Sarah Bond Tidd Morrill (1829-1861)
Samuel Morrill (1804-1878)
Sheldon Collins Morrill (1875-1877)
After Highland Cemetery was established in 1880, some of the most affluent and influential families arranged for the disinterment and relocation of the remains of their loved ones, along with the accompanying gravestones, from Old Parish Cemetery to the new cemetery. Among these was George H. Morrill, the namesake of an enormously successful ink mill. Producers of perfecting-press ink, used by the majority of newspapers in the United States, Morrill’s was considered the largest printing ink works in the world.
Sometime prior to 1890, George Morrill had the remains of his first wife, Sarah Tidd Morrill, who had died in 1861 at the age of 32; his father, Deacon Samuel Morrill, who was 78 when he passed away in 1878; and his son, Sheldon Collins Morrill, removed to the new cemetery. Sheldon was the son of George H. Morrill and his second wife, Louisa Tidd Morrill (sister of his first wife Sarah). The child died in 1877 at 2 years of age.
In 1895, a few years after the relocation, George and Louisa’s daughter, Sarah Bond Morrill (named after George’s first wife and Louisa’s sister) died at the age of 22. Her parents built the Sarah Bond Morrill Memorial Library in her memory and donated the building to the Town of Norwood in 1898.
The impressive Morrill monument was relocated to Highland Cemetery as well. This stone had been the tallest monument in Old Parish, and was clearly visible in stereopticon photographs of the Old Parish Cemetery taken sometime in the final quarter of the 19th century. We can date the removal as taking place after these stereopticon photographs were taken and before 1890 when an official survey and map was completed of the Old Parish Cemetery by Caleb Ellis. At that time, there was no record of the Morrill lot on the plot plans. Today, the stone stands at Highland.
If you would like to learn more about the history of Highland Cemetery and some of the notable graves and families there, a power point slide show is available on the Old Parish Preservation Volunteers website.
The small stone and bottom half of the tall sone were cleaned by OPPV s a few years ago. No one had a ladde.