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Burkholder
United Church and Cemetery
By Chris Mills
With
the exception of the church and the development of the surrounding land,
time has preserved the Burkholder Cemetery very well, since its' establishment
in 1839. The following few paragraphs give a brief history, as well
as an account of my first visit to the cemetery.
 In
October 1794, Jacob Burkholder, and his wife, Sophia de Roche arrived
on Hamilton Mountain, and were one of the first families to settle in
the area. The cemetery, located on Mohawk Rd in Hamilton, was established
on a portion of land owned by descendants of the original settlers.
It is believed that as early as the year 1800 the people of the neighbourhood
brought their dead to this location for burial.
In 1839, the section
of land was officially set aside, to be used as a common school site
and a public burying ground. A log school was erected just inside the
main gate of the cemetery, and was used for both religious and educational
purposes. In 1850, a church was built on the same site, known as, "the
Little White Church". It stood for over one hundred years, until
the demand for a new larger church forced its' demolishment in 1955.
In 1958, the current Burkholder United Church was erected.
 During
the early years of the old church, the people strongly believed in superstitions,
signs, and omens. It was believed that if the cemetery claimed one victim,
it would not be satisfied until it had three. Before the death of a
very prominent person occurred, a strange light was said to run along
the roof of the church. There is no proof or explanation as to what
the light was. The only logical theory is that it was the light orb
of a faithful church member's spirit who passed. Another belief was
that angels hovered over a person's deathbed, but were only visible
to the eye of faith.
Without any prior
knowledge of this historical cemetery's past, I paid my first ever visit
inside its' gates. It was mid afternoon, and the sun was shining brightly
as I arrived on location. To be completely honest, I'd never experienced
such an eerie feeling entering a cemetery before. The moment I stepped
inside the main gate, the sky became overcast and a strong wind had
developed. My legs began to shake nervously as I walked past the graves.
I attempted to read as many of the monuments as Icould.
Many of them
have the year
of death dating back to the early or mid 1800's. Several of the stones
are very old, and can't be read anymore. Unfortunately, it was  impossible
for me to see any strange light on the roof of the old church, since
it was torn down almost fifty years ago. I was also unable to discover
any evidence of a grave robbing which apparently occurred in the 1800's.
However, the story has become a personal interest of mine, which I'm
striving to retrieve more information about.
Well, regardless of whether the cemetery or the former church, have
ever truly been inhabited by ghosts or other paranormal, it's definitely
a significant historical site on Hamilton Mountain.
By Chris Mills
All images
in this article were photographed by Chris Mills (excluding the Little
White Church)
The lights of Burkholder
_____________________________
A spectral light was legend at Burkholder to the early pioneers of Hamilton Mountain. They say that a light will shine in the dead of night as the townsfolk sleep. This light signified a departed soul, timed perfectly with somebody's death.
The light would start over the Burkholder church and float into the graveyard. On some occasions, the Burkholder Lights were seen hovering above the house of the departed.
Grave Robbing
______________________
There was one instance of grave robbing at the Burkholder Cemetery.
This wasn't an uncommon occurance, especially in a medical town like Barton Township (now Hamilton). Corpses for medical study were hard to come by in those days. You could wait and hope convicted criminals would be put to death (Michael Vincent's body was donated for this in the early 1800's), or figure out your own way.
This is what a local doctor decided to do on Hamilton Mountain. In the dead of night the doctor dug up a freshly interred body to use for medical study.
And he would have gotten away with it, if not for a servent girl who gossiped to other locals about the strange contents of a wash-boiler. She was in-charge of cleaning this boiler in the doctors home and was finding many large pieces of flesh within it.
It's unfortunate that this information was put forward before the same boiler was used to make tea for meetings within the doctor's house.
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