Upon stepping out of the car to look at the cemetery, a striking monument sat atop the hill and towered among all the others. A cenotaph monument, adorned with the statue of a soldier, is truely one of the feature sights of the cemetery. Many of the names inscribed have family elsewhere in the cemetery, speaking to the small community which did and still does exist there. The bottom of the monument showed that it is well cared for, with red and white flowers along with one, single sunflower.
The cemetery entrance featured information about the cemetery board as well as a large picture of the layout of the cemetery. This included the original boundaries of the cemetery and the current sectioned areas. The cemeteries that I have visited this far do not typically have this information on display so it made it a unique experience to learn about the history of the original location. The list of names on the cemetery board hinted that this cemetery is well taken care of and is a pride of the community, which I certainly felt during my visit.
The first person buried at South Line Union Cemetery was a man by the name of Ira Badgero. The town's name is Badjero, which is not spelled identically, but I can only assume has some connection. Ira's grave is unique as he picked out the location for himself before his death. The inscription on the monument beside Ira's grave states that he chose this plot because of the sand that was revealed after a tree was uprooted. Ira died in 1854 and the stone monument to him stands to the left of his grave, covered in yellowish lychans. Unfortunately, Ira was only 24 when he passed away. He was born in 1830 in Owen Sound, Ontario, to parents who came to Canada from New England.
Research credits to:
Findagrave.ca