CALLING ALL WILTSE DESCENDANTS 

Restoration of the Wiltse Pioneer Cemetery

We need your help!  

 The Col. Edward Jessup Branch of the UEL Association of Canada is leading an effort to restore the abandoned Wiltse Pioneer Cemetery near Athens, Ontario, Canada.  This is believed to be the first burying ground in the township of Rear of Yonge and dates from the 1790’s.  We estimate about 150 to 200 early burials, most of which are Wiltse family members.  The site was donated by Benoni Wiltse UEL, a Loyalist Soldier who received a number of 200 acre land grants in Upper Canada including Lot 12, Concession 8, Rear of Yonge Township where this cemetery is located on the banks of the Elbe Creek.

The work will be a civic effort to take place in the Fall of 2003 and will include a proper deed to the municipality, removing all brush from the now overgrown cemetery, fencing the property, restoring and re-erecting all remaining memorials, installing an appropriate gate with signage and erecting a plaque on the site recognizing this property as a historic site as well as arranging for the site’s perpetual care.

Benoni Wiltse 1758–1824  was an important settler, farmer and businessman who came from Hopewell, Dutchess County, Province of New York to Leeds County, Upper Canada after the American Revolutionary War.  The original settlement in the township was “Wiltsetown”.   Among other enterprises operated by Benoni and his family at this early time was a grist mill, a saw mill and a tannery.  Today, the only signs of this early time are the remains of the subject cemetery and the present day Wiltsetown Road.  Our branch feels very strongly that the important contributions made by those who rest in this cemetery should at last be recognized in a meaningful way and we are asking family members for assistance to bring this about.

Every ten dollars donated will provide about one foot of fence or one letter on the site plaque. All labour is being provided by those who care about their community and its history.  

All contributors of $10.00 or more will receive a Canadian charitable tax receipt.  Please forward donations to…

The United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada,

C/O Lorna Johnston,

RR #1  Addison , Ontario , Canada   K0E 1A0

Please indicate “Wiltse Cemetery Project” on cheque.

Click on the thumbnail prints.

Photos by Fraser Carr

For pictures of Cemetery Work in Progress, click on, Wiltse Pioneer Cemetery 

For History of the Wiltse Pioneer Cemetery, click on,  History of the Wiltse Pioneer Cemetery

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