Easton’s Union Cemetery is searching for the descendants of those buried in the historic cemetery. The primary objective of the initiative is to compile an official next-of-kin list for the cemetery’s comprehensive records.
Cemeteries rely on next-of-kin lists to keep accurate records, support family research, communicate with descendants, and manage burial sites efficiently.
“If they can get a next of kin list going, it could truly showcase how deep the roots of the families in the Union Cemetery of Easton go and how influential they have been,” said Diane Rowland, who has multiple family members resting in the cemetery dating back to 1925.
Leading the effort are volunteers Bob and Bruce Laskay, who discovered the need when looking through records at the Easton Town Hall. Both men have many family members interred in the cemetery
“The last records on individuals buried in the cemetery dated back to 1975,” said Bob Laskay. “We realized 85% of our relatives are buried there. With that, we were able to get the ball rolling.”
Rowland said she sees Union Cemetery as vital historical documentation of the town. Some of Easton’s oldest family names are buried there. The slightly more than five-acre cemetery located at the corner of Sport Hill and Stepney Roads has graves dating back to the Revolutionary War era. Last year, the Governor Oliver Wolcott Sr. branch of the Connecticut Sons of the American Revolution honored five Revolutionary War soldiers buried at the cemetery with new bronze grave markers.
The cemetery is an independent organization and not maintained by the town. It was in decline for years until the Laskay cousins in 2022 began an effort to restore and maintain the grounds. Community support and dedicated volunteers are needed for the cemetery’s upkeep. After learning that at least 44 former Easton firefighters were buried there, the Easton Volunteer Fire Company made a sizeable donation to Union Cemetery in late October 2022 for its future maintenance. Over the past couple of years, a substantial number of volunteers have participated in various Saturday morning projects.
“My husband and I have walked our dog through the Union Cemetery of Easton for years,” said Rowland. “Since the Laksays have taken over it’s been cleaned up and the stones have been restored. What was once a tangled mess now resembles a true historical monument to the town of Easton, its founders, and later settlers.”
The cemetery is asking anyone with information or a shared interest in their ancestry to reach out through email at UnionCemeteryofEaston@gmail.com or call Bob Laskay at 203-362-9864, or Bruce Laskay at 203-264-9408.
“It’s time to bring it back to being a historical part of the town of Easton, and I think a next-of-kin list would support it in becoming just that,” said Rowland.
