HIGHLAND CEMETERY
Marcellus, New York
(from Nine Mile Country, by Kathryn C. Heffernan,  Visual Artis Publications,
Inc., 1978, pp. 200-201)
 (Copyrighted by the Board of Trustees, Marcellus Free Library)
(NOTE: For more information on burials in Highland Cemetery, contact 
Mrs. Peg Nolan, Town of Marcellus Historian, P.O. Box 165, Marcellus, NY
 13108)

The story of Highland Cemetery in Marcellus goes back to June 13, 1888.  On
that date,  a group of citizens interested in forming a cemetery association
met in the village.  Included in the group were Henry Jones, Noah Crysler,
Seth D. Gilbert, William H. Gallup, Dr. Israel Parsons, Gilbert L. Wells, J.
Delmar Mather, Robert E. Dorchester, Edmund Reed, James Dunlap, Henry L.
Armstrong. N. W. Betsinger, Reverend Andrew Roe, Hubert Armstrong, George
Stuckey and R. W. Alvord.  
The group voted unanimously to adopt the name Marcellus Cemetery Association
and elected a board of nine trustees, three to be chosen for one year, three
for two years, and three for three years.  Thereafter, three were to be
elected each year.  Dr. Israel Parsons was named chairman and Edmund Reed,
secretary.  Proceedings of the meeting were duly notarized, and filed on June
16, 1888, in Book M of Miscellaneous Records by J. E. Wells, clerk.
Mr. Jonathan Chrisler, father of Mrs. Nathan Edwards and the late Dwight
Chrisler, who owned a farm along the new Seneca Turnpike, donated ten acres
along the south side of the road for a cemetery.  In return for his donation,
Chrisler was given his choice of a lot.   Development of the plot began under
the name of Highland Cemetery.   At the present time, about five acres have
been developed and sold as burial plots.  The cemetery also contains a large
vault built almost seventy years ago and enlarged in 1964.  It now affords
space to serve the needs of several neighboring cemeteries, especially during
winter months when digging is usually suspended because of the severe
weather.
Highland Cemetery is controlled by the lot owners who hold an annual meeting
at which trustees are elected.  

Submitted by John Curtin
23 May 1997