Community Corner

Hidden Gems Of Hartford And Tolland Counties

The latest Hidden Gem is a cemetery that has survived age and a visit from a drunken driver.

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Southwest Cemetery in Vernon. (Chris Dehnel/Patch )
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Southwest Cemetery in Vernon. (Chris Dehnel/Patch )
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The final resting place of Leavitt Millard, a Revolutionary War veteran. (Chris Dehnel/Patch )

VERNON, CT — The latest Hidden Gem is a cemetery that has not only endured the test of time, but a wayward vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver.

Welcome to Southwest Cemetery in Vernon, also known as the Old Dobsonville Cemetery. Graves at the burial ground date back to a time before the country was a country. The cemetery is located at 173 Talcottville Road on the local map.That's state Route 83, but the cemetery is hidden enough for thousands of drivers to whizz by each day without noticing it.

The cemetery has several interesting and historic graves.

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One is that of Leavitt Millard, a Revolutionary War veteran.

(Chris Dehnel/Patch)

Though the cemetery is tucked away from Route 83, it is still susceptible to the hazards of a well-traveled road.

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Take Nov. 30, 2020, for example. At about 7 p.m. that day, a black, 1999 Toyota 4Runner driven by a 42-year-old Manchester woman was heading north in the right lane on Route 83. It veered off the pavement, sprung up a grassy knoll, plowed over a protective stone and crashed into a 1750s grave between 240 and 255 feet into the cemetery, according to a Vernon Police Department crash report.

The names on the 1751 marker are David and Mary Forbes, who were originally from East Hartford. How they wound up with a Vernon cemetery as their final resting place is not clear, official have said, but police determined the driver arrived there because of prescription pill intoxication, according to the crash report.

Vernon officials had a restoration company repair the Forbes stone.

The cemetery is accessible to researchers and photographers alike.

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The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located within Hartford and Tolland counties. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.
Other Gems in this series: 2022

2021 and earlier:

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