An Interview With Charles Marchant

by Susan Bonthron

Charlie Marchant is a social studies teacher at Leland and Gray Union High School in Townshend, Vermont, as well as the secretary of the Old Cemeteries Association. I interviewed Charlie about how cemeteries can be used as a teaching tool to connect students with local history and their community. (SEE Stones and Bones, which includes excerpts from the teaching packet called Stones and Bones, which Charlie helped to write. SEE also Classroom Ideas)

I asked Charlie Marchant how he first became interested in old cemeteries. He told me how his great uncle used to hire the young nephews in the summer to help mow, trim and rake the old cemetery where many of their relatives were buried. It was a great job for a boy of seven or eight who wasn't normally paid for work around the farm. When he was drafted for the job, Charlie found it exciting to work with older relatives who "didn't cast the same watchful eye over your behavior as your own parents might." Caring for the cemetery in Charlie's family had become a traditional way for the males (from their eighties on down to young boys) to hang out, trade stories, and enjoy a shared sense of freedom in the outdoors, cemented by a connection to family past and present inherent in the "family plot."

Beginning as a young boy, Charlie developed not only what was to become a lifelong connection with cemeteries, but also a sense of his own family's history in the context of Vermont history and the history of New England. Perhaps as a result of these early influences, Charlie became a social studies teacher at Leland and Gray High School, as well as the Secretary of the Old Cemeteries Association. As a young man, Charlie forgot about cemeteries when he went away to college, and later to the war in Vietnam. His family has made their home in southern Vermont since the eighteenth century, so it's not surprising that he returned to Townshend after the war. The surprise for Charlie came one day in a Town Meeting where he had the lucky misfortune to fall asleep, and woke to find himself elected Cemetery Commissioner. At first he was miffed at the neighbor who proposed him for the job, but he soon realized that destiny had intervened to reawaken what was to become a life-long interest.

When I asked Charlie about the profound connections he feels toward old cemeteries what they can teach us, his thoughtful answer included the following list, which is naturally geared to the point of view of a teacher looking for ways to engage students in their own learning: Cemeteries show clear examples of architectural and artistic style in various epochs. By studying gravestones and the language engraved on them, students can learn about differences in artistic, literary, and architectural style throughout history. Local history is hidden in the stories of the graves. For example, when young men died between 1860 and 1865, chances are they were soldiers fatally wounded in the Civil War. Charlie uses the opportunity to point out the importance of learning math: if a soldier's calculations about distance and velocity aren't correct, he might end up bombarding his own troops. He also uses the opportunity to talk to his high school students about periods in history (especially during the Civil and World Wars) when teenagers made a tremendous difference in the world.

The "Slice of Life" Assignment: Charlie asks his students to pick a character buried in the local graveyard (conveniently within walking distance of the school), and write an imagined biography of the person's life. The biography must include at least three historical incidents mentioned in Cora Cheney's book, Vermont Is a State with a Storybook Past. The assignment helps enliven the study of history and involve students in the history of their own locale. Graveyards provide a source of original data for Charlie's "Original Research" assignment, in which students are required to research and write an original paper about some historical person or property that has never been written about before. Graveyards provide a natural discussion point for conversations about death and dying. From time to time, Charlie teaches such a course at Leland and Gray.

Charlie admits that most Vermont kids nowadays are not deeply interested in the past, and it's a challenge to get them involved in local history and gravestones. But once in a while he'll get an excited call from a former student doing a college history paper or investigating a local issue, and then he feels the satisfaction of knowing that his work has not been in vain. Like cows, barns and hayfields, graveyards dot the Vermont countryside. They are easy to take for granted or simply ignore, unless you take the time to think about what a rich connection and source of information they provide for students engaged in the study of local history. Charlie Marchant has taken that time, and as a result of his work and the work of others involved in the project, you too can partake in this rich source of history and connection to your communities. The rich legacy of cemeteries is endangered by the vulnerability of stone: marble and limestone deteriorate faster than slate and granite.