MINDEMOYA—A chance encounter with “a person who shall remain nameless” brought a shocking claim to the attention of Ruth Pettis, one of the descendants of foundational Mindemoya businessman, first reeve and postmaster, Frank Wagg. “They said their family had established the Mindemoya cemetery,” said Ms. Pettis. She knew that wasn’t right.
Family lore said otherwise, but Ms. Pettis decided to research her family’s history to discover the truth and found her family’s oral history was accurate. In 1879, the passing of Mr. Wagg’s brother led him to donate land to establish the cemetery. Over the years, more land was purchased to expand the boundaries of the Mindemoya Cemetery to its current extent, but the initial quarter acre of land was severed from the Wagg farm and donated to create the site.
Mr. Wagg is buried in the cemetery, as are generations of Wagg descendants. The family sought and secured permission last year from Central Manitoulin to place a small commemorative plaque at the gates of the cemetery. The occasion of a family wedding and a gathering being held at Pirate’s Cove provide the opportunity for a work bee to tidy up those family grave sites and to have a commemorative photo of the event taken.
Among the family members were the matriarch of the family, the redoubtable Madeline (Maddy) (Wagg) Becks, who, at 102 could be seen traversing the entire breadth of the cemetery grounds inspecting the gravestones with her great, great grandchildren Graham and Emma (the youngest of the Wagg descendants on hand).
Many of the faces in the sizable group of family members gathered by Ms. Pettis at the cemetery would be familiar to many Island residents, including Diane and Patricia Meehan, who along with mother Gail were in the forefront of ensuring Wagg’s Wood park remained in the public domain and whose actions prompted the town council to make improvements to that public space.
“It’s a great day and it is nice to see Frank Wagg’s legacy includes having established the Mindemoya Cemetery and now there is a plaque to let people know the history,” said Ms. Pettis.
The commemorative plaque resides at the entrance to the cemetery, just below another plaque denoting that the entrance arch to the cemetery was donated in memory of Corporal D.M. Wagg, killed in Holland during the Second World War, erected by his mother and father. That plaque is inscribed “Faithful Unto Death.”
Lest we forget.
