Description of Historic Place

This cemetery is located in Albany, Prince Edward Island near the Trans-Canada Highway and the junction of the Bradford Road. It was once the site of a church, but this no longer exists. The cemetery never had any formal tombstones and today the site is a grassed area with a backdrop of spruce trees to the north and is bordered by agricultural land to the west. In 2023, a metal arched sign and memorial stone was erected.

Heritage Value

The cemetery is valued for its historical association with the former Little Zion Baptist Church and the English settlers to the area.

Meacham's 1880 Atlas of PEI shows a church on this site on land owned by Benjamin Boulter (1832-1888). His father, Benjamin Boulter, Sr. (1792-1857) had emigrated to PEI with his brother, Henry Oliver Boulter, in 1810 from Plymouth, England. In addition to farming, the senior Boulter was a lay Baptist preacher. In 1834, he was ordained and ministered to the people in Tryon and Albany. Despite his death in 1857, the faith he had inspired was growing in the area and by 1879, a church was built on land owned by his son. Another son, John Foy Boulter, donated the lumber for the building.

This church stood until 1949 and was used by many other Christian denominations, including Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, and members of the Church of Scotland. The building was sold in 1959 and moved off the site.

The first recorded burial in the cemetery was the infant of Arnold and Annie LeFurgey in 1898. It is believed that there are nine burials on the site, but the dates of the others are unknown. Their names include: Thomas, Cannon, Holt, and Boulter. Rev. Boulter was interred in the Tryon Peoples' Cemetery.

The site never had any gravestones. Graves tended to be outlined, but no evidence of this remains. In 2023, a metal arched sign and memorial stone was erected inscribed in memory of J. Lemuel LeFurgey; Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Thomas and baby; Neil Thomas; Sam Cannon; Bob Holt; Mr. and Mrs. James Boulter.

The Tryon Peoples Cemetery now owns and maintains the cemetery.

Source: PEI Heritage Places Files, PEI Department of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8
File #: 4310-20/P21

Character-Defining Elements

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

- the location of the cemetery in Albany near the Trans-Canada Highway
- the unmarked graves on the site
- the metal arched sign "Albany Zion Cemetery" and memorial stone