HomeMy WebLinkAboutSilent City of Rolfe Cemetery 2019 Sue Thompson NL Article
In the Silent City of Rolfe Cemetery.
Sue Thompson, Enfield Town Historian
The men who incorporated the Town of Enfield Rolfe Cemetery in 1876, only four were not buried in the Cemetery* Amos Lanning, James M. Lanning*, Ebenezer Havens**, Wesley Hulse, Leonard
Murray*, Squire B. Rolfe, Samuel Rolfe, Leroy H. VanKirk*, Oscar Rolfe*, Lucius Brown Curry, Amos F. Curry, J. Owen Carman.
Ebenezer Havens** was a local farmer, he lived on Applegate Road near the Cemetery. His was married to Elvira Queal (1838 – 1913) their children were Edward and Roszwell Havens, and
Ina l. Dean (adopted). He was born in Enfield, December 12, 1833 to Ebenezer and Melissa Tracy Havens. His parents had moved the family (included Ebenezer, Hiel, Albert and Anne) to
Dix in Schuyler County by 1855. He attended Starkey Seminary in Yates County. Ebenezer’s first wife, Dorcas Raplee died while they were living in Starkey, Yates County 1865. By
1870 he had moved his family to Enfield and was married to Elvira Queal. In 1870 he farmed approximately 55 acres. He was a master carpenter and praised for his excellent work in the
Town of Enfield. According to the Ithaca Daily Journal in 1896 he was in charge of building a new barn on the Willis estate along with Martin Dunham, Ambrose Babcock and Elbert Willis.
In 1873 Ebenezer Havens was nominated by the Enfield Republican Party to run for the position of Town Supervisor. He won the election and was Supervisor and on the Tompkins County
Board Supervisors for one year. The town does not have copies of the 1873 minutes, however a copy of the Tompkins County Board of Supervisors minutes where Ebenezer’s activities were
recorded can be found on the Tompkins County Clerk’s website – Laserfiche Public Portal. According to his obituary he taught “winter school at Jacksonville and later at Enfield Falls
and in other Enfield Districts. So a rare a teacher was he that pupils followed him from one district to another thought the township”. He held many positions in the Rolfe Cemetery
Association for forty years. He was president, trustee, chairman and general superintendent of the cemetery. He built the fence around the cemetery, cut the hay in the cemetery and
did general cleaning of the cemetery. He was president at the time of his death, December 28, 1911. According to the Rolfe Cemetery Association book his wife Elvira purchased lot 42,
11 x 14 foot, for $12 from C.J. Whitney, Clerk of the Association. If you are interested in more information on the Rolfe Cemetery, minutes and other records are on the Town of Enfield
Public archival site under Town Historian -Cemeteries: http://townofenfield.org/documents-public-laserfische/. There is also article on Rolfe Cemetery in July 2014 Community Currents
under newsletters townofenfield.org.