I was curious about this old 1875 Billerica map I had bought recently.  On it, it lists a cemetery on what I believe is modern day Dudley Rd.  I say ‘believe’ because this map does not list the names of the streets, only the people who lived there in 1875.  But I pinpointed it to being Dudley Rd. by matching it with a modern day street map of Billerica.  Incidentally, this modern day map did not show a cemetery on Dudley Rd.

So I'm thinking to myself, "C'mon - a cemetery on Dudley Rd.?  How can this be?  The modern map doesn't show it.  This 1875 map is pulling my leg."  But curiosity got the better of me and I decided to find out for myself.

So I set out to find Dudley Rd. -  but not by just going straight there.  I thought I'd be smart and cut through this park called Technology Park Drive from Orchard Rd because I knew it was near Dudley Rd. and I would have a chance in finding it without passing it if I knew it was near there.  It of course, was a disaster.  I got myself lost in Technology Park Drive and almost couldn't find my way back out again.  So many loops and turns, basically no signs on the office buildings there that I couldn't find my way to the other end of the drive to Concord Rd near where Dudley Rd. was.  I finally gave up and after several tries by going around in circles in Technology Park Drive  (Why can't they make a straight road in Massachusetts?), I finally found my way back out again.  Woo!  I thought I would never see my family again after that one.  I thought I'd be lost forever in this Technology park.

IT’S TERRIBLE.

Anyways, I get out at Orchard Rd and I decide to try another plan.  I'd find my way to Concord Rd by cutting through Springs Road in Bedford and hopefully if I go slow enough, I would come across Dudley Rd. without passing by it.  And if you know anything about Springs Road in Bedford, you'll know it's like a roller coaster ride.  I call it the Big Dipper.  (That's the British way of saying roller coaster.)  Good God, I don't know what they were thinking of when they made that road.  Turns everywhere, hills up and down, and narrow as hell.  You cannot blink your eye while on this road.

IT'S TERRIBLE.

Well I get to the end of Springs Road and I'm out on to Concord Rd heading towards Billerica (if I'm not already in it - who knows?).  I pass by Technology Drive (the other end) and notice for the first time a map of the place (now they tell me!) so I know I have to go slow or I'll miss Dudley Rd. which is off of Concord Road.  There it is!  And I pass right by it - because I have a car behind me riding my rear bumper and if I all of a sudden slam on brakes to enter the street, he's going to go through me. So I play it safe and find another road to turn around in and go back to where Dudley Rd. is.

As I crept down Dudley Rd. to find the cemetery, I began to feel claustrophobic.  This street has got to be one of the narrowest, if not THE narrowest street I have ever been on.  I could feel my stomach turning as I entered the road, "What if another car comes towards me from the other direction of this road?  What will I do?  Drive into the bushes along the sides of the road so he can pass by or do I play "chicken" with him and see who wins the right of way?"  I think I must've been hyperventilating all along the way.

IT'S TERRIBLE.

I'm also thinking to myself, "How do the people who live on this road survive?  Do they just call up each other every day and say:

Neighbor 1:  Hey Bill?  I'm planning on leaving my house today at 9 o'clock and I plan on using Dudley Rd.  Are you going to be out there at 9?  Because if you are, I won't go out there yet.  I'll just wait until afterwards because, you know, there's only room enough for one car at a time on that road and I just bought this here new car and I'm not about to be playing  no "chicken" with you or anybody with it.  I'd just rather wait until the coast is clear.

Neighbor 2:  Nawwww.  Go ahead.  I'm not planning on using it until 10 o'clock.

Neighbor 1:  You sure?  Because I don't mind waiting.  You know, I can wait.  There's no hurry here.  I don't mind.  I just don't want to be out there if someone else's going to be out there too.  I don't want to get my car all scratched up by driving into some bushes because someone's coming the other way and there ain't no other way to go.

Neighbor 2:  Nawwww, go ahead.  I don't have to go anywhere until 10.

Neighbor 1:  Ok, thanks.  I'm going to go and call up the others and see if they're going to be using the road then.  Thanks a lot buddy.  Goodbye.

Anyways, back to my story.  I'm driving down this road with trepidation - always on the lookout for a car coming from the other direction and trying to decide what I will do if that happened. I get to the end of Dudley Rd. - but where's the cemetery?  I can't find it.  Damn, I must've picked the wrong street.  Disappointed,  I decide that I might as well go back up Dudley Rd and head on home.  (Again, my stomach starts to turn as I think of the prospect of going back on Dudley Rd.)  The map must've been incorrect.  So I do a 3-point turn on to Nashua Rd. and as I start to head back up to Dudley Rd – there is the cemetery!  I couldn't believe it!  The 1875 map was correct!

This cemetery does not appear to have many people in it.  I’m sure not too many people even know of it.  Well, I must admit, not too many people get their kicks out of hanging out at cemeteries.  (If they do, there’s something wrong with them.)  But it is history, so I’ve included this on the website.

                                                                                                                                -Binny

 List of who's buried at Hill Cemetery: (According to what I could decipher from the tomb stones)
The ones in groups are those that are buried together.

Amos Adams:  born:  8-24-1788; died 9-11-1840
Esther M. Stowell:  born:  9-3-1827; died 12-6-1856
Susan Mary Adams:  born:  4-17-1830; died 2-19-1848
Elizabeth H. D. Drew:  born:  12-28-1811; died 4-8-1878
Susan Dodge Adams:  born:  5-18-1804; died 3-20-1878
Susan Alice Stowell:  born 3-3-1856; died 6-19-1856
Edward Amos Adams:  born 11-25-1839; died 6-27-1864

Charles Henry Hill:  born 1824; died 1913 
Martha Whitford:  born 1826; died 1851
Cordelia Foster:  died 1930
Nathaniel Hill:  born 1862; died 1865
Foster Byam:  born 1869; died 1931

Deborah Gragg:  died 2-29-1860 aged 76

Elizabeth J. Hurd:  born 1827; died 1921
Emily J. Hurd:  born 1862; died 1848?

Ella Emerson:  died 6-27-1859 aged 17 months

George Clark:  died 1855

Joseph Cole:  (unusual tomb stone that lies flat on ground and has a hand on open bible)
Elizabeth Cole:  died aged 78

Jonas P. Heywood:  died 5-18-1869

Irene Heywood:  died 9-22-1886

James Marshall:  died 9-24-1854 aged 65

Job Hill:  born 5-29-1754; died 2-5-1842
Susanna Blanchard:  born 1763; died 1931?
Asenath Hill:  born 6-3-1790; died 1850
Job Hill:  born 12-5-1791; died 7-8-1814
Susanna Hill:  born 1800; died 9-23-1801
Azubah Hill Snow:  born 1768; died 1804?
Brewer Hill:  born 9-16-1784; died 5-14-1879
Celinda Carpenter Hill:  died 1887?

Joseph P. Clark:  died 11-26-1859 aged 14 years, 21 days

John Stearns:  died 11-5-1836 aged 71
John B. Stearns:  1845 - 1930

Albert W A Lakemann:  1855 - 1940?
Anna M. Lakemann:  1856 - 1928

Martha Stratton:  1796 - 1855?

Martha Whittford:  born 5-14-1826; died 11-5-1853?
Martha Hill:  died 11-20-1851? aged 5 days

Sarah Skinner:  died 9-10-1864 aged 79

This group had a huge tomb stone with all their names but also 3 little markers for each member:
Thomas C. Crawford:  died 12-19-1870 aged 75
Caroline H. Crawford:  died 4-14-1875 aged 63
Mary L. C. Cowdry:  died 4-24-1873 aged 30