Having a hard time navigating this expansive plot? Here’s a clue - enter through the gate on South Main Street and stick to the left-hand side!
Henry Sheldon
The founder of the Sheldon Museum, Henry Sheldon, was an eccentric man with a passion for collecting. His business ventures ebbed and flowed, but throughout his adult life in Middlebury he began to amass a wide variety of items in the upper two floors he occupied in the brick house at 1 Park Street, eventually officially incorporating the Sheldon Art Museum, Archaeological and Historical Society through a formal charter from the State Legislature. He cared particularly about the records & history of the local area, but his interests also ranged far beyond the world of Vermont - he was keenly interested in anything Egyptian, for example. Stop by Henry’s grave to thank him for much of the vast collection the Sheldon Museum now offers the community and perhaps ask him what in the world he was thinking when he collected what you’ll read about below…
Intrigued by Henry’s story? Learn more about him here.
Amum-Her-Khepesh-Ef
In Middlebury’s West Cemetery, right next to the College, you will notice a grave with some hieroglyphic markings on it. This is the final resting place of Amum-Her-Khepesh-Ef, the supposed son of Pharaoh Sen Woset III and Queen Hathor-Hotpe who died at age 2. Collector Henry Sheldon purchased this mummy for display in his museum through an antique dealer who would’ve acquired it from grave robbers. However, Sheldon was disappointed in the poor condition the mummy arrived in, relegating it to be hidden away in the museum’s attic indefinitely. When curator George Mead discovered the mummy in 1945, he felt it deserved a proper burial. Fearing the interference of local student pranksters if he buried the mummy untouched, Mead cremated it and interred it within his family plot.
The gravestone of the mummy was recently taken down for repairs and may not be viewable at the time of your visit.
Eliza Dodson
The Slade family plot (whose obelisk is on the right end of this image) contains an interesting addition to the family. Most of the plot commemorates family members, notably William Slade - a Vermont governor, U.S. representative and a vigorous anti-slavey advocate. However, one end is dedicated to Eliza Dodson whose inscription reads “In memory of Eliza Dodson, colored. Born in the City of Washington. Died Apr. 29, 1853 aged 18. Given by her mother to Wm & Abigail Slade at the age of 7. A faithful, conscientious, devoted servant.” Her obituary notes that Dodson’s mother was born into slavery in the District of Columbia. Dodson’s role as a servant in the home of an antislavery family is puzzling, but evidently her place in the Slade monument speaks to a close relationship with the family. Perhaps the exact nature of her place is in the family will remain buried with her.
Curious to learn more about Black residents of Addison County? Check out this article.
Governor Slade
17th Governor of Vermont, William Slade, is memorialized by the obelisk in the Slade family plot shown above. Slade was born in Cornwall in 1798 and graduated from Middlebury College in 1807. He would go on to practice law in the town of Middlebury where he would begin his political career - serving at different times as Vermont Secretary of State, Judge of Addison County, and Clerk in the US State Department. Slade then served in the US House of Representatives from 1831 to 1843, where he proposed the creation of a committee to discuss slavery and spoke of its inhumanity, attempting to circumvent a rule that forbade the discussion of “contentious” topics. Afterwards, he served as Vermont’s governor from 1844 to 1846. He is remembered for his staunch belief in the abolitionist cause.
Joseph Battell
Joseph Battell was a philanthropist known for his extensive preservation of Vermont land. Born in 1839, Battell had purchased 30,000 square acres of land by the time of his death in 1915 making him Vermont’s largest individual landowner. Much of this land, which made up areas such today’s Breadloaf Wilderness and the Joseph Battell Wilderness, was placed in perpetual trusts to ensure they were preserved as “wild lands.” Battell was a trustee of Middlebury Collegee from 1881-1915 and left a majority of the land to Middlebury College, after which was sold to the US Forest Service. Battel Hall at Middlebury was named after the philanthropist to honor the gift he made to the college.
Battell was also a publisher of the Middlebury Register from 1884-1915 and authored several books including “Ellen, or the Whisperings of an Old Pine” and “The American Stallion Register.” His niece, Jessica Stewart Swift was also a great benefactor to the town of Middlebury and the Henry Sheldon Museum.
Gamaliel Painter
Gamaliel Painter and his first wife Abigail settled in Middlebury in 1773 along Otter Creek. Painter supposedly embarked on numerous spy operations during the American Revolutionary War and would serve in numerous political positions after the war. He is best remembered for his affiliation with Middlebury College, helping to obtain a charter for the school and overseeing the construction of its first building (Painter Hall). Upon his death he left most of his estate to the school, famously including his distinctive walking cane. Every Middlebury graduate receives a reproduction of his cane upon graduation from the college.
Take a short walk up the road to the Ralph Myers Golf Course - another interesting grave is visible from the 11th tee, located where the course intersects with the Trail Around Middlebury!
William Douglass
This gravestone lies on the edge of the Ralph Myers Golf Course, only a few steps off of where it overlaps with the Trail Around Middlebury. The lone grave is that of William Douglass, a survivor of military service in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. So, why is Douglass found in this lonely spot, dead at only 48 years old? The story goes that Douglass was out cutting wood with his two young sons when a tree fell and killed him. Supposedly, he was buried at the exact spot he was killed, leaving behind this stone as one of the only remaining records of his existence.