Duck River Cemetery, Old Lyme, Connecticut

The Duck River Cemetery, established as a burial place in 1676, is one of the oldest active cemeteries in Connecticut. It covers more than fifteen acres along the west bank of the meandering Duck River and includes gravestones commemorating a Connecticut governor, prosperous colonial merchants, slaves, distinguished judges, ministers, educators, ship captains, artists, actors, ornithologists, shopkeepers, and veterans from many wars.

We invite you to pass through the antique iron gates, visit the scenic grounds, explore the early gravestones, and observe the array of carvings and inscriptions that make Duck River Cemetery an outdoor museum of history and art, and a repository of stories that unfold the lives of those who created the community we inherit.

Smaller scenic cemeteries on Meetinghouse Hill, where burials date to 1696; on Buttonball Road where members of the Champion family are buried; and along Four Mile River, where gravestones commemorate Waite family members, also beckon to visitors. Today, Duck River, Laysville, Point o’Woods, and Griswold are active burial places.

Old Lyme Cemetery Association

Notable Burials
Notable people buried at the Duck River Cemetery include:

Thomas R. Ball (1896–1943), Connecticut Congressman
Charles Chadwick (1874–1953), author
Elsie Ferguson (1885–1961), stage and film actress
Matthew Griswold (1714–1799) American Patriot, state governor
Peter Karter (1922–2010), recycling pioneer and nuclear engineer
Ezra Lee (1749–1821), Colonial soldier, best known for commanding the Turtle submarine
Roger Tory Peterson, naturalist, ornithologist, artist, educator, and a founder of the environmental movement
Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872–1955), sculptor
Robert Vonnoh (1858–1933), American Impressionist painter