Long Hill Burial Ground

Long Hill Burial Ground (not to be confused with Long Hill Burial Ground in Shelton) was established in 1764 and is located on Middlebrooks Avenue in Trumbull, Connecticut. The name of the street is relevant - there are dozens of Middlebrooks interred in Long Hill, including Lieutenant Ephraim Middlebrook, who seems to have had the honor of most impressive memorial until the late 1800s (photos provided later on this page). Among the burials, there are still quite a few memorials from the 1700s. Long Hill still accepts burials, and you can find many modern monuments (including one with a cell phone and Dunkin' Donuts cup engraved on it from 2007).

Estimated number of interments, as of August 2026: at least 2873.

Photos taken 15 April 2010 and 25 August 2026.

The "new" sign (right, photo taken 8 August 2026) seems even worse tha the older version (photo taken 15 April 2010.)

"In memory of Lieu.t EPHRAIM MIDDLEBROOK who Fought, bled and died in defence of his Country, at the Battle at RIDGFIELD, on the 27th day of April 1777; In the 41st Year of his Age; and on the 3d day of May was Interred here with the Honors of War."

"Here on this Tomb come cast an eye, and view the Eagle great; He represents our Liberty, the union of the States; View in his claws the arrows sharp, the branch of oak likewise; A lively emblem of our smart [?], for victory o'er our Enemies; For which cause this Hero bled, on Ridgfield's bloody plain; And there was numbered with the dead, his country's freedom to obtain: In memory of which these lines were wrote, and to perpetuate his name; That his decendants ne'er forget, that for their freedom he was slain."

Middlebrook died while serving in the Continental Army under Gen. Benedict Arnold. He is listed on the Battle of Ridgefield memorial located on Main Street in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

"In Memory of

Mrs. EUNICE WALKER

Wife of Mr. ELIAKIM WALKER

who departed this Life

October 28th 17784

in the 37 Year of her Age."

"In Memory of Cap.t JOHN FRENCH who departed this Life Aug.st 31st 1796 Aged 75 Years." French served in the Revolutionary War. 

Shelton Edwards is recorded as buried in Long Hill. I could not locate a headstone, but many of the older stones have deteriorated past legibility, and several are hidden within the tree line. The article, above, is from the September 27, 1796 edition of The Federal Mirror (Concord, New Hampshire). A more detailed account of Edwards's murder, as published in A History of the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut (1887) follows:

"Samuel Edwards was a farmer. His son, Shelton Edwards, when a lad about fifteen years of age, was clerk in the store of David and John DeForest ; the store then standing on the corner of State and Water streets in Bridgeport in 1796. In the autumn of the year about ten o'clock in the evening, young Edwards was murdered in the store by his skull being broken in three places by a shoemaker's hammer, and his throat cut from ear to ear. His body was then wrapped in his bed clothes and put under the counter and the store set on fire. David and John DeForest were young men unmarried, and affirmed that their store was robbed of over one thousand dollars in hard money at the time of said murder. There was no bank-note currency at that time. No clue to said murder has ever been found. The store was soon discovered to be on fire, and the fire was put out before much damage was done."

Footstone for John Wheeler, born in 1738, died 15 March 1801.

"In memory of Capt. NATHANIEL BURTON of Trumbull, who departed this life at the Island of Antigua June 10, 1801 whilst master of the schooner Liberty, of Bridgeport; aged 38, & is there intered.

Also of Mrs. NANCY, relict of Doct. Stephen Middlebrook of Trumbull, Formerly wife of said Burton who died Oct. 5, 1823, & is here intered, aged 57."

"In Memory of STARR STERLING son of Elijah & Anne Sterling, who left home Oct. 15, 1809 & arrived to his brother in the Isle of Antigua, Nov 11 & died the 24. his brother Silvanus 15 months after took his remains & was buried here May 1, 1811 Aged 16 years 6 months" 

"Erected to the memory of Rev. JAMES KENT a native of Scotland & for many years pastor of the Presbyterian church in Trumbull who died Sept. 10 1840, aged 45." 

ROBERT THEOPHILUS, son of Dr. Elijah & Comfort B. Middlebrook died at Panama April 28, 1849, Ae. 34 yr's 1mo & 5 d's.

His demeanor was correct; his purposes, right; his hopes, ardent; his affection abiding; his morals, uncorrupted; his friendships enduring. His memory is sweetly cherished; the brightness of his genius is untarnished. Lamented by society; by his honored acquaintance, by his parents, by the inmates of his earthly home, & by Her who cannot forget - his companionship in life. He died among strangers, on the shores of the Pacific but his bones repose here forever, among his friends.

