LUDLOW — For one night, the dead rose from their graves to tell their stories.

It wasn't Halloween or a George Romero film, but the second annual Cemetery Walk, held Thursday night in Pleasant View Cemetery. For the last month, eighth-grade pupils at Black River Middle School have been researching the histories of people buried in Ludlow, Mount Holly and Plymouth.

Most of the research was performed at the Black River Academy Museum, which keeps records on many of the early residents of the Okemo Valley, said social studies teacher Sue Pollender.

About 25 of Pollender's students entered the cemetery a couple of hours before sunset, clad in period dress they either brought from home or borrowed from the museum, and stood beside the headstones of the subjects of their historical interpretations.

Barefoot and dressed in short pants and a flannel shirt, Riley Brown of Belmont greeted visitors with a booming salutation and told the story of Moses Mayo, who died in 1825 at the age of 12 after a wild boar spooked the horse he was riding and threw him from the saddle. Mayo was Ludlow's first accidental death and his story was an opportunity for the aspiring actor to display his skills.

"I thought he would be a fun person to act out," said Brown, who showed an actor's skill in delivering his lines without notes.

"It's interesting learning about your past," said Alexis Palmer, who wore an ankle-length dress with a lace collar as she portrayed Ellen Spaulding Reed, who married her first cousin, moved to Wisconsin and died of tuberculosis at the age of 23. "I didn't know much about the people who lived in town or the impact they had on history."

The visitors to the cemetery walk tended to be some of the older residents in the area, as well as proud parents of the historical interpreters, and after the walk many of them returned to the museum for a reception. While the museum was central to the research the pupils performed, some drew on family connections and first-hand knowledge to bring their subjects to life.

Willy Crawford of Mount Holly portrayed his great-grandfather, Stanley "Hank" Benham, who was born in 1915 in Plymouth, served as a medic in World War II and died of heart disease in 1989.

Crawford delivered this history while wearing his great-grandfather's military uniform, which fit him surprisingly well. The entire exercise helped to connect with a family member he was too young to know in person.

"I didn't know much about him," Crawford said. "I love hunting and fishing and I wish he were around to take me."

Carrie Woolley stood beside a photograph of her grandmother Janice Marie Garrow's headstone, which is located in Packer Cemetery in Mount Holly. Woolley knew her grandmother, who died in 2004, but the cemetery walk was a chance to hear stories of her early life.

"They said I'm a lot like she was," Wolley said. "My grandmother was a good person and it's good that people want to come here today and learn more about those who passed away."

josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com