Scenes from the Brimmer Cemetery, Mariaville

Three minutes up the road from the Lincoln School Writers’ Retreat is an open, sunny cemetery housing the remains of some of Mariaville’s oldest families. Called the Brimmer Cemetery, the Brimmers lie at rest there, of course. But so do the Frosts, the Austins, and the Honeys—including Mark E. Honey (not yet deceased at time of writing), the author of Mariaville’s most notable history: A History of Wm. Bingham’s Settlement on the Union River, Townships 14 & 20, Hancock County, Maine; with a Geneology [sic] of Her Families (1986).

Mark. E. Honey’s headstone notes he is a “descendant of Samuel Orcutt, b. 1802, Mariaville Falls.”

Being a “person from away” myself, I don’t know the stories of all the people interred here … but some of them I don’t have to. They’re recorded right on the stones for posterity’s sake:

Elmer E. Hanscom’s (1865-1884) grave bears this poem: “Elmer is gone / no more to greet us here / Parents, Brothers, and Sister dear / But in that blissful better land / We trust we’ll grasp his welcome hand.”

That Ellen F. Jordan (1853-1853), who died seven months and eighteen days after she was born, was memorialized at such a young age with such an impressive monument begs questions about who she and her family were … likely people of influence in this small community.

The headstone of George Brimmer (1798-1853), of the family who lent their surname to the Brimmer Cemetery, makes a good point: “Why should we ask here long to stay / Since those we loved have passed away.”