Plans afoot to repair historic headstone

Friday, November 20, 2009

By KELLY McGRATH

Staff Writer

BEDFORD – The Old Bedford Cemetery sits at the top of a hill on Back River Road. To most people passing by, the location is unknown, but for those aware of the town’s history, the hidden cemetery holds historical importance.

The French family is buried here.

The wife died at the age of 42 and her four children died within days of each other. All five members of the family passed away due to diphtheria, a once-incurable disease that today’s society no longer needs to be afraid of.

Members of the Goffe family, who are also buried in the town’s oldest cemetery, lived a longer life. John Goffee, one of the first settlers of the town, lived to the age of 85. To people visiting the cemetery, his headstone, which sits beside several other Goffe family tombstones, is almost unreadable. It is split in two pieces that sit side-by-side.

But on Oct. 14, the board of directors of Friends of Town of Bedford Cemeteries voted to fix that. They plan to hire a monument conservationist to repair John Goffe’s headstone. The Friends group is a public-private partnership with a mission to support the restoration and maintenance of the four local cemeteries. The repairs will take place sometime next year.

According to two descendants of Goffe, the headstone has been that way for as long as they could remember. According to Doris Spurway, director and one of the founder’s of the town’s historical society, the headstone was damaged in recent months.

Goffe, which the town of Goffstown is named for, was born in 1701. As one of the first settlers in Bedford, Goffe was selected to present the petition for the incorporation of the town of Bedford to the governor at the time, Benning Wentworth. Goffe built a gristmill where the Wayfarer Inn is currently located and operated the first ferry from Bedford to Derry.

“There are fascinating stories about these people, if you can find them,” Spurway said.

The next annual meeting for the Friends of Town Bedford Cemeteries takes place on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bedford Library.

Anyone interested in joining can contact one of the three cemetery trustees, John Wood, at jwood@ bedfordcemeteries.org.