Hartford Cemetery [GPS:00.230/11.880] formerly known as the Hartford Baptist Cemetery, 35 Cemetery Road, maybe two miles west of the hamlet of Hartford, north of Norfolk County Road 19 East, on the west side of Cemetery Road. 

The Ontario Genealogy Society/Norfolk Branch's CD-ROM of Names in Norfolk Cemeteries, lists over 725 names on Hartford Cemetery stones, as of 2003. This cemetery is still in use.

Many of the surviving historic stones are still fairly readable. Unfortunately, some of the oldest stones have been vandalized in recent years. Volunteers salvaged remains, but as our video shows, some are no longer readable.

Cemetery stone transcriptions should not be taken as "gospel." Cemetery stones are not considered primary sources. At first glance. one stone in our video appears to list the year of death as 1811, which is the year erronously reported in other online transcriptions of this cemetery. In reality, the deceased died in 1844, the actual date on the stone.

The community of Hartford straddles the border between Norfolk and Haldimand Counties. While the cemetery is entirely in Norfolk, some of those buried here were residents of Haldimand. No distinction between Norfolk and Haldimand stones was made in preparing this video.

Although over a dozen stones can be transcribed by pausing the playback of our video when appropriate, our video is meant only as an overview of the cemetery itself, not as an alternative resource to cemetery stone transcriptions.

When it comes to cemetery transcriptions, older is frequently better, particularly when looking at the earliest stones. Volunteer transcribers from the Norfolk Historical Society transcribed this cemetery in the 1960s. A copy of that transcription is on file and available for viewing in the Reading Room of the Norfolk Heritage Centre (www.norfolklore.com).

The Norfolk Branch of the Ontario Genealogy Society subsequently transcribed this cemetery over a decade later, then updated that effort a few years ago. Their transcription is available for sale from their web site: Ontario Genealogy Society/Norfolk Branch. (See their "Published Resources" web page.)

Our videos are merely sneak peeks -- not exhaustive treatments -- of their subject. Hopefully they will provide a touch of perspective for those who live at a distance until they can visit.

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Copyright 2007-2008 John Cardiff