizens, local banks and businesses, and the Community Preservation Fund.

Graves are sold to town residents at the cost of $600.00 per single lot.

Meetings

Please check the MyTownGovernment website for meeting announcements.

Contacting the Cemetery Commission

Email: cemetery@townofsouthampton.org
Phone (Chair):
Telephone: (413) 218-6971
 

Mail Address:
Town Hall
210 College Highway
Southampton, MA 01073

Members of the Cemetery Committee

Position	Name	Term Expires
Chair	Judith Miller Conlin	2026
Clerk	Robert Floyd	2024
Superintendent	William “David” Wells	2025