Moffat United Cemetery

Moffat United Cemetery, Nassagaweya, Halton, Ontario

Moffat United Cemetery is a small graveyard located in Nassagaweya Township southeast of Guelph, Ontario.  The 59 stones record deaths as early as 1855 and as late as 1990. The cemetery was originally the graveyard for the Bethany Methodist Episcopal Church (later Moffat United), however, the church was converted into a private home many years ago.

George Allison (1809-1885)

Unlike many of the cemeteries that I have photographed for the Canada GenWeb Cemetery Project, Moffat is very well kept. No pruning of bushes, no cutting back of encroaching grass, and no cleaning was needed in order to photograph all the stones. While some of the stones are in several pieces, they were at one point been restored, most often through the use of metal frames. Inscriptions for the most part are still quite readable, and only two stones have disappeared since the 1976 Ontario Genealogical Society transcription.

The most common surname is the graveyard is Allison. George Allison (1809-1885) emigrated from Yorkshire and settled in Nassagawaya in 1831, on land he purchased from the Canada Company. In 1877 his son Jacob sold part of his property to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a red-brick building was erected soon after. The graveyard, however, had existed for a number of years prior to this sale.

Sarah King (1824-1858)

The most visually interesting gravestone in the graveyard is that of Sarah, the wife of Charles King, who died in 1858 at the age of 34. Unfortunately, nothing is known about Sarah, since Charles King was no longer living in the area at the time of the 1861 Census.

Nassagaweya Township was created in 1819, and is one of four historical townships in Halton County. The land for the township was purchased from the Mississauga First Nation, and its name is based on the Mississauga word meaning "river with two outlets."