Chris Perry Column: "Being President Is Like Running A Cemetery"

He calls it “The most rewarding work I do.”

That’s saying something for a man who has been a member of every conservation entity on Nantucket, served on numerous island boards, commissions, and committees, including the Nantucket Land Bank for the past 23 years, while working a long career as a ranger with the Nantucket Conservation Foundation.

“I did run unsuccessfully once for the Nantucket School Committee,” offered Allen Reinhard, who still feels the sting from that defeat. “But what has been the most fulfilling to me is serving on the Nantucket Cemetery Commission because it provides me a unique opportunity to have a touchstone to Nantucket history.”

While most people are familiar with Prospect Hill Cemetery and St. Mary’s Cemetery, what is often overlooked are the nine island cemeteries (Polpis Cemetery, Founder’s Burial Ground, Old North, New North, Newtown, Historic Coloured Cemetery, Quaise Asylum Burial Ground, Historic Quaker and the Miacomet Burial Ground) that are controlled by the town of Nantucket.

“I make a point of visiting all nine cemeteries at least once a month, said the popular public figure who first came to Nantucket in 1961 as a 16-year-old from Oberlin, OH. From there, and by way of Young’s Bicycle Shop, Dave Rice, Sandpiper Restaurant, Snow’s Bike Shop, Haydi Craig, June Cary and an 18-year stint in Millbrook, NY teaching English “but never missing a summer on island,” Reinhard relocated to Nantucket permanently in 1990.

“When I first arrived, I contacted Jim Lentowski, who was the administrator of the Nantucket Conservation Foundation at the time. They were looking for a ‘ranger’ and it came with housing, so I jumped at it,” said Reinhard.

The house was an isolated cottage known as the “Heath House” tucked in the middle of 5,000 acres off Polpis Road and Sesachacha Pond, but in the eyes of the new conservation ranger, “It was heaven to me.”

Over the next 32 years, Reinhard became a popular ambassador for Nantucket’s Conservation Foundation. But when he took me to the Founder’s Burial Ground off Cliff Road, not only did it hit home, but it was clear to me where his passion and dedication lie.

“When I was appointed Chair of the Cemetery Commission, there were zero burial spaces available, and I learned that the Founder’s Burial Ground had no public access. So, I recruited various people such as Lee Saperstein, Fran Karttunen, Barbara White, and Scotty McGiver to serve on the commission, and we went to work,” Reinhard said.

He recounted that “Not many people know that at the Founder’s Burial site, there was a monument erected in 1881 honoring the men - Coffin, Macy, Starbuck, Folger, Gardner, Swain, Coleman, Hussey and Bunker - who originally settled on Nantucket and their final resting place overlooking Maxey Pond.”

Over the years, various parcels of land were sold and houses built around the 10-acre site, ultimately cutting off public access to the historic landmark.

“Without proper access, the public was denied the opportunity to visit one of the most important pieces of Nantucket history, and that did not seem right to me,” said Reinhard.

In turn, Reinhard contacted John Stackpole and the Nantucket Anglers’ Club, which owned a piece of abutting property that would ultimately provide the access they needed.

However, Reinhard thought the site “which truly honors those who first founded Nantucket” was missing something.

In 2009, a rose-colored granite monument via Neil Paterson was erected by the Cemetery Commission to honor Nantucket’s wives, mothers, and children on the 350th anniversary of the island’s settlement.

Reinhard added, “The Commission felt the women who were also part of the first settlement deserved to be recognized too.”

Allen and I continued our journey of cemetery lore and island history through his tales, rivaling those of Carl Sjolund from Nantucket’s waterfront. However, it was one uniquely Nantucket story that had me smiling.

When Ricky Lewis’ funeral home closed years ago, then-Town Clerk, the late Catherine Flanagan Stover, inherited 33 unclaimed urns of ashes and stored them in the Clerk’s Office vault in the Town Building.

Between the Cemetery Commission and Stover, they investigated each one, hoping to notify the appropriate families. Initially, they had some success, but Stover ended up with five containers with no identification.

Reinhard recalled, “Fran Karttunen would not give up. Eventually, we were able to trace one of the five back to a local character named ‘Whale Oil Gus’ who died in California, but his family sent his ashes back to Nantucket.”

“However, no one claimed them,” added Reinhard.

Not to be deterred, the Commission was able to identify members of his family that were buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery, and with the help of Jeff Morash, they organized a formal burial service under the guidance of Rev. Tom Richard and buried “Whale Oil Gus” in the family plot with music and a short eulogy.

“And what about the other four?” I asked.

Reinhard answered, “We secured two plots - each one able to accept two urns. The four were properly buried in Polpis Cemetery with a small monument marked ‘unknown remains’…”

One of Reinhard’s most unusual finds actually came via Maurice Gibbs, whose father, James, was a town bell-ringer and lived in Quaise.

“I was walking on one of the Conservation trails and ran into Maurice, who mentioned a grave site near his house. I was completely unaware, so he took me there. Sure enough, he showed me what we later identified as the original Quaise Asylum Burial Ground, which was actually on Conservation Foundation Land,” admitted Reinhard.

For those of you who may not be familiar, Nantucket set aside a tract of land for the housing of the local indigent population in the early 1800s. In 1844, a fire broke out and burned several buildings to the ground, killing 10 inhabitants. Interestingly, one of the buildings that was not damaged was later relocated to town and is now known as The Landmark House.

Once the Cemetery Commission and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation took control, the site was cleared of overgrowth and properly marked with access for the public. Among others, the 10 victims of the Quaise Asylum fire are now identified for the first time with a monument at the location of the fire as their “final resting place.”

Today, their work continues. Reinhard and the Cemetery Commission are wrapping up an island-wide “Monument Restoration Project” that has lasted several years.

“So far, we have addressed seven of the nine cemeteries with only New North and Newtown cemeteries left. At each one, we have identified damaged headstones, markers, and monuments and have worked to clean and reset each one,” said the proud chairperson.

“It’s been a labor of love for all of us,” he added.

Bill Clinton once said, "Being president is like running a cemetery. You got a lot of people under you but no one is listening.”

Thankfully, Allen Reinhard is.

His efforts, along with Nantucket’s Cemetery Commission, epitomize the words of Ben Franklin, who said, “Show me first the graveyards of a country and I will tell you the true character of the people.”

No doubt, Nantucket certainly has character…

And so does Allen Reinhard.