HISTORY OF THE PROJECT

The Danbury Gravestone Project was formed in 1997 with the goal of preserving the rich history of Danbury's citizens that is presented in her many cemeteries.

There are 23 known cemeteries within the city limits of Danbury. These range in size from as few as 10 gravestones to over 40,000 gravestones.

The only available database of gravestone inscriptions was from the Hale Collection, which was completed over 65 years ago. The Danbury Public Library had one copy on microfilm, and the Danbury Museum and Historical Society had one copy in loose leaf format.

Further inquiries revealed that almost no one had knowledge of the locations of all of these cemeteries. The City Clerk's office had no knowledge of ownership for over half of them, and there was no common source of maintenance, repair or surveillance.

GOALS OF THE PROJECT

• Completion of transcribing the inscriptions of all gravestones in the 23 cemeteries within the Danbury city limits.
• Entering of all transcriptions into a searchable computer database.
• Establish accessibility to the database, both in print and on the Internet.
• Make a photographic record of all gravestones more than 100 years old.
• Develop plot maps for cemeteries where one does not exist.
• Restoration of old cemeteries which have been abandoned and/or neglected.
• Establish a specialized listing of gravesites of veterans, with emphasis on those for war service up to and including the U.S. Civil War.
• Review of burial records and newspaper obituaries to identify those buried in unmarked graves.

THE GRAVESTONE DATABASE

The first priority of the Project is the gravestone database. This part of the project has already resulted in almost 8,000 gravestones from 16 cemeteries registered as of January 2000.

The database includes a full listing of names and dates from the stones. The general condition of the stones as well as a descriptive paragraph on the overall condition of the cemetery is included. Where appropriate, rubbings and/or photography are being done.

The main database is maintained using FileMaker Pro, with a secondary copy maintained in Excel. Printed copies of the database are available at the Danbury Museum and Historical Society, as well as in the Local History Room of the Danbury Public Library.

For each of the cemeteries, the inscriptions are listed alphabetically by surname. At present, there is not a city wide index available.

There remain 8 of the 23 cemeteries to be fully transcribed. Currently, we are working on the Old Catholic Cemetery and the Wooster Street Cemetery. Pending completion, we are listing the inscriptions from the Hale Collection for your information. Please remember, the inscriptions from the Hale Collection have NOT been verified, and some of the stones mentioned may no longer exist.

THE CEMETERIES

• Baptist Cemetery
• Children of Israel Cemetery
• Christian Church Cemetery
• Comes' Cemetery
• Great Plain Cemetery
• Kenosia Cemetery
• Long Ridge Cemetery
• Lower Starr's Plain Cemetery
• Lutheran Cemetery
• Mill Plain Cemetery
• Miry Brook Cemetery
• North Main Street Cemetery
• Old Catholic Cemetery
• Pembroke Cemetery
• Revolutionary War Hospital Cemetery
• St. James' Cemetery
• St. James' Memorial Garden
• St. Peter's Cemetery
• St. Playton's Cemetery
• Upper Starr's Plain Cemetery
• Westville Cemetery
• Wooster Street Cemetery
• Wooster Cemetery