OXFORD – When traveling Chenango County highways and back roads, stumbling across a cast iron blue and gold historical markers isn't such an unusual occurrence – but discovering a new one is.
A group of local history enthusiasts led by an aspiring writer banded together early on to keep alive the now familiar story of Little Merrit's Tomb, tucked away in a once overgrown and forgotten rural cemetery on Hoben Road in the rolling hills of Oxford.
“Little Merrit's Tomb was built for Merrit Beardlsey who died at age 8 in 1865,” said Stefan Foster, the young author who organized a restoration effort of the site known as the Miller Cemetery. “Legend has it, he was afraid of the dark so his father promised him a window in his grave to let the light in.”
The father – a farmer – kept the promise he made to his dying son and erected a one of a kind tomb made of Oxford blue stone complete with a window to let eternal light flood into young Merrit's resting place.
According to Foster, from that point forward, Merrit's tomb was frequently visited by both locals and travelers from afar because of its peculiar story and its place in locale lore.
More recently, however – beginning at around the 1950's – the site has generated a more negative stigma of human immorality from the hands of vandals who desecrated the resting place of Merrit Beardsley.
Intrigued with the story at a young age, and beginning in August of 2013, Foster along with parter Kurt Riegel began the painstaking process of restoring the tomb. The project would initially include only replacing the the grave's unique glass window – originally installed by Merrit's father – that had been destroyed decades earlier.
“I found the tomb to be in alarming condition, so I decided to step up to try to raise awareness and raise funding to restore it,” said Foster. Of course, the story wouldn't end there for Foster, Riegal and the Beardsley Cemetery. Before long; Foster, Riegel and Tina Pabst were inspired to work together under the assumed name “One Stone at a Time,” a collaborative with ambitions of restoring the tomb and its surroundings.
