Pioneer Cemetery, also known as the Pioneers Burial Ground and the Indian Fighters Cemetery, is a historic cemetery in

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, United States. Dating to 1731, it was the first public burial place in Old

North Yarmouth North Yarmouth, officially the Town of North Yarmouth, is a town in Cumberland County, Maine. The population was 4,072 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, which was then part of the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

.''Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636-1936: A History'', William Hutchinson Rowe (1937) It stands on Gilman Road, around northeast of the

Ledge Cemetery Ledge Cemetery, also known as the Cemetery under the Ledge,''Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society'', Maine Historical Society (1899), p. 76 is a historic cemetery in Yarmouth, Maine, Yarmouth, Maine, United States. Dating t ...

, and almost directly across Gilman Road from the Cutter House, which was completed a year earlier.

Notable burials

*Ebenezer Eaton (1674–1735), killed by Indians *Captain Peter Weare (1695–1743) * Joseph Weare (1737–1774), Indian fighter, son of Captain Peter, nicknamed ''the Scout'' *Deacon Jacob Curry Mitchell (1672–1744) *Captain James Parker (1689–1732), one of five local men tasked in 1727 with the management of the new town of North Yarmouth. Their affairs included laying out the highways. He was also the town's first inn owner Inscriptions recorded by

Augustus W. Corliss Augustus Whittemore Corliss (March 25, 1837 – September 4, 1908) was an American author and historian. He published, amongst other works, ''Old Times in North Yarmouth, Maine'' across several volumes. He began writing it during his career in t ...

in his late-19th-century publication ''Old Times in North Yarmouth, Maine'', and later reprinted in ''Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia'', include: and

Marker

The marker for the burial ground, which was attached to a boulder, was removed to the town's historical society in February 2019, having been in place for ninety years, because some people found the term describing the

Abenaki The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

tribe "savage enemies" offensive. Information regarding the intended meaning of the text will be displayed alongside it at the museum."Yarmouth removes historical marker calling Native Americans 'savage enemies'"
– ''

Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States. Founded in 1862, its roots e ...

'', February 13, 2019 The plaque reads:

Gallery

File:Pioneers Burial Ground marker.jpg, The cemetery's marker, prior to its removal File:Pioneer Cemetery (Yarmouth, Maine) 2.jpg, Looking southwest across the cemetery toward Broad Cove

References

{{reflist 1731 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies Cemeteries in Yarmouth, Maine