The parents of a young boy who was afraid of the dark built a special tomb so he could rest in eternal light.
In the 19th century, an eight-year-old child called Merrit Beardsley lived with his mother and father in Oxford, New York.
Ahead of his untimely death, it’s claimed the little one had expressed that he didn’t want to be buried in darkness as he was scared.
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Following Merrit succumbing to an incurable, feverish illness in 1865, mother Sarah and father William Beardsley decided to honor their child’s wish and elected not to entomb him in the pitch black.
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Instead, they set a stone resting place into a bank and included a little window so that the morning sun would always shine through onto their son.
Years later, the boy’s parents were eventually laid to rest beside him in Beardsley Cemetery and all was well until the 1970s when vandals wrecked Little Merrit’s Tomb.
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It’s said someone had reached into the grave encasing the son of the stonecutter and had scattered his bones throughout the cemetery.
Moreover, a local police force later discovered the boy’s skull in the bedroom of one of the vandals.
A glass company from Norwich, New York, was soon employed to replace the window in the tomb.
Unfortunately, vandals continued to break the glass and the story behind the tomb was all but forgotten.
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However, in 2013 young man named Stefan Foster became fascinated with the burial site and worked hard to restore it to its former glory.
Speaking to Buzzfeed, he said: “My family first mentioned the story of Little Merrit’s Tomb when I was 8 or 9.
“Growing up, my grandma would take me in the car with her on ‘mystery trips’ to old ancestral sites and cemeteries around the county. Since then, I’ve carried an interest in finding forgotten sites along lesser-taken drives.”
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Foster started a fundraiser to fix up the tomb and later wrote a book called Little Merritt’s Tomb: A Field Guide.
It’s claimed all proceeds from the publication have gone to restore the tomb and that the glass window has been replaced with plexiglass.
Upon discovering the tragic story of Little Merritt’s Tomb, many social media have shared their thoughts.
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One Reddit user wrote: “Very sad that a child would even have to think about something like that.”
A second said: “I lived right around this area growing up and I never heard of this tomb or this story. Good on these guys for stepping up and preserving this cool piece of local history.
“Next time I am home I will have to head over the mountain to Oxford and check it out.”
Someone else penned: “Damn, thats a tough kid to be staring at his own mortality at such a young age.”
If you fancy a trip to Beardsley Cemetery, the resting place is reportedly open from ‘dawn to dusk for everyone who wishes to pay their respects’.
Ella Scott