Description of Historic Place

The Grandview Methodist Cemetery is an early resting place for several Enman family members and early settlers of the Grandview area of Prince Edward Island. The cemetery, with 14 tombstones, is located approximately one kilometer off Route 24, and is surrounded by farmland.

Heritage Value

The Grandview Cemetery is valued for its association with the early Bible Christian and Methodist faiths in the province. Meacham's 1880 Atlas shows a church in the area of the cemetery. Local tradition suggests that the church building was removed from the site and relocated nearby for use as an outbuilding, but is no longer standing.

The former church at this cemetery site was first associated with the Bible Christian faith. The faith was founded in 1815 in Cornwall, England and formally organized as a Christian denomination in 1831 with a Missionary Society. In 1832, Francis Metherall (1791-1875) arrived in Bedeque, Prince Edward Island to begin mission work. Metherall worked diligently, travelling throughout the province often under difficult circumstances and by the end of 1834 was encouraged by 60 members at 36 preaching places. For some years there was great success in growing membership. Revivals were held at Vernon River from 1842 to 1844 reaching people as far as Murray Harbour, adding 350 new members, which led to additional missionaries being dispatched to PEI. Metherall lived for several years in the Vernon River area, perhaps his presence in the community contributing to the church's growth. Jeremiah Enman who owned the property surrounding this cemetery was an early follower and led classes in the 1840s. Members of the Enman family appeared to continue in the faith until sometime before 1891 when the Enmans listed Methodist as their religion in census returns. The Bible Christian Church eventually merged with the Methodists. Local tradition indicates the Grandview Methodist Church closed approximately 1900-1910. The congregation then joined with the Valleyfield church in the next community, and eventually Montague's Hillcrest United. The cemetery appears to have been abandoned.

The cemetery measures approximately 200' x 200' and contains 14 tombstones ranging in date from 1872 to 1974, many are members of the Enman family. There is the possibility that there are unmarked graves. A surrounding 50-acre property owned and farmed by the Enman family for many years was conveyed, except the cemetery plot, to the province in 1966.

In 1974 a pioneer cemetery restoration project cleared the trees and brush which had grown up on the cemetery site, and the grounds were fenced. Further clean-up efforts occurred in the 1980s or 1990s by some elderly descendants, however, the site has since reverted to an overgrown state and some tombstones have tipped and the fence has broken.

Heritage Places Files, Dept. of Economic Growth, Tourism & Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File #: 4310-20/G17.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the cemetery is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the 14 extant tombstones, many commemorating members of the Enman family
- the pastoral setting of the cemetery located in the quiet countryside of Grandview