Blessed is the memory of the just, tho they lie sleeping in the dust...
The town has several cemeteries scattered about including some prominent sites and more hidden family plots. The first burial ground in town was the Halls Village cemetery, established soon after Chester was settled. The last known citizen to be buried there, according to the Chester history book, "Chester Revisited" by author Richard Holmes, was Jonathan Goodhue, killed by a falling tree in 1744.
The Presbyterian Cemetery was half-acre in size and located in Halls Village on the now defunct Cunningham Lane. In 1976, several of the ground's original gravestones were moved to the Chester Village Cemetery. The bodies remained undisturbed and now rest in unmarked plots at the old site.
The most notable and historic cemetery in Chester is the Chester Village Cemetery, located at the intersection of Route 102 and Route 121 in the center of town. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, where there are pre-Revolutionary War graves with carvings by prominent New England craftsmen.
Notable citizens who lie there:
Francis Wilcomb, a young Civil War soldier. According to the town history, Wilcomb's actual age while serving his country at war was only 12 years old. Official printed state records did not list the boy's military service, but other records verified his young age. According to history books, Wilcomb's age of 12, 10 months and 24 days may make him the youngest New Hampshire soldier to serve in any war.
Isaac Blasdel, local clock maker, died in 1791 and a member of one of the nation's leading clock-making families. He opened a shop on Chester Street and sold a clock, on average, for a price of $20. His gravestone touts Isaac's character, reading "In genuity and firmness, sincere in religion, a loss to publick as well as to his family."
Col. Richardson Benton, longtime residents, civic supporter, benefactor, retired Army colonel. Col. Benton, or simply "The Colonel" as he was known around town, died in 2008 after living in Chester many years. He was the force behind many community causes including the library's expansion and the Chester Village Cemetery walkway, winding around some of the graveyard's most historic Revolutionary War stones. One one sunny day, visitors to the cemetery noticed a simple horseshoe left near the Colonel's grave, honoring the man's longstanding volunteerism, love of his racehorse, and years spent leading tours at the Rockingham Park racetrack for Chester youth.
Gen. Louis Bell, Civil War soldier, buried at Village Cemetery, with a stone of pure white marble to honor his life and eventual death at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in 1865. His wife, Molly, survived her Civil War hero husband by only six months.
While serving in the military, Bell wrote many letters home to his wife to profess his love and let her know how he was doing. After he died, Bell's body came back to Chester and was laid in the parlor of the Bell mansion, now the Senator Bell Farm. Many other members of the prominent Bell family of Chester are laid to rest at the Village Cemetery. Anyone looking to learn more about the Village Cemetery can stop by for a tour on Oct. 24 at 2 p.m., led by members of the Chester Historical Society. The tour will be held rain or shine and is free to the public.
