ROCKLAND COUNTY CEMETERIES
VOLUME I
CLARKSTOWN
Compiled and computerized by
Vicki Barker, Marie Koestler, Michael Secora for:
The Genealogical Society of Rockland County, Inc.
Thanks to the following for making the publication of this book possible: Florence Anderson, Les Baisley, Joan Brooks, and Richard Peterson.
© Copyright 2007 by
The Genealogical Society of Rockland County, Inc.
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be Reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any Means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without the express written permission of The Genealogical Society of Rockland County, Inc.
The Genealgoical Society of Rockland County, Inc. is not
responsible
for any spelling, clerical and/or Transcription errors that may be found in this work.
Cemeteries included:
Barmore Family Burial Ground, (no longer in existence), Valley Cottage
Brisley Family Burial Ground, Congers
Brower Family Burial Plot,
Brower-Furman Graves,
Clarkstown Reformed
Conklin / Snedeker / Springsted Burial Ground (formerly Fred Jones Farm,
Davy / Goetschius / Nash / Rothhaubt, Centenary,
DeBaun / Swartwout Burial Ground, Congers
Dutcher Burial Plot,
Garrison /
Germonds Presbyterian Church
Cemetery, partial,
Johnson Burial Ground, Valley Cottage
Knapp Burial Plot, Centenary,
Knapp / Nash Burial Plot (no longer in existence) Centenary,
Nanuet True Reformed
New City Burial Ground, Old, formerly
Nyack Rural Cemetery,
Onderdonk Graves,
Perry / Trumper Burial Ground,
St. Agatha’s Cemetery, Nanuet
St. Anthony’s Cemetery, Nanuet
Scotland Hill, Spring Valley-Clarkstown Section
Snedeker Graves, Congers
Trumper / VanOrden
Burial Plots, Centenary,
Upper Nyack Former Burial Sites:
Appleby Gravestone; Burial Site for Blacks; God’s Acre;
Old Stone Church Burial Grounds, and Roman Catholic College Chapel site.
Van Houten Family Burial Plot, New
Van Houten / Howard Burial Ground,
Van Orden Burial Ground,
Centenary,
Waring Family
Wells Family Burial Ground,
Williams Grave,
Wood / Blauvelt / Stephens Burial Ground, New City
Yeomans / Townsend / Herme Burial Ground,
Youmans Graves, Centenary,
APPLEBY GRAVESTONE
Information
from
The gravestone of Mary (Gisner)
Appleby turned up in the backyard of a home at 325 North Broadway,
Unknown location in Valley Cottage
Green’s History of Rockland County, 1886, notes that Alfred Barmore, owner of a boot and shoe business in Greenwich Street, New York City, bought an ice business at Slaughter’s Landing (Rockland Lake). He began his own successful venture with Moses G. Leonard in 1840 “Barmore, Leonard and Co.” Alfred’s son, Nathaniel sold his share or interest to E. E. Conklin in 1843, and the company name was changed to “A. Barmore and Company.”
One of the burials in this plot was Nathaniel’s daughter Harriet (1809-1848) who married Peter Bodine.
The cemetery had been located in the vicinity of the Carriage Hill Development; it disappeared by 1962.
Behind
[In the Thornhill Development off
This burying ground was on the former George P. Felter farm, south of Conger’s Church..
It was forgotten for many years. When a housing development was being
constructed in the area, the site was found. Builder
BROWER FAMILY BURIAL PLOT
[At the north end of the cemetery on a dirt lane]
There were nine burials dating from 1801 to 1860 of Brower and Myers families. Germonds Presbyterian Church provides maintenance for the site.
BROWER/ FURMAN GRAVE
South Little
{Adjoining the
Three of the graves contain the remains of the children of Henry and Mary C. Furman. To the right of these graves is Civil War Veteran, George Brower.
BURIAL SITE FOR BLACKS
South side of
Information
from
This site was between the old school site (now identifiable
only by a small depression where the building stood, across the road and 400
feet West of the Upper Nyack Burying Ground) and the
East side of
CLARKSTOWN
REFORMED
Clarkstown Reformed Church Cemetery contains the graves of some of the area’s earliest settlers, as well as the remains of 23 Revolutionary War veterans, and 18 War of 1812 veterans.
