Projects
Haines Maple Grove Cemetery
Our primary goal in 2023 was to replace the wooden sign at Haines Maple Grove Cemetery with a stone marker.
As a result of supply issues, the stone was installed on October 19, four months later than we had originally anticipated.
In the spring, topsoil will be added and seeded over the concrete foundation. What a wonderful improvement!!
Thanks to the generosity of many donors, we were able to pay a stipend to Peter Tilley and his family who have been mowing the cemetery for almost 30 years without compensation.
Original sign
Frontier Heritage President Jim Everett stands beside the new stone marker. J Wingate’s descendants raised the funds to place this at the Haines Maple Grove Cemetery.
On October 25, Dr. Chunzeng Wang, Professor of Earth and Environmental Studies, at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, conducted a survey of the cemetery grounds with a ground penetrating radar machine alongside some curious students.
Only three probable unmarked burial sites were identified in this survey. There likely are many more unmarked burial sites but time and soil conditions have combined to make those sites less identifiable using GPR.
Friends Church, Maple Grove
This church still exists and is now owned and preserved by Frontier Heritage, the local historical society. The Friends Church was built over 160 years ago by J Wingate Haines and his Quaker friends and family.
"Friends Church is the oldest still-standing church in Fort Fairfield. It was built in 1859-1860 by the Haines family and a bunch of their Quaker friends, who, according to oral history, were part of the Underground Railroad before and during the Civil War."
(source: fortfairfield.org)
An important second goal was adopted in May 2023, to support Frontier Heritage's painting and repair efforts at Friends Church.
This second fundraising goal was also reached thanks the generosity of many of the descendants of Joseph Wingate and Mary Briggs Haines.