(adapted from “A History of Carlisle United Church from its Beginnings to 1991” by Arlene Bogle Munro and Brian Harrison)
The first people to settle in what is now Carlisle were native Canadians of the peaceful Neutral tribe. According to archaeological studies, about one hundred Neutrals created a hamlet and burial grounds on lands bordering the Twelve Mile Creek. They lived here between 1580 and 1600, before being wiped out by the Five Nations Iroquois.
The first people of European descent to settle in Carlisle were John and Catherine Eaton in 1826. As other settlers gradually moved in around them, the Eatons opened their home to the first regular Sunday services of worship. By 1839, the first Chapel at the Twelve was built, serving both as school and church.
Although John Eaton was the first permanent settler to live in Carlisle, he was not the first to be buried here. That distinction belongs to an Irish immigrant named Alexander Kerr, who was killed on July 10, 1836 when a tree fell on him. Land for the first Christian cemetery was being cleared about this time and Mr. Kerr became the first occupant.
Since then, the cemetery at Carlisle has been enlarged three times and is one of the last under the direct care of the United Church of Canada.
John and Catherine Eaton are buried in Carlisle Cemetery. So is Freeman Green, thought to be the first person born in Carlisle and a descendent of Billy ‘The Scout’ Green, a hero of the War of 1812.