- The cemetery has been upgraded recently. See this LINK for the Community Preservation Act work. Read the PDF on the gravestones.
- Private GROUP TOUR (COSTS) is one hour long for this Smith’s Ferry Cemetery and neighborhood walking tour. Also a one hour indoor presentation can be given.
- A free public tour comes up every three years.
- A self-tour is available for anyone using the maps and text seen below. – LOCATION
- A self-guided tour booklet can be purchased HERE.
This cemetery has been fairly well managed for most of its history. John Sullivan a former caretaker is HERE.
stop 1 – Points North
The northern section of Smith’s Ferry was called South Farms North originally. It had its own school and meeting house at one time. This was located were the Union hall is now. Holyoke Golf Course is located in this part of Smith’s Ferry. In the 1820s, the Hampden and Hampshire Canal came through where the bike path is now. Northampton at that time gave the land along the boundary to Easthampton so there was only one town to deal with at the end of the canal. In the 1840s a railroad track was placed over this same location. The location was called Mount Tom Station. In 1915 the Smiths Ferry Post Office started operations. In 1924 the Parks Department of Holyoke had been assigned the care for this cemetery. By 1928 a fence was added to the front of the cemetery. Care continued and in 1948 two dozen pine trees were removed.
There were two expansions of the cemetery through the years. To the west a large addition was given to it from the Trustees of Reservations. [You may read about it at the Northampton Court House in deed book 553 at page 107.] Most of this land was used to put a driveway in. To the north the Hampden County Commissioners donated an addition to the cemetery in 1949 in order to expand its driveway. Instead it expanded its burial ground. On the land map above the green frame is around the original 1807 land, the blue frame is around the 1901 expansion, and the black frame is the 1949 expansion.
Walter Corbin did an exhaustive survey in the 1930s.
stop 2 – Mausoleum
William Bowlen is buried in this mausoleum. He was a silversmith that owned a business in Greenfield. Notice how the mausoleum has four holes in it for ventilation. This is so that gas will not built up.
stop 3 – Native American
A body was found buried along the river in the 1940. It was thought to be a Native American burial. The person was disinterred and reinterred in this cemetery. The burial is somewhere beyond the Bowlen gravesite. Also in another case an upper body was found near the entrance to the cemetery in 1926 and buried here.
stop 4 – Underwood family
Richard Franklin Underwood was born in Belchertown in 1842. He fought in the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Soon after his return, he bought land at Mount Tom Station and started a farm and a family. One of his sons was named William Underwood and this William had three children that fought in World War 2. The gravestone that you see in front of you is made totally of zinc.
Richard Underwood had a diary during the war and wrote a narrative after the war. Visit the links to read them and also visit the web page to see his photograph.
Richard Franklin Underwood (1842 to 1918)
- married to Leona Lyman and had children with her only
- married to Myra Clark later in life
- Lewis (1873 to 1877) his infant son
- Walter (1890 to 1891) his infant son
- Charles (1876 to 1962) his son
- Arthur (1878 to 1928) his son
- William (1882 to 1968) his son
- Laura (1871 to 1959) his daughter
- Chella (1887 to 1984) his daughter
- Harriet ? his daughter
stop 5 – Points West
The west back half of the cemetery was given to the cemetery by the commissioners of the Mount Tom Reservation. It expanded the size of the cemetery by more than twice over. The entrance road that you see at your feet was made longer and was a given a back up area. This is so that cars did not have to back out of the cemetery onto a highway. From 1951 to 1953 many trees were taken out of the back of this section and that allowed for more burials back there.
stop 6 – Lucy White
Lucy White and her husband are the only ones in row 9. She lived to be 100 years old and 2 months. Her stone is not here any more but her base is. It continues to sink into the ground. The stone and the base of her husband’s stone is gone. Lucy lived the last years of her life with Justin Wait and his wife so perhaps she is related to them. To find her base look behind the Chester Smith stone.
stop 7 – Points South
The southern part of Smith’s Ferry was called South Farms South. Whiting Street lived in this area. The reservoir was named after him in 1889. This area had its own school and meeting house like South Farms North had. In the 1870s both schools were combined to form Smith’s Ferry School (1872 to 1909). After 1919 there was no school at all in the neighborhood. The Connecticut River Railroad came through Smith’s Ferry starting in 1845. It had its own train station which was near the ferry. Also the Holyoke Street Railway came through Smith’s Ferry after making a large U pattern into Mountain Park. The tracks nearly paralleled those of the train.
