William Cuyler Hosmer was a noted Livingston County writer and poet. He was regarded as the "The Bard of Avon" and a sketch of his life was published in the Rochester Democrat Chronicle. He wrote a poem titled "God's Acre" describing a visit he made to this forest encircled burying-ground where "The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."



This 'God's Acre' was the first to be set apart in the Town(ship) of York for the purpose of establishing a cemetery. It was situated on land from a farm belonging to (3)'Uncle' Simon Fraser in the north east part of the Town(ship) of York.



Simon was one of the founders of 1st Presbyterian Church (later known as "The White Kirk") of Caledonia circa 1804, and he actually gave the prayer of dedication when the old log church was completed. Simon died on Dec 4, 1806 and he was one of the first to be buried in the Inverness Cemetery. Simon's farm was owned by his direct descendants until about 1965.



"He was the ancestor, either direct or by marriage, of almost every Scotch family in the area, and today his descendants are many and are scattered the world over. He came here a pioneer to hew out a home from the virgin forest and his sons and daughters have gone on and have been pioneers in other areas and states, bearing the marks of the honesty, integrity and religion of their great ancestors.



The old cemetery is today one of the neglected spots as many whose relatives were buried here have moved those to the Munford Rural Cemetery, which was set apart by the Scotch people of Caledonia and Wheatland around the same time.



The Inverness (Pioneer) burying ground is not all together abandoned, however, as there are still those who honor the pioneers still sleeping there. One of the Fraser families of this area has left a fund, the interest of which is to be used to maintain this cemetery."



Source: A Fraser Family Saga, Scotland to America, Volume I (The Storylines), page 493, by Donald Clare Fraser, published 2013 by Acadian Printing, Amherst, Nova Scotia



NOTE: Posted to Find-a-Grave with written permission from the author