Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

“On a little bluff to the westward overlooking his settlement, Col. Ruiter had set aside about one-fourth of an acre for burial places.  The first to be buried in this spot was a two-year-old child of Col. Ruiter's named Jacob, who died in 1797 of small pox contracted from a wandering band of Abenaki Indians.  In 1909, a fine marble monument was set up to mark the grave of Col. Henry Ruiter, this was done through the joint efforts of Edgar C. Barnett, a Canadian descendant, and Frederick M Woods, a United States descendant.  In later years, the grounds have been twice enlarged and in 1926 they then contained about three hundred graves.  The last of three very old pine trees that had been planted there by Charles W. Barnett and some others, one hundred years before, was struck by lightning and had to be cut down in 1972. ”^[1]

Brome County Historical Society recorded the above excerpt.  The simplicity of the vocabulary used speaks eloquently to the great regard for history present in the hamlet that began with Ruiter's original settlement so many years ago in West Potton, now known as Dunkin, Quebec.

Located in Dunkin, the Ruiter's Settlement Cemetery is the oldest in Potton.  It was begun by Colonel Hendrick Ruiter (1739-1819), and is his final resting place as well as that of many of his several descendants and their families.  It is well tended and a truly lovely cemetery, in my opinion.