OXFORD – When traveling Chenango County highways and back roads, stumbling across a cast iron blue and gold historical markers isn't such an unusual occurrence – but discovering a new one is.
A group of local history enthusiasts led by an aspiring writer banded together early on to keep alive the now familiar story of Little Merrit's Tomb, tucked away in a once overgrown and forgotten rural cemetery on Hoben Road in the rolling hills of Oxford.
“Little Merrit's Tomb was built for Merrit Beardlsey who died at age 8 in 1865,” said Stefan Foster, the young author who organized a restoration effort of the site known as the Miller Cemetery. “Legend has it, he was afraid of the dark so his father promised him a window in his grave to let the light in.”
The father – a farmer – kept the promise he made to his dying son and erected a one of a kind tomb made of Oxford blue stone complete with a window to let eternal light flood into young Merrit's resting place.
According to Foster, from that point forward, Merrit's tomb was frequently visited by both locals and travelers from afar because of its peculiar story and its place in locale lore.
More recently, however – beginning at around the 1950's – the site has generated a more negative stigma of human immorality from the hands of vandals who desecrated the resting place of Merrit Beardsley.
Intrigued with the story at a young age, and beginning in August of 2013, Foster along with parter Kurt Riegel began the painstaking process of restoring the tomb. The project would initially include only replacing the the grave's unique glass window – originally installed by Merrit's father – that had been destroyed decades earlier.
“I found the tomb to be in alarming condition, so I decided to step up to try to raise awareness and raise funding to restore it,” said Foster. Of course, the story wouldn't end there for Foster, Riegal and the Beardsley Cemetery. Before long; Foster, Riegel and Tina Pabst were inspired to work together under the assumed name “One Stone at a Time,” a collaborative with ambitions of restoring the tomb and its surroundings.
“After the tomb was restored we wanted to do more for the cemetery,” said Foster. It was then that an plan to tackle cleaning up the entire Miller Cemetery was placed into motion.
Foster, then a high school senior at Unadilla Valley, penned and published a short novel “Pining for the Past: Little Merrit's Tomb & the Beardsley Cemetery” which chronicled the story of Merrit Beardsley, the Beardsley plot and the group's efforts to restore the site.
The book was released in 2014, and proceeds from sales were dedicated to pay for the cemetery clean up.
Along with their private funding and countless hours of volunteer time, One Stone at a Time secured even more funding from the Town of Oxford, Norwich Elks, Oxford Lions Club, Doris Potter, Barb & Gary Tompkins, to purchase and install the blue and yellow historic roadside marker for Little Merrit's Tomb.
While the New York State Historic Marker Program started in 1926 as a way to commemorate historic sites during the sesquecentennial (150th anniversary) of the American Revolution, the temporary program and state funding ended around 1939.
Since then, private civic collectives such as One Stone at a Time have continued to erect the popular the small roadside markers on all sorts of local historic sites.
“It has been a very productive two years,” said Foster. “Kurt and I would are very thankful for all the support we have received for the project and our passion of restoring cemeteries.”
Foster indicated that Riegel has attended several workshops across the U.S. and that the team have worked diligently in the Beardsley cemetery this summer alongside Dale and Tina Utter, and Nathan Barker. “Almost the entire cemetery has been restored,” said Foster.
Thanks to the hard work of the small group led by Foster, the Beardsley plot within the Miller Cemetery is now a notable historic site complete with an indelible and proper marker which will make it much less likely to be forgotten or vandalized again.