Welcome to the Fairhaven Cemeteries website. It is designed to help users locate the graves of their relatives or other people in whom they are interested. It includes three cemeteries: Naskatucket, Riverside, and Woodside. When complete, it will contain the records of more than 25,000 burials. The information is based on cemetery records, town records, and field research at the cemeteries themselves. Fairhaven is also home to other cemeteries that are on private property and inaccessible to the public.
The project was launched in spring 2004. We began with the documentary record and then conducted field research. It is as complete as possible, but some early burials are not included because the graves had no markers or the markers had become illegible. The earliest grave recorded dates to 1797. You can easily search the database by cemetery, name (first and/or last), or date of death. Begin at “Record Search.” (“Advanced Search” provides more options.) As the website develops, we will include photographs of the markers and of the deceased. We will be happy to post photographs of your relatives if you send them to us.
We would like to acknowledge the many people and organizations that have made this project possible. Riverside Cemetery provided the funds to develop the website. Jay Avila from Spinner Publications donated historic cemetery photographs. Much of the military information was provided by the Fairhaven Veterans Agent, Jim Cochran. The database was created by the following Millicent Library Archives volunteer staff: Data Input: Nicole Mercer, David Braga, Marilaine McDonald, Mathew Foster, Kris Johansen, and Colin McGreevy. Field work and photos of gravestones: Suzanne Kowal and Deborah Chormicle. Beth Luey created all of the narratives and has been this project’s writer-at-large. Finally, Sean Anderson of The Franchise Group for the work he did on the website.