There are approximately 275 graves at this site dating from
1703 to 1922. Family names include: Blanch, Blauvelt,
The 1703 tombstone is in Dutch ,
and the second burial was in 1705. A bronze tablet is on a monument made
from the original threshold of the church by the Rockland County Society, marks
the site of the First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of New
CONKLIN/ SNEDEKER/ SPRINGSTED BURIAL GROUND
formerly
on the Fred Jones Farm,
Reinterred
to
This small burial plot was recorded by J. Elmer Christie of Nyack as being located “on the Long Cliver Road.” George H. Budke noted 11 gravestones, 11 March 1840 – 22 July 1887.
When NYS Route 304, north of
DAVY/ GOETSCHIUS/
NASH/
Formerly near
Removed
to Veterans Memorial Plot,
In the Journal-News issue of 16 October 1937, the bodies of four Civil War veterans were removed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars from the private burial plot just north of the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church. New headstones were provided for all the veterans.
Two of the veterans, George E. Nash and William Rothaubt are included in a list of 14 graves in a plot known as the Knapp/ Nash Burial Plot.
DE BAUN/ SWARTWOUT/ SNEDEKER BURIAL GROUND
This burial ground includes members of two of the most important families and early settlers in the Congers area. Snedker and Swartwout, both large landowners.
The Snedeker ancestsor
was Jan Snedeger who immigrated to
In 1736, a grandson, Tunis Snedeker
of New Hempstead, Long Island) purchased about 1,300 acres of land in the
northern half of the Pond Patent—including most of the present Congers
area. Gen. Erskine’s military map of 1778-79 this is shown as Snedike’s Pond. After
Garret Snedeker served as
Supervisor of the Haverstraw Precinct, including the Pond Patent and
present-day Congers, from 1736-1743. Theodorus
served as Sheriff of Orange County from 1739-1747. Abraham
constructed the Central Hotel,
The 18th century Snedeker farm homestead became the property of former Clarkstown Supervisor Charles E. Holbrook --- inherited from his parents. Family legend says that General Washington once dined at the 18th century home of Garret Snedeker. A historical marker was placed on the site by The Historical Society of Rockland County.
The Swartwout family traces its
roots back to 1660. The family pioneer lived in
The DeBaun Family – the patriarch
of this family buried in this cemetery is Christian DeBaun,
born 06 Jan 1735, the son of Charles DeBaun and Jane
Haring. Christian married Rachel Helm (Helling)
of
High Tor Estate,
This medieval style castle was built by Harold S. Deming . The son of Horace Edward and Caroline (Springstead) Deming, was born 13 September 1883 in
The castle reportedly has a resident ghost. It was
first sighted, in the 1960s, by Dr. MacGuffie’s
housekeeper, Eliza, who was from the
DUTCHER BURIAL PLOT
near
This burial site is located on a lane off of
GARRISON / KENDALL / YOUMANS BURIAL GROUND
and
WOOD / BLAUVELT / STEPHENS BURIAL GROUND
Off
Formerly known as The New City Cemetery, there had been a
total of at least 45 graves in these two plots. The Coquillet
Family Association had permission to remove family stones and they are now in
the
The oldest burial in the Garrison /
The Wood / Blauvelt plot contained the remains of 23 members of the Wood family. Patriarch is John J. Wood, born 1784, married Elizabeth Lydecker. The Wood family members were born between 1784 and 1860.
[Overview}
On 26 March 1860, 32 men from Clarkstown
area gathered at the home of Charles Kreuder to found
and build a church – known as the
Many of the area’s early settlers and community leaders are
buried in the
The current owners of this cemetery is
There are many Irish, Bohemian/Slovak, and Italian Catholic
families buried in this cemetery. Many had worked in the
Outside the planned area of
GOD’S ACRE
North end of
Broadway,
Information
from
This was a small cemetery on the hillside northwest of the
turnaround at the North end of Broadway. It was on the Marydell property and was maintained by the Sisters of Our
Lady of Christian Doctrine from 1937 until 1961. It was the burial site
for members of the Order which had a convent East of Broadway. In 1961,
after the convent property was sold, the remains of the nuns were moved to
On property of Christian-Missionary Alliance
West of Route 9W.