The Smith’s Ferry area is most developed to its south. Dobb’s Tea Room is now Competitive Edge. Toto’s Restaurant is now gone but once was very popular. It was run by Salvador Lobello. The Smith’s Ferry also had a newspaper called the Fog Horn. The Holyoke Canoe Club started in 1886.
The Smith family built houses to the immediate south of this cemetery.
Lewis the father was at 461
Lewis the son was at 485
Milo the father was at 489
Chester the father was at 501
Hervey was at 519
Charles was at 537
The Willard Dashiell stone had fallen over due to the uneven ground. Willard was an actor in silent movies and also was in the Valley Players.
stop 8 – Points East
East of this cemetery is the Connecticut River and then South Hadley on the eastern bank. The road in front of you was originally a carriage road. It then became a road for cars – dirt and then paved (1915). In 1935 it is turned in a 4 lane highway. By the late 1980s, it reverted to 2 lanes.
| number | starts | ends | person (and link to Findagrave) | named | bank |
| 1st | 1770 | 1795 | Elias Lyman | Lyman’s Ferry | east and west |
| 2nd | 1795 | 1815 | Lenas Church | Church’s Ferry | east |
| 3rd | 1815 | 1820 | Seth Daniels | Church’s Ferry | east |
| 4th | 1820 | 1836 | Eli Day | Church’s Ferry | east |
| 5th | 1836 | 1893 | Hervey Smith | Smith’s Ferry | west |
| 6th | 1893 | 1909 | William Carrier | Smith’s Ferry | west |
Thomas Upson and Esther Dickinson has moved about 5 inches off its base. This is obviously not an old stone but rather one that was placed here in about 1900. It was put here by the grandson of Thomas Upson.
stop 9 – Milo Smith
Milo Smith and his family is buried in this line of the cemetery. The marble gravestone had eroded to the point of collapse. The Friends of Holyoke’s Historic Monuments and Cemeteries has attempted to fix the stones in this cemetery and in these two cases the results are superb.
Milo Smith is one of the many sons of Lewis Smith and Eunice Judd. His stone was broken into two.
Sally Jerusha Street is a first cousin to Whiting Street and husband of Milo. Her stone had broken into two pieces and the base was in a poor state.
Click on the first name to go to the Findagrave page for that person.
Milo Judd Smith and Sally Jerusha Street family tree
[Sally J Street Smith death in Northampton and burial here]
1 – Milo Smith (1832 to 1891 death in Northampton and burial here)
[his wife Luthera Meekins, two infant sons, and son Herbert are here]
2 – Sarah Lurene Smith (1834 to 1896 death in Northampton and burial here as a Gould)
[her husband Solon and her daughter Stella are here]
3 – Josephine Smith (1838 to 1876 death in Northampton and burial here)
Abigail Hagar is the wife of Joseph Gould. There was a 30 degree lean to the stone but it has been reset. Her son Solon Gould married Sarah Lurene Smith (daughter of Milo Smith and Sally Street). Their daughter Stella is her too.
stop 10 – Eli Day
Eli Day fought in the American Revolutionary War. His parents are Joel Day and Eunice Day who are buried in Elmwood Cemetery. Eli had 4 brothers that participated in the war in some fashion. His father Joel also went to the war. His young brothers Edward and Robert died of sicknesses during the war.
stop 11 – Elias Lyman gravestone
Elias Lyman and his family are buried here. His daughter Rachel died in 1808 and is buried in this line. Her tombstone is the oldest left within the cemetery. Supposedly, the cemetery started in 1807 when Lewis Smith donated some of his land. The Lyman family was the first family in this part of Northampton. It was called at first Lyman’s Farm, then South Farms, then South Harbor, and then Smith’s Ferry. The grandfather of Elias was John Lyman and John was the pioneer settler of Smith’s Ferry. He moved to this area in 1687 and ran a farm and a tavern.
Asahel Lyman is the husband of Lucy Lyman. The Lyman family was the first settlers into this region. The stone was in a horrible state – broken and sunk.
stop 12 – Parson family
The Parsons family was the second family to move into the Smith’s Ferry area. Asahel Parsons and Jonathan Parsons brothers served in the Revolutionary War. One for a militia group and the other for the national group.
stop 13 – Lewis Smith and family
Lewis Smith and Eunice Judd settled in the Smith’s Ferry section of Northampton in the 1780s. 7 of their 11 children are buried in this cemetery. Their children are Polly, David, Chester, Lewis, Asenath, Hervey, Hiram, Eunice, Sophia, Milo, and Charles. Their children in the bold italics are buried here. Asenath is buried in South Hadley and Charles in Springfield. Sophia is buried in Genesee County of New York.
