Ownership of Blair Cemetery handed over to City of Cambridge

A ceremony was held July 15 to mark the official transfer of ownership of Blair Cemetery to the City of Cambridge, as the family who looked after the property for the last 60 years handed over the reins.

Blair Cemetery is known for being the resting place of Cambridge’s first mayor, Claudette Millar, and is also believed to be one of the first cemeteries in the region with its first burial dating back to 1804.

Harry Chislette took over as caretaker for the property after his wife passed away a few years ago. His late wife, Betty Sage, and her mother were the original caretakers.

“The biggest thing is I wanted the recognition for my wife and her mother, who have carried on that tradition of being volunteer caretakers of the cemetery for a good 60 years,” he said. “My wife was the caretaker of the cemetery for 30-odd years, and I was there to help as much as I could as well as carry on my own life doing everything else. It was interesting quite honestly to deal with the cemetery, I’ve learned a lot.”

Cambridge’s Mayor Jan Liggett accepted the transfer of ownership during an event at Blair Cemetery on Ashton St. from Chislette.

Blair Cemetery was first recognized by the trustees of the Village of Blair in 1889.

Chislette said it’s tough letting go of the property because of how long they have been caring for it but said he isn’t in a stage of life where he has the time anymore.

“Quite a few of the Blairites are in there, again as well as our former mayor, Claudette Millar and a lot of fairly prominent people from around the area are actually in there. It’s one of the first burials in all of the whole county,” said Chislette.

According to archives from the Mennonite Archival Information Database, John Bricker was the first burial in the Mennonite community in Waterloo County in 1804, resting at Blair Cemetery.

Other information from those archives point to “The Old Blair Cemetery” as the first cemetery in Waterloo County in June 1952.