CORNISH — Who are they? What were their circumstances?
Some questions surrounding the skeletal remains found here earlier this month during a construction project at town hall linger. Some questions have been answered, but some, selectmen say, may never be answered.
In all, the bones of 10 people were unearthed. Officials had thought eight sets of remains had been uncovered, but as it turns out, there were two more, according to Selectwoman Nancy Perkins.
But who they are, and when they died and were buried, remain a mystery.
Originally, the theory was that the person who was contracted to move the cemetery prior to construction of the town hall in 1925 moved only the headstones to Riverside Cemetery, leaving the remains behind.
But, Perkins said, the town checked, and there are indeed remains behind each of the 13 headstones.
And so the mystery deepens.
The town hall, designed by John Calvin Stevens, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is called the Leroy Pike Memorial Hall. A contractor found the first sets of remains near the building, as he was digging as part of a construction project to correct a drainage issue Oct. 13.
The Cornish Cemetery Association and the Cornish Historical Society, along with folks at town hall, have been combing over old records since the discovery was made.
Glenna Googins of the Cornish Cemetery Association said a name was found for the area where the remains were discovered ”“ Thompson Burial Ground ”“ but that is all.
“We’re still pulling in information,” said Googins. “We don’t know much more than that.”
Perkins said the town is awaiting a report from the state anthropologist, which is expected to reveal the gender and approximate age of the deceased. That information ”“ and any other obtained as times goes on ”“ will be stored both in the town hall and with the historical society so it will be available for future reference.
Perkins said the anthropologist told her that the remains are likely from earlier than originally thought ”“ perhaps the early 1800s rather than the last half of the 19th century.
Perkins said it is possible that the graves bore only wooden markers that deteriorated over time.
“One fellow said he knew his ancestors were buried there,” she said, but the family had little money, so their graves were thought not to have been marked with a headstone.
Perkins said the remains have been returned from the medical examiner’s office, and there are plans to re-inter them. They’ll be buried at Riverside Cemetery near the 13 headstones moved there in the 1920s, but when that will happen has not been decided.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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