I was reading Kay Soldier’s “Opinion Article” in the Aug. 25 edition regarding the Chute Cemetery when I was reminded of a conversation I had at the Windham Historical Society the previous week. An elderly gentleman, older than I, came into the museum and identified himself as John. He had one question. “What …is going on at the Chute Cemetery?” He was a local man who had seen many happenings around Windham, but was distressed because he could no longer see the Chute Cemetery from the Chute Road and wanted to know what was going on.

Now I could have given him the standard dismissive answer, “I don’t know,” but, in this case, I really didn’t know what to tell him.

What I did know and he likewise, is if you talk at any length to Kay Soldier about the Chute Cemetery is that the Chute Cemetery is one of the oldest and most significant burial grounds in Windham housing the mortal remains of Windham’s early settlers and Revolutionary War veterans. There are two 10-foot-high white marble monuments that were erected by William Gould as executor of the Chute estate that flank the burial ground. Inscribed on the facades of one of the monuments is the chronology of the early Chute family including Thomas Chute, the first settler of Windham. The other monument is dedicated to George Washington Chute who cut the granite stones that crib the cemetery walls and then deeded the burial ground to the town of Windham. Also buried in the cemetery is Josiah Chute, a Revolutionary War hero wounded during the war. Another Revolutionary War veteran, John Swett, is also buried there with his family.

In more pastoral times the cemetery sat as an oasis in the middle of a pasture some 100 yards from the Chute Road. Decades of mixed hardwood growth formed an aging canopy over the island-like structure. The raised mound became the object of local concern in the 1980s when complaints were made that cows were using the elevated, shaded ground as a location for the noon siestas. Civic-minded Boy Scouts remedied the situation by the construction of a 6-foot-high meshed fence that surrounded the elevated cemetery. The fence is still in place today.

Today, the white marble edifice can no longer be seen from the road. They are incrusted in lichens and moss, which slowly eradicate the script beneath them. The shade trees are now at the far end of their natural life and show signs of decay. The grounds are unkept and the area surrounding the cemetery is covered by tall grass and weeds and flanked by mounds of construction debris, the remains of a faltering subdivision plan.

The area is also being logged which adds to the unsightly appearance of the surroundings.

So, when John asked what is going on with the Chute Cemetery, I don’t have an answer for him. I could only describe the condition.

What John really wants to know is what, if anything, is anyone going to do about the unsightly conditions.

State law mandates that any towns that have cemeteries having Revolutionary War soldiers as well as any soldiers of any war buried in them maintain them in good condition and repair from May 1 to Sept. 30. Additionally, if on privately owned lands, landowners shall provide for municipality access to maintain them. The law also provides for limits as to how close construction can be to any cemetery.

When this housing subdivision was proposed there were concerns raised as to the impact the development would have on the Chute Cemetery. Commitments by the developer were made at the time that the Chute Cemetery would be the centerpiece of a landscaped entrance to the development. This has not happened.

It would appear that at face value that both the town and the landowner have a stake in this issue.

What I would like to tell John is that: The town will negotiate with the landowner for a legal right of way to the Chute Cemetery from Chute Road and make it accessible to the public. That the construction mounds will be replaced with a parking area off the narrow confines of Chute Road. And, that in the future the Chute Cemetery will be maintained as well as the more visible cemeteries in the town.

That is what I would like to tell John. Unfortunately, I have no say in the matter. The land owner has rights to his private property His dream of a subdivision is on hold. The town has limited budgetary constraints for cemetery maintenance and for the acquisition of land.

It would still be my hope that the two parties can find a common ground and provide our founding fathers with an appropriate setting as their final resting place. What would be the uproar today if returning veterans were buried in similar surroundings?

So, what am I going to tell John? That this is just the price of progress? Sad!

David Tanguay is a member of the Windham Historical Society.