11. Cimetière SKINNER | Privé
Abandonné dans un boisé au nord du chemin Rodrigue, ce cimetière comprend plus d’une trentaine de sépultures.
En 1797, Moses Elkins et son épouse Ruth Leavensworth (1765-1825) arrivent de Craftbury, au Vermont, et s’installent à moins d’un kilomètre au nord de la frontière.
Au mois d’août de la même année, la famille d'Abel Skinner s'installe non loin de la terre des Elkins.
En 1799, deux des enfants Skinner, Abel junior, né en 1776, et Josiah, né en 1777, se noient dans la Missisquoi lors d'un déplacement en canot.
En plus des jeunes Skinner, nous retrouvons dans ce cimetière les noms de Jemima Skinner (1754-1833), femme d'Abel senior, de Jemima Green (1778-1857), première infirmière de Potton, de Ruth Leavensworth (1765-1825), femme de Moses Elkins, et de leur fils, Samuel Elkins (1785-1835), frère de Moses junior.
11. SKINNER Cemetery | Private
This abandoned burial ground holding many stones is found in a wooded area on the North side of Chemin Rodrigue, after its junction with Chemin Colgan. In June, 1797, Moses Elkins and his wife Ruth Leavensworth (1765-1825) arrived in Potton from Craftsbury, Vermont. They settled a mile north of the border alongside the Missisquoi River. “The August following the arrival of Mr. Elkins, Abel Skinner, also from Vt., came to this township, and settled on the lot south of that owned by Elkins. He cleared this lot, and lived here till he died. The second or third year of his residence in Potton, (...) two of his sons, young men, took a canoe and went together to Col. Ruiter’s habitation, a few miles below. It was in the spring and the water was very high. In returning (...), their boat was accidentally overturned and both were drowned.” (Thomas, p. 302) Their names were Abel, born in 1776, and Josiah, in 1777. Both died on June 10, 1799.
Inscriptions on the gravestones of Jemima Skinner, Abel Sr.'s wife (1754-1833); the township's first nurse, Jemima Green (1778-1857); Ruth Leavensworth (1765-1825), wife of Capt. Moses Elkins, and their son Samuel Elkins (1785-1835), brother of Moses, Jr. may still be read.
Potton Heritage often receives inquiries which sometimes contain information of interest for our own records. Recently, we received from a researcher an undated document relating to the Skinner Cemetery, in which twenty three names of persons buried in this cemetery are included: “The Skinner Burial Ground, which time has placed beyond deciphering (…) interred on a little elevation on the old Elkins Place, opposite Skinner’s home, lie probably, upwards of thirty bodies. Uncared for and in ruins; cattle graze above the dead.”
Jean-François Boulet, 2010