Information
from
Six or seven long parallel barrows of heaped-up stones on
the mountainside on this property were reported in “Trails and Pleasant Walks
in
184
North Little
This small burial ground, 10’x10’contains the remains of
Abram J. Jersey and his wife Elizabeth, John
THE JOHNSON BURIAL GROUND
Off
This site is on a knoll about 100’ south of a large water tower, east of a small pond. It is 50’ in diameter, and has/had an iron fence around it. There were about 14 graves -- the earliest date is 1813 and the latest 1899. There is a large obelisk in the center.
JONES / GREEN BURIAL GROUND
Near
8 Parkway Drive,
This burial ground, 50’x50’, is on the former Green farm,
off
19 Jones family members.
The life span of this family covers 134 years or three
generations. The patriarch was Joseph Jones, born in 1722 and his wife
Charity, born in 1725. They had ten children. Three of their sons
are buried here. The
noted that worship was conducted
for a time in the home of Isaac Jones – a small house off
The last known Boy Scout Eagle Scout project at this site was by Gary Rohrback, Troop 99, in March of 1979.
KNAPP AND VAN ORDEN BURIAL GROUNDS
These two small burial grounds are side by side. The Knapp site had 12 burials, 1848-1881, and the Van Orden had 17 burials, 1833-1908. Names of family members include – Knapp, Trumpers, Staggs, Howards and Johnsons.
This burial plot is adjacent to the VanOrden plot but was not reachable. It was located by a member of the Genealogical Society as being half-way up the hill from the VFW Hall, behind a house. Some stones were standing and others were heaped in a pile. There were eight family members, two Langleys and two Johnsons buried in this plot.
Until his death in February of 1942, the tact of about 113 acres was owned by Elmer Van Orden, born c. 1863. He was the son of David and Charity Van Orden. He was the eighth generation to live on the property which his ancestors had acquired before the Revolution from King George III. Mr. Van Orden became famous as the inspiration for the character “Van Van Dorn” in the play “High Tor” by Maxwell Anderson.
KNAPP / NASH BURIAL PLOT
West of the former
This burial site was closed in 1937,
the located remains were removed to
Driveway at
The Lake Avenue Chapel is no longer in existence. The burial site was located at the rear of the chapel. When seen in 1988, it was located on the east side of the driveway on a small knoll approximately 100’ east of a house. There was only one stone visible, that of John L. Smith, who died in 1860. Four Felters, first names unknown, were supposed to be buried here;
no stones were located.
MARTINUS /
8 Little
The cemetery is enclosed by a fence, with a stone wall off South Little Tor Road. There are a total of 329 graves with the earliest date 1723 and the latest 1987. In 1973 the Martinus / Hogencamp Cemetery Association celebrated its 250th anniversary. The origin of the cemetery is a mystery. As early as the 1800s, Martinus Hogencamp and a W. B. Smith were involved in an assignment of property.
According to Norman Baker, a former local historian, “To the south of the cemetery proper is a smaller area referred to as the ‘slave burying ground,’ the few markers going back to the last century.”
Another story is “that sailors who died on a ship
quarantined in
When Little Tor Road was widened, a skeleton, identified as that of an Indian, was uncovered outside the cemetery propr.
A sandstone marker has an inscription in Dutch. There is one odd marker, made of cast gunmetal, of Jacob Halstead Smith, who died in 1878. Many of Clarkstown’s oldest residents and early settlers are buried in this cemetery.
Formerly BENSON’S COLORED CEMETERY
Off Route 59 at
entrance to
On 07 July 1849, a three-page deed transferred a parcel of land from James Benson and his wife Jane to three Trustees of the “Burying Ground for Colored People.” (William H. Moore, Stephen Samuels, and Isaac Williams). Six years later, in 1855, Mr. Benson transferred the southern portion to Samuel Samuels, George Williamson, William Samuels, Titus Jackson and Thomas Thompson – thus completing the three-acre cemetery.
Of these eight original trustees, only two, William Samuel
and Thomas Thompson, are buried at
In 1988, the Clarkstown Town Board
designated
When Pyramid Companies made their arrangements to build a
$50 million dollar shopping plaza – The Palisades Center – they also agreed to
preserve the cemetery site – including placing a fence around it and putting up
a plaque. The name of the access road was changed from
NANUET TRUE
REFORMED
Corner of
This is the oldest cemetery in this area. The Church itself was organized 08 Aug 1826 and was destroyed by fire in 1954. A gas station is on the site of the church. Joseph N. Blauvelt purchased property for cemetery use during 1826. Most burials in this cemetery occurred between 1827 and 1903, there were additional burials between the years 1903 to 1969. Mr. Blauvelt is buried in the Nanuet cemetery, adjacent and to the south.
