Old Indian Cemetery

This old cemetery keeps a silent vigil to much of West Brookfield's history. The cemetery is the resting place of 16 French and Indian War soldiers and 11 Revolutionary War soldiers.

The cemetery is also the resting place of the Jedediah Foster family. Jedediah Foster's stone is the second from the left (below). On the handsome time-warn stone most of the words can still be deciphered. He died October 17, 1779, at the age of fifty-three. Jedediah Foster was a Colonel in the militia during the Revolutionary War. He was a Judge of Probate, Judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, a member of the Legislature several times, and was chosen to help frame the Constitution for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

His wife, Dorothy, daughter of Brigadier-General Joseph Dwight, died in 1818 and is buried here. His daughter Abigail has one of the more interesting headstones with intricate carvings. Abigail's stone was the prototype for the new sign at the entrance of the cemetery.

In the south corner of the cemetery is the Haymakers Monument erected in honor of the six haymakers, who were massacred by the Indians in 1710. This was the last hostile act of the Indians toward the town.

Diederik Leertouwer, Esquire, consul from the Netherlands to the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, is buried here. The date on his gravestone is 1789. He introduced the asparagus plant to this area.

This cemetery is located on Cottage Street at the center of the town.

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