Click on the first name to go to the Findagrave page for that person.
Polly (1786 to 1850 in Ohio as a Daniels)
David (1789 to 1860 in New York)
Chester (1791 to 1861 in Holyoke)
Lewis (1793 to 1830 in Northampton)
Asenath (1795 to 1878 in South Hadley as an Alvord)
Hervey (1797 to 1871 in Northampton)
Hiram (1800 to unknown)
Eunice (1803 to 1899 in Pennsylvania as a Bagg)
Sophia (1805 to 1851 in New York State)
Milo (1808 to 1834)
Charles Horton (1810 to 1892)
stop 13a – DAVID SMITH
David Smith is the son of David Smith and Amanda Allen. He is the grandson of Lewis Smith and Eunice Judd. The base of this stone had sunken to such a level that it was not known if it existed and in what state.
Click on the first name to go to the Findagrave page for that person.
David Smith and Amanda Allen family tree
[Amanda Allen Smith death in Northampton and burial here]
1 – David Smith (1818 to 1858 death in Easthampton and burial here)
2 – Amanda Smith (1822 to 1885 death in Northampton and burial here as a Green)
3 – Sophia Smith (death in 1822 and burial here)
Amanda Smith wife of Myron Green was the daughter of David Smith and Amanda Allen and the granddaughter of Lewis Smith and Eunice Judd. Her stone had fallen over and detached from the plinth. We still knew who the stone belonged to due to the Corbin survey of 1934. Amanda had a son Hubert who was a concert pianist and a piano teacher.
David Smith and Laura Cargill family tree
[Laura is his second wife]
4 – Lucy Smith (1837 to 1910 death and burial in Easthampton)
5 – Helen Cargill Smith (1843 to 1894 death and burial in Easthampton)
stop 13b – CHESTER SMITH
Clarissa is the wife of Chester Smith (one of the sons of Lewis Smith and Eunice Judd) buried near her. Her stone was fractured in half and the base ended up sunken out of view. Her son Chester is buried nearby.
Chester Smith and Clarissa ??? family tree
[Clarissa his wife death in Northampton and burial here]
1 – Chester Watson Smith (1821 to 1851 death in Northampton and burial here)
2 – Albigence Walkson Smith (1822 to 1854 death and burial in Holyoke)
3 – Helen Cargill Smith (1823 to 1843 death in Northampton and burial here)
4 – Theodista Smith (1824 to)
5 – Eliza Smith (1831 to )
6 – George Smith (1835 to 1837 death in Northampton and burial here)
stop 13c – HERVEY SMITH
Hervey Smith was one of the many sons of Lewis Smith. Hervey started the ferry service based on this side of the river that crossed the Connecticut River. This service started in 1835 and lasted until the 1910s. His son George Irving Smith took over for Hervey in 1871. George is buried facing into his father’s gravestone. Hervey was a farmer, a tavern owner, ran the train depot, and the ferry operator.
Lucy Bates was the wife of Hervey Smith who was the ferry tender. They had many children some of whom are buried near her. The stone was tilted at a 20 degree angle and the base was sunken out of sight.
Click on the first name to go to the Findagrave page for that person.
Hervey Smith and Lucy Bates family tree
1 – Eunice Judd Smith (1825 to 1902 death and burial in Michigan as a Wilcox)
2 – Everline Jane Smith (1832 to 1862 death in Connecticut as Eva Munson)
3 – Catherine (1834 to 1901 death and burial in Ohio as an Ingraham)
4 – John Hervey Smith (1836 to 1876 death in New York State but burial here)
5 – Emerson Jerome Smith (1838 to 1907 death and burial in Northampton)
6 – Mary Ellen Smith (1840 to 1846 death in Northampton and burial here)
6 – Gertrude (1842 to 1920 as a Pierce)
7 – George Irving Smith (1845 to 1924 and burial here)
8 – Marion Estelle Smith (1847 to 1872 in Holyoke and burial there as a Crafts)
NOTE that Northampton called the cemetery South Farms Cemetery in the 1800s. See their death records sheet below.
EXTRA:
In 1909 (the year of the transfer to Holyoke) the population of Smiths Ferry was 130 with an area of 6.44 sq mi. The reservation was 2.02 and the Mt Tom 1.40 sq mi. Tracks for the railroads was 4.2 miles in length. Street rails was 6.13 miles. The riverfront was 4 miles long. There were 26 homes, 1 school, 1 ferry, 1 cider mill, 1 soap mill, and a railroad station.
