The Milton Burying Ground is Rye's oldest cemetery. Joseph Lyon, buried here with his wife Sarah, gave this one-acre plot to Rye around 1750. Some older graves were moved here, including that of Nehemiah Webb, who died in 1722 at age 28. Many members of Rye's earliest families are buried here, including the Purdys, Browns, Disbrows, Budds, Sniffens, Thealls, and Van Sicklins. In the northwest corner, surrounded by an iron fence, is the Halsted family plot with 21 graves, including that of Ezekiel Halsted, former owner of the Knapp House. The gravestones reveal much about life in Rye during the 18th and 19th centuries. The tombstone for Samuel and Catherine Bouten shows that their four children died in 1849 within a week of each other, and it is thought that a scarlet fever epidemic took their lives. Many gravestones also show that Rye residents lived into their 80s and 90s, including Sophia Parker, who died in 1852 at age 97. The cemetery has not been used for burials since the 1880s and is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.