We are often asked for information about Windham’s old cemeteries. One, the Hanson Cemetery, is usually referred to as “where the babies are buried,” but so far as we know, there’s only one baby buried in this small, former family cemetery, located on the Inland Farm Road, about a half-mile from Nash Road.

The property containing 100 acres, was purchased in 1787 by Ezra Hanson, a son of Ichabod. This was Lot 69 in the 2nd division of 100-acre lots. In 1795, he added part of Lot 68 and eventually owned 230 acres of land off the Nash Road.

Ezra Hanson built a log house at first, and later built a two-story house with which many in Windham are familiar. A son, Stephen Hanson, was born here in 1790 to Ezra and his wife, Catherine. Stephen Hanson never left the family farm. Apparently, he was an only child. He had the reputation of being quite eccentric, and never spent a night anywhere except for his birthplace, according to all the town historians.

In 1830 when he was 40, Stephen married his first wife, May C. Putney. She died the following year, and was buried on the farm. He married a second time, and in 1838 his second wife, Hannah Frank, had a baby named Cyrus. She also died that year, six months after the death of his mother. Both were buried in the private family graveyard.

Stephen Hanson was left to care for baby Cyrus. In 1840, two-year old Cyrus died, and he too was buried in the family burial ground. In 1842, Stephen married for the third time – this wife was named Hannah Kilborn.

Stephen’s father, Ezra Hanson, passed away in 1843, and Stephen inherited the property where he lived until his death in 1872. A year later, his last wife died.

In 1899, George Willey owned this property and later on, Rev. James Pratt and his family were the owners. Both Willey and Pratt were farmers. Pratt had a huge market garden and many of the local teenagers picked beans and vegetables here in the summer. The little graveyard up back was always a mysterious place for youngsters to visit.

In 1998, one of Pratt’s daughters, 81-year-old Margaret, recalled putting lilacs on the “baby’s grave” in the old cemetery. This had been a tradition of her childhood.

By the late 1900s, the property had been sold. Many of the fields and wooded areas saw development of roads and house lots, until it was nearly fully developed. The original homestead (the two-story house) was still standing, as well as remnants of the cemetery.

When Stephen Hanson died in 1872, he left a fund of $100 to the town of Windham, to care for this cemetery – and the baby’s grave.