Upham Cemetery

(also known as Cortiss Cemetery)

East side of Route 131/Quinebaug Road, North Grosvenor Dale    0.51 acres
GPS Latitude 41.99810 Longitude -71.90330

According to the Town land records there is no deed for this property.

According to the Hale collection, the earliest burial is that of (unknown first name) Cortiss widow of Bethiah who died 22 Jan 1810. In reviewing the wording on the stone, it clearly states “In memory of the widow Bethiah Cortiss”; thus, emphasizing that transcriptions may have errors.

Genealogy records show that Bethiah is the mother of Japheth Cortiss, the only Revolutionary Soldier buried in this cemetery. It is interesting to note that his wife Mary Upham Cortiss states that her brother Ebenezer Upham “stood by my husband and taken prisoner and never after got home.” However, the Upham Genealogy states that Ebenezer “was in the Revolution and a prisoner of war in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was exchanged with others……He died in Thompson, very soon after his return, Jan.17, 1777.”

There are four War of 1812 soldiers as named in Crankshaw’s book (p. 397) interred in this cemetery.

• Rawson, Lewis: Private, no service unit, died 10 Sep 1861 age 81
• Smith, Israel: no rank, no service unit, died 5 Oct 1852
• Upham, Asa: Private, 11th Militia Regiment, died 2 May 1862
• Upham, Lyman: Private, 11th Militia Regiment, died 12 Oct 1869

The Wakefield Memorial genealogy states that Ezra Wakefield, who died in 1877, served in the War of 1812; records show he lived in Massachusetts at that time; the Records of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia do not show service for him.

Civil War burials include those of:

• • George Wakefield: Co. K, 12th Rhode Island Infantry; mustered out July 29, 1863.
  • Nelson T. Albee: Private, Co. H, 51st MA Regiment, died of disease in service on March 14, 1863 in Newberne, North Carolina. The Rawson Family genealogy states “the body was brought home for burial.”
  • George Gilbert Smith:

  — 13th Connecticut Infantry Volunteers, discharged in Louisiana 16 Jul 1862.
  — Re-enlisted 29 Jul 1862 in Co. E, 1st Louisiana Regiment as Orderly Sergeant.
  — Published book Leaves from a Soldier’s Diary in Putnam, CT in 1906; the book is available on line at google books.com at no cost.
  — His tombstone, in addition to naming his book, shows he was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).

   

  

  The Cortiss Cemetery in the document section below may help in locating a tombstone; this is the original Hale’s List of Cemetery Inscriptions which records the gravestone locations as the person who collected the information walked through the cemetery

  Ida Ransom, July 2024

  Documents:
  Hale