Three Strangers Known Only to God

Four lichen-covered cement posts stand as silent sentinels in the southwest corner of Paxton’s Mooreland Cemetery on Richards Avenue. One rises in the mowed grass. A shorter lopsided guard is covered with vines. The other two guardians are hidden inside the woods. 

Embedded flat in the grass just past the first post is a stained granite slab with the words: “Three Strangers Known Only to God.”

Further in the woods, obscured by weeds and ferns, are three small rough field stones incised with the initials E.M., R.S., and J.T.

Who were these three strangers? Why are their humble markers isolated from the well-tended tombstones elsewhere in the cemetery? Were they enslaved people who worked on local farms? Had they died from smallpox or another infectious disease and so were quarantined after death? 

Richard Fenton, chair of Paxton’s Historical Commission, was intrigued by whose lives these stones mark. Within days of being asked, Fenton was able to find a description of their lives and deaths written by a local historian and a 1996 newspaper article that described an afternoon where prayers were said for the three strangers. Fenton credits the dogged determination of town resident and local historian Edward Duane with uncovering the mystery of who these stones remember.

On October 30, 1996, Rev. Donald Whitcomb of the First Congregational Church of Paxton, Rev. John Thomas of St. Columba’s Roman Catholic Church, and Ronald Johnson, chair of Paxton’s Select Board, said prayers over that corner area. They were there because a farmer had noted three indentations on the ground and alerted town officials of possible unmarked graves. Johnson decided something had to be done to note their internments. Duane helped prepare the site by donating and painting the four cement posts that mark the corners of the plot and found the three rough stones that mark each grave. Empire Granite Co. donated the slab laid in the grass.

The Telegram & Gazette published an article the next day describing the ceremony and wrote that Duane had been unsuccessful in his attempts to identify the three people. 

But Duane had discovered information about who the three strangers were, but too late for inclusion in the T&G article. In his typewritten notes, preserved by the Paxton Historical Commission, Duane wrote:

“On the eve of the article’s appearance, I received a telephone call from Mrs. John Hyland of Paxton stating she knew the name of one of the individuals buried in the ‘Friends Lot’. Taking the clue I went back to the vital records, found the death record, and then, with the same clue went to the cemetery card file where a reference to ‘Friends Section’, under ‘F’, in Moreland (sic) Cemetery, was found. I then went to ‘Fn’ and found a card with the layout of the Friends Section, the names of the three individuals thus interred and other pertinent information.”

Included in the preserved records are Duane’s drawing of the six plots in the Friends Lot and his hand-written notes and typed explanation of his investigation. He then researched burial permits for more information. He identified the names of the three strangers, all laborers who had worked on local farms: Plot 1: John Tribis, died March 11, 1945, age 62 years. Plot 2: Robert S. Smith, died April 28, 1947, age 79 years. Plot 3: Elias or Nikolai Mattila, died December 24, 1953, age 69 years. 

Ronald Johnson, who helped organize the 1996 ceremony that honored the three strangers, served Paxton in many capacities during his 60 years living in town. He died on October 8th of this year, leaving his widow Melinda and two sons.

Duane died in 2011 and his dedication to Paxton’s history, its veterans, its cemeteries and those buried there, are preserved in the Historical Commission’s collection. 

“He was truly devoted,” said Fenton about Duane. “He used to spend a lot of time in the town clerk’s office where he worked with the help of June Herron, the then-town clerk. I’m sorry that I never got to work with him and know him better.”

No longer strangers - thanks to countless hours of dedicated volunteer work by many people and the ongoing efforts to preserve that history. 

Three Strangers Known Only to God is the first article to be included in WFP’s new historical section, “Whispers from the Archives.” If you know of a story that should be uncovered – or would like to submit one – please contact [email protected]