Middlesex Parish 250: The Brookside Cemetery

From Moses to Stephen and Bertha: Rest and Remembrance

On June 13, 2026, Middlesex Parish 250 will offer a Revolutionary Road Trip through 12 historic sites in Darien, Norwalk, and Rowayton. Included is the Brookside Cemetery (also called Old Five Mile River Cemetery). This cemetery on Rowayton Avenue is the final resting place of Reverend Moses Mather, as well as that of his three wives, and three of his sons.

Beneath this stone Lies the body of REV. MOSES MATHER, DD Pastor of the first church In Middlesex who died Sept. 21, 1807, aged 87 in the 65 year of his Ministry Death is a debt to nature due. Which I have paid & so must you.

They did not rest forgotten. A note left by Bertha Mather states that in 1918 her father and William Illsley “cleared and put [the cemetery] in order and that until his death Stephen had it cleared annually. Bertha and her husband continued that tradition until World War II. In 1939 The Norwalk Sentinel reported that “For the past 20 years the McPherson’s superintendent has supervised the upkeep of the little graveyard, and each year it is cleared of undergrowth.”

In the cemetery, you will find the gravestones of Reverend Moses Mather (1719-1806), his first wife, Hannah Bell Mather (1718-1755), his second wife,

Elizabeth Whiting Mather (1730-1757), and his third wife, Rebecca Raymond Mather (1722-1785).

Two of the sons of Moses and Rebecca are also buried in Brookside Cemetery: Moses Mather Jr. (1760-1779), Raymond Mather (1763-1790).

Also buried there is Moses’ eldest son, John (1747-1791) whose mother was Hannah Bell Mather.

Deacon Joseph Mather (son of Moses and Hannah) is buried in the Mather Cemetery. Samuel Mather (son of Moses and Rebecca) is buried in Bates Cemetery #1. The burials of Moses other sons (Noyes, Isaac) are unknown.