The Forgotten Ones

On a knoll in a ploughed field behind the old House Of Industry east of Athens there rests the remains of 114 Pioneers of Leeds & Grenville, all in unmarked Graves.Their names have been recorded in a Booklet by the Leeds & Grenville OGS entitled "The Gone and Forgotten People of the United Counties of Leeds & Grenville". The House of Industry was built in 1895 and they continued the practise of burying their dead back in this field until 1946 when it came under new management and at that time a large plot was purchased at the Glen Elbe Cemetery for any future burials. A Memorial Stone was erected in the fence line opposite the grave sites in the field dedicated to the memory of these Pioneers. This Stone is now partly obscured by dense brush and vines. It is unknown the total number buried here due to the fact that if the resident died in the winter their bodies were placed in the Vault in Athens until spring and if the bodies were not claimed by family members at this time they were buried back in the field and no records exist for these burials. In 1972 major renovations and addictions were made to this building and it is now called The Maple View Lodge, a nursing home for long term care.