The South Stormont Cemetery Preservation Association works with local cemetery boards, volunteers and community partners to preserve and document the historic cemeteries of South Stormont. Explore the cemeteries listed below to learn about their history, burial records, monuments and ongoing preservation efforts.
Featured Cemeteries – Detailed Histories Available
The following cemeteries are among the first being documented by the South Stormont Cemetery Preservation Association. Historical research, burial records, photographs and preservation information are being assembled and will be made available as each cemetery’s documentation is completed.
Pleasant Valley Cemetery
Pleasant Valley Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located on Pleasant Valley Road in South Stormont, within the former Township of Osnabruck. Covering approximately 8.97 acres, the cemetery has served generations of local families since the early nineteenth century. Its oldest known surviving headstone dates to 1837.
The cemetery has a particularly interesting connection to St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church, originally built at Woodlands in 1795 and relocated to Pleasant Valley in December 1857. Although the church building was removed in 1931, the cemetery remains an enduring reminder of the families and farming community that developed around it.
Today, Pleasant Valley Cemetery continues to be maintained through community stewardship, while historical documentation and gravestone preservation efforts help safeguard its heritage for future generations.
Dixson Cemetery
Dixon Cemetery is a small historic burial ground located at the corner of Wilburn Road and County Road 12, south of Newington, Ontario. Situated across from Dixon Road, it occupies approximately 0.42 acres in the former Township of Osnabruck. The cemetery is also historically known as the Baptist Church Cemetery.
The cemetery’s documented history dates to February 27, 1874, when John J. Dixon conveyed land to trustees of the Regular Baptist Church for a church, chapel or meeting house and burial ground. The earliest identified grave marker dates from 1876. Among the families commemorated here are the Bartle, Bush, Dixon, Eamon, Empey, Hawn, Morgan, Rombough, Rupert, Warner and Zeran families.
Today, Dixon Cemetery is maintained by trustees Barry Zeran and Shawn Zeran, both great-grandchildren of Peter Zeran, one of the signatories to the original 1874 indenture. The South Stormont Cemetery Preservation Association is working with the trustees to document monuments, reconcile historical burial records and support the preservation of this important community burial ground.
St. George’s Anglican Cemetery – Gallingertown
Located on County Road 18 near Groves Road, St. George’s Anglican Cemetery is a historic burial ground in the former Township of Osnabruck. Its history is closely connected to the Gallinger family, United Empire Loyalist settlement, the War of 1812 and the Anglican community that gave Gallingertown its identity.
The earliest burial identified in surviving cemetery records dates to 1851. The first St. George’s Anglican Church was built in 1854, and a larger replacement was consecrated in 1899. Although the church closed during the St. Lawrence Seaway era and was eventually demolished in 1970, the cemetery remains an important reminder of the community’s heritage.
In 2009, descendants, volunteers and community supporters undertook a major restoration project to repair damaged monuments and preserve fragile gravestones. Today, the cemetery continues to commemorate generations of local families, including George Gallinger Jr., a veteran of the War of 1812.
