Peter Zwicker swept the last bit of dust away from the slate surface. With a look of resignation on his face, he weakly smiled at his sons and nodded his head.

 After days of work, the inscription for Maria's headstone had been prepared with the help of the few in the community who could read and write, and his loving wife's burial site could finally be marked for posterity. After more than five decades of marriage, it was the least he could do.

 Peter, far from a young man himself at more than 75 years of age, waved his sons away for a moment. Then, running his hands over the Germanic etchings so lovingly carved, he gathered himself and prepared to say goodbye to his wife one final time.

 "Here rests in God Maria Magdalena Zwicker. Born in Palatinate, close to Landau, in 1709. Died 11 October, 1787. She has been married for 52 years, six months and has been blessed with 49 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

 Maria Zwicker's headstone is one of a handful of markers from the early days of European settlement along the shores of Mahone Bay that has survived to this day.

 Less than two years later, the surviving members of Peter's family would afford the same honour to their patriarch after his passing, carefully handcrafting a stone that read,

 "Here rests in God Peter Zwicker, Senior. Born in Palatinate, close to Landau in 1711. Died 23 May 1789, was blessed with 52 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, of whom ten have died in the Lord. Age 77 years, four months, 23 days."

 Looking out toward the mouth of Mahone harbour from its sheltered hillside, the Old Burying Grounds at Mush-a-Mush, as it was known in the 18th and 19th centuries, was the final resting place of the area's first German, Swiss and French settlers.

 The first written record of interment at the burial grounds dates from March 2, 1774, approximately 20 years after Mahone Bay was founded. The earliest surviving stone was placed in remembrance of Ana Catheriena Zwicker, who died on October 27, 1780.

 Because of the nature of life in the 18th century when European settlement first began in Lunenburg County, many graves went unmarked, or were denoted by wooden crosses and field stones - objects which have long since disintegrated or been displaced with time.

 The Mush-a-Mush burying grounds itself is believed to have more than 600 unmarked graves dotting its hillside, as is evidenced by the bountiful indentations and dips cutting a swath across the property.

 Headstones that remain from those first days of settlement reflect the Germanic heritage of the majority of the community's first settlers. Featuring beautiful yet simplistic designs, the old stones, which were typically homemade, include messages and images expressing the love felt for the dearly departed, as well as the sense of isolation that came along with settling in a remote area in a strange, foreign land.

 The inscriptions captured the essence and importance of family as well, as the stones of two founding members of the Ernst family help to exemplify.

 Christian and Anna Regina Ernst were born in 1724 and 1736 respectively, and were married in the year 1753. Their grave markers, which are among the early stones still surviving to this day, reflect their commitment to each other by including, in addition to birth and death dates, the date and duration of their marriage.

 In Anna Regina's case, even though she died three years after her husband, the headstone crafted for her includes mention of the 44-year length of her marriage, a bond that was clearly held in high regard by her surviving family members.

 As the settlement at Mahone Bay continued to grow and age, so too did its number of deceased.

 In 1833 John William Kedy deeded the adjoining plot to the Bishop of Nova Scotia, upon which the first Anglican church in the community was built. When a new Anglican church was constructed along the waterfront in the 1880s, the site of the old church and its own adjacent cemetery became an extension of the Old Burying Grounds.

 Lots on the site of the old church were eventually available for reservation at the modest cost of $1.50 each.

 In the meantime, in 1872, the Old Burying Grounds at Mush-a-Mush underwent a name change and officially became known as the Bayview Cemetery.

 The United church also had a small burial ground on the same harbour-facing hillside and, by 1925, a managing group known as the Bayview Cemetery Corporation had formed to administer all three burial sites as one cemetery. Since 1955, the corporation has worked actively to not only administer, but also improve, the grounds.

 As a result of the Bayview group's dedicated effort, there are numerous interpretive plaques placed throughout the cemetery today, many of which include translations of the old Germanic inscriptions taken from the first headstones placed more than 200 years ago.

 The plaques display only loose translations of the German text, as exact translation was essentially impossible because of changes in dialect and the degree of wear on the slate grave markers.

 A plaque has also been placed to acknowledge the location of the old Anglican church atop the hillside toward the rear of the cemetery, which was consecrated in 1835.

 But the work of the Bayview Cemetery Corporation and its long-serving co-chairmen, Ivy and Merlin Ernst, has included not only the strategic placement of interpretive plaques for historically significant stones, but also the resurrection of some grave markers that have degenerated at the hands of time and the elements.

 Since 2001, the corporation has undertaken a continuing restoration project of some of the cemetery's older and degenerated stones.

 Heather Lawson, a stonemason who had been involved with restoration work at Province House in Halifax, and with the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, was commissioned to work on the restoration of up to 60 headstones for the project.

 Thanks in large part to the generous support of many local residents, the Bayview Cemetery Corporation has been able to invest more than $20,000 in various upgrades and restoration initiatives since the year 2000.

 With that kind of support, and the corporation's firm commitment to the preservation of the past, the headstone Peter Zwicker laid for his dearly departed wife, Maria, will undoubtedly continue to stand the test of time as a testament to both her life and the dogged determination of Mahone Bay's first settlers.

 Sources: The Bayview Cemetery Corporation; The Bridgewater Bulletin.

Written and researched by Patrick Hirtle.