Erected to his memory by his friends Burr Goodsell, Edmund Thompson James B. Thompson Geo. W. Sherman, Rivera St. Jurjo, Barney J. Meserole Minor Higbey."

"POLLY ANN LATTIN wife of Robert Theophilus Middlebrook Aug. 30, 1817, May 16, 1902." 

"Anna R.

Wife of C. S. Middlebrook

Born into Spiritlife (?)

Feb. 1, 1854

AE. 28 y'rs

Charles Anna

Passed to his mother

May 17, 1854

E. 8 mo."

The Gabler and Haines monuments.

Lettie and Freddie Platt (front and back).

Lettie, born 10 April 1877, died 30 January 1878.

Freddie born 4 June 1881, died 8 June 1881.

"George B. Hall

Master's Mate

U. S. S. Georgia

Died Mar. 31, 1910

AE. 84."

"Frank Booth

son of 

Ezra D. & Elizabeth H. Randall

Sept. 18, 1910

Feb, 1, 1913"

"Donald F. Lucas

SP4

US Army

Korea

Vietnam

Jan. 20. 1941

Jan. 23, 1991"

(I'm confused, as Lucas would have been 9 years old when the Korean War (1950-1953) started and twelve when it ended.)

Edward Merrill Beach, born 14 January 1894, was an influential figure inn preserving the history of the town of Trumbull. 

Beach and his wife, Florence Greening Beach,  purchased 166 acres of land in Trumbull from the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company. The couple gave the land to the town in memory of their son, Robert, who was killed while serving in World War II. The park is the Robert G. Beach Memorial Park.

In 1955, Beach published a book, Trumbull: Church and Town, which has become the primary resource in researching Trumbull's history. He also published They Face the Rising Sun about Trumbull's Unity Cemetery, and From Valley Forge to Freedom about local slave Nero Hawley who served in the Revolutionary War, which earned him his freedom. In 1964, Beach formed the Trumbull Historical Society, acting as its first president.

E. Merrill Beach died on 22 June 1992. 

(Information from The E. Merrill Beach Story (1894-1992) by Wayne Sakal.)

"BRIDGEPORT TRUNK MYSTERY SOLVED
George Nott Killed in Bed, Body Stuffed in Trunk
THREE HELD IN CASE
Mrs. Nott, Elwood Wade and Johnson, All Held on Breach of Peace Charge - Two Trunks Confuse Police - No Direct Confessions Yet.

Bridgeport, Aug. 31.- George B. Nott, whose body was found in a trunk late last night was killed in bed. in the opinion of the police. The autopsy by Medical Examiner Samuel H. Garllck today showed that nineteen wounds contributed to death. It is believed that a piece of lead pipe, a revolver, a knife and an axe were used by the murderer.

Body Stuffed in Trunk.

After the body had been stuffed into a trunk belonging to Mrs. Nott, bed clothing and other articles which had borne bloodstains were put in with it and before the trunk had been dumped off a motor truck into a swamp in Easton, stones weighing about 250 pounds in the aggregate had been crowded into the trunk. The weight of the trunk caused it to sink into the muck so that only by great exertion by policemen and firemen was it extricated and brought back here.

Nineteen Wounds on Body.

The body bore 19 distinct wounds. The skull was crushed in as if by an axe. Most or the wounds were knife stabs.
Cuts on the neck Indicated that an effort had been made to sever the head from the body. Bruises on the back may have come from someone with heavy shoes standing on the part of the body to crush It down into the trunk. One wound in the breast was singed and was attributed to a bullet.”

New Britain Herald (Connecticut), August 31, 1920

George Nott (14 September 1877 - 29 August 1920) was murdered by his wife. Ethel, then aged 28; Elwood B. Wade, aged 23; and John Johnson, aged 20. Nott had been “spying” on his wife, suspecting adultery, and was awaiting the return of his lawyer to start divorce proceedings. It was an open secret that Ethel was engaged in a relationship with Wade. Nott’s murder made national headlines for the brutality of the crime.

John Johnson cooperated with the prosecution and plead guilty to manslaughter receiving a year in prison. Elwood Wade, portrayed at his trial as suffering from mental instability and diminished intellect, was said to have been under the spell of femme fatale, Ethel. Elwood was convicted of first-degree murder and given the death penalty. He was executed on May 20, 1921 at 24 years old.

Ethel Nott was sentenced to life in prison. It is unclear if she served out her full sentence, but she died in 1978 at the age of 90. George Nott, who had three young children with his wife at the time of his murder, rests alone in Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport.

All photos copyright by the author, 2026. Not to be used or reproduced without permission.

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