It's called Vinings after an early pioneer family. One Rev. Salmon Vining donated the land for the burial site, the first grave being that of his son Joseph, who died in 1855 at the age of 16 of typhoid fever. However, there's also the grave of one William Garner who died in 1837. Presumably, William was buried elsewhere and his body was re-interred at Vinings later:
After World War I, the cemetery board of the period offered land at Vinings for a veterans' monument. However, West Nissouri Council opted to place the monument in nearby Thorndale for better visibility. Not that there aren't military graves at Vinings itself:
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| Sergeant Leonard Salter, 3rd Bn., Canadian Infantry, d. June 10, 1920, age 34. Born in 1887 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, to Thomas and Clara Salter, he died of pneumonia. |
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| Wilbur Douglas Kennedy, Gunner in the Royal Canadian Artillery, d. Aug. 14, 1943 at age 23. Born in 1920 to Wilbur and Edna Kennedy, he died in Montreal following a mastoid operation. Note the broken gravestone next to his, possibly damaged by a lawnmower. A common sight in pioneer burial grounds, broken markers usually remain unrepaired or unreplaced unless family steps in. |
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| Lieut. Roy L. Vining of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, d. Dec. 19, 1918, aged 31. A son of Joseph Vining and Emma Lindley, he died of pneumonia at Guelph. |
This cemetery has been expanded from its original size, an additional third of an acre being purchased in 1934. The attractive wrought iron sign was added in 1967, one of many Canadian Centennial projects across country. History in those days was important to Canadians and worth spending money on.
Decoration Day services began at Vinings on the first Sunday of September, 1923 with 500 people in attendance. Decoration Day in 2024 had fewer than 50 and there's no service anymore. Instead, trustees held a "drop-in" event with a visitors' sign-in book. Folks came and left flowers at relatives' graves:
A word about cemetery expenses. The tree below will have to be taken down soon since it's hollow and in danger of falling, possibly damaging nearby graves. The cost will be exorbitant; perhaps some kind fairy godmother will wave her magic wand and donate the funds?
Metal thieves stole an earlier version of this gate a few years back. This is an expensive replacement:
The way things cost these days, it's no wonder there's so many decayed rural cemeteries. Vinings is fortunate to have so many concerned local individuals to look after it and it remains one of the most attractive burial grounds near London.
*Details from J. J. Leverton (ed.), West Nissouri Township 1818-2000. Our Heritage. Volume One, pp. 181-2.
Jenny, I have been reading your blog for quite a while, having been introduced to your work 'Vanished Villages of Middlesex County' many years ago. Keep up the fantastic work, we have a very interesting, if low profile, history in SW Ontario.
ReplyDeleteVining Cemetery featured in Jennifer’s blog, well done as always, looms large in my ancestry. My first Canadian ancestors are on my paternal mother’s side. Their name was Hall and they along with the female side of the family, the Clarks, fled from the United States, pursued is a better term, to the Ottawa Valley region in the early nineteenth century. This forced migration allows me to claim two United Empire Loyalist families. At some point they moved to West Nissouri bringing them, and in particular their daughter Rosina, b.1805, into contact with the Hugh Davis family who arrived from New York State around 1819. The oldest son in that family was US born Robert and it was he who spied the attractive Rosina Hall. As love and marriage dictated, they both became my great, great grandparents. In stature Robert was a large impressive figure much like his father Hugh. Robert also possessed leadership qualities, qualities which led him to become a local political Reform party leader. I needn’t explain to students familiar with the Revolt of 1837 all that took place except to state for the sake of family history detail, two of Rosina’s Reform involved brothers fled the country to disappear into the American wilderness. While Rosina’s brothers were single men, husband Robert the father of three children, one to become my great grandmother, had family obligations. Ignoring the obvious, perhaps more forced than choice, he also fled but unlike his brothers in law, he stopped at the border allowing himself to be promoted a captain in the armed American force determined to invade British North America. We can only guess that he was overwhelmed by ego, but whatever the cause he instantly became a traitor. His role as such placed him in the van of Americans aboard the schooner Anne engaged in attacking Amherstburg. Exposed on the ship, he was shot by a contingent of Canadian militia. Critically wounded, he lingered on for six months all the while nursed by his devoted and pregnant wife. Ironically, oh, deep, deep irony, he died on Canadian soil on July 4, 1838.
ReplyDeleteA footnote is in order here: Robert Davis is not buried in the Vining Cemetery. One might guess that the question of burial for a traitor near his home was quietly avoided. In fact, he has no known burial place.
(Rosina gave birth to a son two weeks before Robert died. She appropriately named him Robert. Mirroring his father’s size as an adult while ignoring his father’s traitorous death as an American supporter, he ventured off to the USA and wisely invested in Rockefeller’s Standard Oil of New Jersey. Robert Davis Jr. died in his adopted country as a wealthy man.)