Quaker researcher tells trustees the town already owns Quaker Cemetery; volunteers could help with basic cleanup

Brentwood — Kathleen Wooten, a member of the Lawrence (Mass.) Quaker meeting, briefed the Brentwood Cemetery Trustees on May 7 about the history and condition of the town’s Quaker Cemetery and the Quaker meeting that once used it.

"Hi, my name is Kathleen Wooten, and I'm a member of the Lawrence, Massachusetts Quaker meeting," she said, and described work she will do in the New England Quaker archives at UMass Amherst to locate primary records about the Brentwood meeting. Kathleen said the Brentwood meeting appears to have operated in the early 1750s and that initial research suggests the cemetery contains Clifford and Dudley family burials.

Kathleen told trustees that regional Quaker meetings she consulted do not claim responsibility for care of the site and that Quaker practice in the 18th and 19th centuries sometimes left burial grounds with minimal or no markers. "Quakers are fine with that," she said, adding that many meetings lack capacity to maintain an historic burial ground.

Trustees confirmed the Quaker Cemetery is listed on the town GIS and that the deed shows Town of Brentwood ownership. The chair said the trustees would like a short written statement from Quaker representatives clarifying that basic cleanup would not conflict with religious practice; if provided, trustees said they would proceed with limited maintenance (removing a dead tree and light cleanup) and document the work in town records.

Kathleen and trustees discussed preserving the site's history: assembling deed and advertisement documents in a town file, coordinating with the historical society and DAR, and possibly creating a small interpretive sign or QR code for the town’s 250th anniversary listings.

Trustees asked Kathleen to report back after her archival visit and to provide any records that can be copied into the trustees' files. Trustees said they would also provide copies of town documents (abandoned-cemetery paperwork and registry excerpts) to support her research and for future public interpretation.