'Each cemetery has its own feel.' Why you should try the Dennis Village Cemetery tour.

DENNIS - Every year, local historian Terri Fox guides visitors on an one-hour walk through Dennis Village Cemetery.

About 30 people joined the June walk this year to learn more about the graves, stones and the rich history the cemetery commemorates.

“I’ve been doing this for the last ten years,” said Fox to the Times after the tour ended.

Fox has been living on the Cape since 1998; her father’s family was the local Sparrow family from Orleans and Eastham side and her grandmother was a member of the Chase family. A lot of that family is buried on the Cape.

When Fox and her husband moved to the Cape from California, she instantly fell in love.

“I started going to the historical society meetings and started dressing up,” said Fox.

Phyllis Horton, who previously guided the walks, offered to share all the information and maps with Fox and since then, Fox has been hosting these tours.

“I do it every summer, usually tours including the Dennis Village cemetery, South Dennis Congregational Church Cemetery, West Dennis Cemetery and sometimes the Swan Lake Cemetery in Dennisport.”

The Dennis Village cemetery is the only one in Dennis listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The roughly 277-year-old town-run cemetery qualified because of the artistry of its slate and marble stones.

Many of the names associated with Dennis’ rich history are carved on the stones, from Josiah Dennis and Micah Chapman, a major who served in the Revolutionary War, to Asa Shiverick, the well-known shipyard owner and his three sons, who are reputed to have been the only clipper ship builders on Cape Cod, according to the Dennis Historical Society.

During the tour, Fox also highlighted the gravesites of seven village seamen who were among 22 Dennis citizens to perish as their schooner Bride—built in the Shiverick shipyard —went down off Provincetown’s Race Point in a raging storm in 1841.

Many people buried here played a role in significant events in the life of the town - ministers, warriors, mariners lost at sea

“Each cemetery has its own feel, because each neighborhood has its own feel,” said Fox. “It's interesting when you see and realize how certain storms totally decimated a particular family.”

Veterans from the Indian Wars to the Vietnam War are buried in this cemetery.

Rev. Josiah Dennis, the man the town was named after, is one of the most notable graves in the cemetery.

Nathan Stone, who took over as minister in 1764 and is reputed to have named the new town, is also buried here.

The oldest known gravestone belongs to John Crowell, though not much is known about him other than his death year of 1728. Since the cemetery was associated with the church, and the church was built in 1722, it's possible others were buried there before Crowell.

The cemetery features row upon row of slate stones, which are the oldest and bear some distinctive carvings

There were no stonecutters on the Cape before 1850, the stones had to be ordered from Boston.

“There were a number of stone carvers up around Boston with all different styles and designs,” said Fox, during the tour. “People could recognize the stones designer, as each stone carver had a signature style as it was very different.”

Some of the headstones with wingless skull and crossbones signify mortality and are examples of the style of John Homer of Boston.

“It was also about family preferences; how they would design the stones or how much money they could spend,” said Fox.

There’s one stone in the cemetery that came from Connecticut; it has an unusual figure with a round face and defined chin, a particular style found in Connecticut stones. It is likely that this stone was shipped here to the Cape, according to Fox.

Rev. Nathan Stone’s headstone is well-carved, with a winged effigy, heavily browed with bulldog features.

Some of the other signature styles were the light bulb skull with angel wings; stone with a winged spirit head and stylized wings; stone with a Medusa head; and stone with a heart-shaped head and heart-shaped mouth, a design of Nathaniel Fuller of Plympton.

A bluish stone with a very unusual winged grinning death’s head is attributed to carver William Coyle, who is considered to be the “Father of the Plymouth Carving Tradition,” according to the Dennis Historical Society.

The receiving tomb at the east side of the cemetery was erected in 1875 to hold bodies in the winter, until the ground thawed so a grave could be dug.

In 2020, vandals toppled 15 gravestones at this historic cemetery. Most of those toppled were marble stones from the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century. No stones were broken, although two obelisks had separated at the joints and lay in pieces.

The Historical Commission used Community Preservation Act money to preserve the damaged graves.

Rasheek Tabassum Mujib writes about healthcare and education. Reach her at rmujib@capecodonline.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Dennis Village Cemetery walk at historical Dennis site