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| Russel-Colbath or Passaconaway Cemetery in Albany, New Hampshire |
You can find this cemetery on the Kancamagus Highway, next to the Russell-Colbath homestead in Albany, New Hampshire. In the 1800s there was a small settlement called Passaconaway here, served by the logging company’s Swift River Railroad. At one time during the height of the lumbering industry in this area there were two schools, a lumber yard, a company store, a post office (1892 – 1916), several boarding houses and small homes. By 1916 the Conway Lumbering Company had depleted the forests and moved to other areas of New England, so the railroad track and all the workers were moved. The Kancamagus Scenic highway opened to traffic 1959, and was paved in 1964.
The Russell- Colbath house was owned by Thomas and Ruth
Colbath. Ruth was the Postmistress of
Passaconaway for many years. One day
Thomas left, and never returned home.
Ruth left a light in the window for him for years, and she finally died in 1930 and was buried in the cemetery. In 1933 Thomas returned, visited his dead
wife’s grave, and wandered away again.
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| The Russel-Colbath House was built in 1832 to replace an earlier cabin. |
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| The barn on this property is available for rent for events |
The White Mountain National Forest was established in 1918. It covers 1,225 square miles, mostly in New
Hampshire, but about 5% of the Forest is in Maine. About 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail crosses
this land, and the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, including Mount
Washington. Before the National Forest was established, most of the farms and
communities in this area were abandoned as farmers moved west for better opportunities,
and the logging companies stripped most of the forest. The public objected to the unregulated stripping
of the timber and the massive forest fires that plagued the region. Hikers can still find cellar holes and stone
walls as evidence of the families who once lived here. Behind the house is the “Rail ‘N River Trail”,
a half mile interpretive hike to the Swift River with signage near several historic
sites.
We visited on a Saturday afternoon in August, but the Russell-Colbath
house was closed, and we were the only visitors on the grounds except for one
other couple who came to walk through the cemetery. Call ahead to the Saco District
Ranger Station for hours of operation 603-447-5448. Visits are free to the public. The barn is
available to rent for events like family reunions and weddings. The house was
named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
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| This area marked with huge granite slabs appears to be a family plot for MAYHEW and BURBANK family members. |
This cemetery is known as the Passaconaway Cemetery, Albany
Cemetery, or the Russell-Colbath Cemetery.
There are about 70 tombstones here, and 66 have been photographed at the
Find A Grave Website. It is maintained by
the town of Albany.
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| An interpretive board describes the history of the area |
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| The story of Ruth Colbath, whose husband "disappeared" and she left a light in the window for decades, waiting for his return |
Other blog posts about this area of New Hampshire:
Zealand, New Hampshire
Russell-Colbath Cemetery at https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2383266/russell-colbath-cemetery
A story about the Russell-Colbath House from the Conway Daily Sun newspaper, 26 August 2016
A history of Albany, New Hampshire (from the History
of Carroll County, New Hampshire, 1889) viewable online from
Archive.org:
The application for the Russell-Colbath House for the National
Register of Historic Places (it’s very interesting to read this application and
the description of the historic aspects that make it worthy of this
designation):
A podcast about the story of Thomas and Ruth Colbath, from
the New England Legends website:
Other blog posts about this area of New Hampshire:
Zealand, New Hampshire
The Willey Family of Crawford, Notch
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/10/happy-halloween-story-of-willey-family.html ------------------------------
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Passaconaway Cemetery on the Kancamagus Trail", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 18, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/tombstone-tuesday-passaconaway-cemetery.html: accessed [access date]).
Those are some huge granite slabs!
ReplyDeleteYes, we figured they must have used oxen to move them into place. They were gigantic!
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