The Kathan Cemetery in Putney, VT, is the oldest burying ground in town, set up by and for the earliest Anglo-American settlers in the area. It’s situated on a high bluff, on an old road that used to connect the village of Putney to the Connecticut River. All pretty typical New Englandy stuff. But from the first approach to this place, you can tell something’s not right. First, it’s tucked away, behind a house and you have to literally cross the yard to access it. Second, there are only a few slate stones on site, most of them were broken, with chunks of slate from other broken gravestones all over the ground.

This scene of vandalism is NOT typical New Englandy stuff. Or is it?