Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

The Knowlton family cemetery is situated on Chemin du Lac in Knowlton Landing, beside the Aubergine.  Burials in this private cemetery are exclusive to the Knowlton family. 

The establishment of early family cemeteries, or burial grounds, was common practice in the days of the pioneer.  It followed New England colonial tradition in rural areas.  For practical and often sentimental reasons dictated by distance, climate, the absence of established Churches, or community cemetery, many settlers dedicated a part of their own lands for the burial of family members.  Often times these family plots, such as the Knowlton Cemetery, were only a short distance from the homestead itself, at the edge of a field and generally on a slope or elevation of some type.  It seems that great and serious care was afforded the choice for the eternal resting place of a loved one.  Indeed, some of the most beautiful and peaceful views in Potton are from the vantage of an old cemetery.

Our early settlers came here filled with hope and courage, determined to carve out a new life, to establish legacies of family and property in a new land. To bury a loved one on the family homestead perhaps seemed an enduring symbol of that hope and reminder of the dream.

The oldest marker in this private cemetery is that for the grave of Levi Knowlton, who died at the age of 73 years and 4 months on April 27, 1842.  His second wife, Philena Stone, who died in 1850, is also buried here.  The cemetery is located on part of the original homestead, acquired in 1821 by Levi Knowlton.  The property remains in the Knowlton family name.

The Knowlton family, with strong Loyalist roots, is an important name in the history of Potton and in its development.