Current News and the Back Story
Current News
June 2023
Rock Hill Cemetery will be holding an Open House on Saturday, June 11 from 12-3. This is Founders Day in Foxborough so please plan accordingly. Light refreshments will be provided, and 1 or 2 tours will be conducted depending on demand. Graves can be located and unsold sections will be shown.
Canadian Geese have been a problem at the cemetery in recent years. This year we have contracted with a company to harass the geese daily with border collies. The geese are not harmed but are made uncomfortable and in some cases seek other homes. The program seems to be successful, as the number of geese at the cemetery is much less than in prior years. We will never completely eliminate the problem due to our proximity to nearby Cocasset Lake.
New service offered - The Cemetery will clean any standard size headstone for a fee of $100. This applies to monuments that are approximately 4 feet high. Larger memorials can be cleaned at a negotiated price.
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June 2017
The Annual Meeting of the Cemetery was held at Rock Hill Cemetery on May 17, 2017. The Board of Trustees elected Andrew Neufell as President, Richard Davis as Treasurer and Mark Ferencik as Clerk.
The cemetery is ready for Memorial Day, concerns were discussed over access roads to the cemetery, the geese control operation with lights is working somewhat and acts of the Board of Trustees were approved by the Annual Meeting.
During the May regular meeting, held following the Annual Meeting, the layout of the new part of the cemetery was discussed. The Trustees voted to name the new cremation section PONDVIEW. The entrance to the new cremation section was funded by a behest to the cemetery from Carol Elledge.
Rates for the new cremation will be posted.
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May 2016:
The Annual Meeting of the Rock Hill Board of Trustees and the Cemetery Corporation will be held the third Wednesday of May at 7 P.M. at the Chapel in the Cemetery. All plot holders may attend.
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The Back Story
May, 2016 : Annual Meeting Time approaches....who are we, the Rock Hill Cemetery?
This briefest of pages is dedicated to introducing our beautiful Rock Hill Cemetery in an informal way.
We were founded by local residents who were the late 1800s version of community activists. The founders of our cemetery were involved in many activities in our Foxborough community. By 1850 it became apparent to a group of these persons that the land for burials in the center of Foxborough was quickly becoming insufficient and that more space would be needed.
A descendant of Nehemiah Carpenter(an early founder of Foxborough's town center) named Erastus Payson Carpenter called together eighteen town leaders to discuss founding a new cemetery in town.
Eventually these men created the Foxborough Cemetery Corporation, made official by the state of Massachusetts on November 12, 1851. The first Bylaws and Regulations were drafted and approved shortly thereafter. Seven Trustees were then elected: Erastus P. Carpenter, Otis Cary, Oliver Carpenter, S.B.Leonard, W.P. Turner, David Hersey and Freedom Guild. Erastus P. Carpenter was named the first President of the Board of Trustees.
A new site was chosen for this cemetery at a 13+ acre location beside Cocasset Pond. This has become the lovely, treed, peaceful burial ground that we today call Rock Hill Cemetery.
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Next installment: some of the story of Erastus P. Carpenter.
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Interested in walking in the cemetery? look for the grave of Erastus P. Carpenter…..while treating the grounds with respect for the ancestors lying at rest.
So did you find Erastus P. Carpenter's grave? Erastus was known as "E.P. Carpenter" and was one of many dedicated community members(past and present.) He was part of the formation of this cemetery, was active in perpetuating early history of this town and, among other things, he helped plan the historic building, built to honor Civil War veterans, Memorial Hall. On of E.P.'s ancestors was Ezra Carpenter who served in the Revolutionary War, noted for crossing the Delaware River with George Washington and fighting in the Battle of Trenton. Find his stone on the ridge overlooking the pond; also near the cannon.