Historic Cemeteries Preserve The Memory Of Area’s Ancestors

Trick-or-treating, dressing in costume, carving jack-o’-lanterns, watching horror movies and telling scary stories - the traditions of modern Halloween encourage all of us to indulge our imaginations in a good celebration of our fears. But for both the ancient Celts and early Christians, the autumn festivals of Samhain and Hallowtide were a special time for honoring the dead.

Fortunately, throughout Severna Park, with its rich history that stretches back to the 18th century, there are a good many predecessors to be honored. Many of the area’s earliest graveyards and cemeteries still stand today, giving 21st century residents a window into the past and a way of understanding history.

“They give us insight into the burial practices and let us know who originally lived in the area,” explained Caitlin Merritt from the Anne Arundel County Department of Planning and Zoning. “They allow us to do research on the families and their burial practices, and they’re the biggest insights into the history of the area.”

Greater Severna Park is known to have at least 20 cemeteries, including family plots and churchyards, many of which are no longer burying. Tina Simmons, cemetery inscription chairman with the county’s genealogical society, noted that up until the 20th century, families commonly established small cemeteries on private land to bury their loved ones, and the known family gravesites in Severna Park are important cultural resources, as they identify those who established our community.

To preserve these clues to the past and respect the last resting place of these ancestors, county regulations do not allow cemeteries to be moved from their original location, so many of them have remained where they have always been.

One such cemetery of historic significance is the Linstead cemetery, which dates back to the 1830s. Located on what is today residential property, the gravesite was established by the Linstid family, who owned the farmland that would eventually become the neighborhoods of Linstead and Olde Severna Park. Local historian Scott Jay indicated that John Linstid and his sisters, Georgie Linstid and Elizabeth Boone, are buried in the yard.

Similarly, the Kinder family, who lived on what is present-day Kinder Farm Park, was buried in a small family cemetery that can still be visited on the park grounds. Gustavus Kinder purchased the 41-acre farm in 1898, and his family continued to acquire land until the farm grew to 1,100 acres. In 1979, a 288-acre portion of the Kinder farm was purchased by the county to turn into a park, but the graveyard was maintained. Dates on the tombstones go back to 1911, but some of the sandstone grave markers are so worn down that their dates are no longer legible.

As communities began to settle in the area, citizens established churches, and they moved their burials to the hallowed grounds of the churchyard. Old churches in the area, such as Asbury United Methodist and Piney Grove Methodist Episcopal, have centuries-old graveyards on their properties, although the contemporary congregation no longer buries their family there.

Not all church cemeteries are alike, however. Carpenter Hill Cemetery, located off Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, is affiliated with Wayman’s Good Hope African-Methodist Church and is noteworthy in that many of its graves are unmarked by tombstones, and not all the graves are in neat rows. These practices would be indicative of a more humble economic status than some families that would have elaborate headstones carved.

As Simmons indicated, the county frequently faces trouble when trying to build around these historic cemeteries. Frequently, per county regulations, the graveyards have been preserved, but there have been a few exceptions. “The majority of the cases when a cemetery is moved involved roadway construction,” she said. Routes 97, 100 and 10 all required moving cemeteries; in those cases, the county would attempt to research the descendants to request permission to move the graves.

In other cases, those who accept commercial or residential properties that contain cemeteries will take on the responsibility of maintaining them. Kirk Ferguson, who owns the property on which the Linstead graveyard is situated, said he accepts people respectfully visiting the historic relic, but he has had to protect the tombstones from vandalism over the years.

For a full list of cemeteries in the area, visit the Anne Arundel County Genealogical Society’s website at www.aagensoc.org/cemeteryrecords.php.