Nanuet True Reformed Church disbanded in 1895, the property was sold to the True Dutch Reformed Church Classis of Hackensack, NJ.
In October of 1907, a group of residents organized the
The cemetery contains the graves of many of the settlers of the Nanuet area – including Blanch, Blauvelt, Calrk, Cole, DeBaun, DeClark, Demarest, Haring, Hogenkamp, Onderdonk, Polhemus, Serven, Tallman, VanDerwall, Vanderbilt, VanHouen, VanOrden and Wood.
The current owner of the cemetery is
Corner of
[Selected records]
About the time the
The dividing line between Nanuet and
Mr. David P. Demarest donated the land on which the present
Location unknown
It is believed to be the area between the two existing small
burial grounds off
In the 1936 WPA Survey this cemetery was noted as being on
the “old Fair grounds, opposite the Elms Hotel,
NYACK RURAL CEMETERY (three sections)
North side, off Route
59,
The upper and lower sections are located between the
There were a total of 268 graves in the upper and lower
sections – earliest date 1837 and latest date 1977.
In 1887, the original booklet issued by the
Over the years the tract has been gradually narrowed. A part was sold to the small shopping mall, which comes close to the burial ground. Widening of Route 59 took an easement portion. In 1982, the cemetery was given a zone change from residential to regional shopping status, and a sale of about one acre of land and the sandstone front “holding shed” which dates from about 1889, was sold to a lumber company.
In 1976 there was a great deal of destructive vandalism, 34
of the 153 graves, on the lower slope approaching
Route 9W,
[Ancient plots and older sections in Clarkstown]
On 27 June 1848,
In 1800 a
North Broadway,
Information
from
“A local story that an Indian beggar was buried on the
grounds of the
ONDERDONK
New
The two graves on this site are for Adrian G. Onderdonk, War of 1812 veteran, and his wife, Rebecca
Blauvelt. Garry Onderdonk III of
PERRY/ TRUMPER BURIAL GROUND
[
Valley Cottage, NY
This 15-grave cemetery was believed to have been destroyed
when Route 9W was realigned. In August of 1940, a descendant in search
of this burial site found it in a landlocked area between five homes that were
built in the 1950s off
In 1918, George H. Budke recorded and noted that all the headstones had inscriptions. It is hoped that the cemetery will be restored by Clarkstown. Burials in the site were: Charles, Elizabeth, George, James Fulwood; Sarah E. Kershaw; Hannah Mannel; Charles E., Maria, Harman and John H. Perry; George, William P. and Daniel P. Tremper; Jemine Vanderbilt and Abraham Vervalen.
ROMAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE CHAPEL
Off North Broadway,
Information
from
Green’s History of Rocland
County, p. 348, reports “The burial of several construction laborers in the
yard of a chapel at a
[Overview only]
The Russian Orthodox Convent was founded in 1950 by the Russian patriarch, Bishop Andrei. In 1950 there were close to 5,000 burials here; each grave is marked with the traditional three-tiered Orthodox cross. The inscriptions are in Russian. There are regular visitors to worship or decorate the graves.
This enclosed cemetery is the burial ground of 149 nuns, one priest, and 20 others (two WW I veterans, four children, and St. Agatha employees). The first burial was in 1891 – Sister M. Francina Flanagan, and the latest in 1984 was a nine-year old Jewish boy, - David Kleiman.
St. Agatha’s was founded by the Sisters of Charity in 1884
as a caring facility for children and their families—most dependent and
neglected from
In 2006, Nancy Canfield, a former resident, completed her
book: HOME KIDS, The Story of St.
Agatha Home for Children, The book covers
ST. ANTHONY’S CEMETERY
[Formerly
[Overview only]
St. Anthony’s Cemetery was started in the year 1899 on a
tract of land donated by the John Hengstler
family. Church trustees named it “
In 1912 a fire destroyed the original church. A
basement church and rectory were begun in 1916 on land off old Route 59 (
Buried here are many of the first families who settled in Nanuet: Frohling, Bonhotal, Beckerle, Hobestil, Reiber, Cucolo, Flamick, Stefan, D’Annunzio, Kemmer, Overmeyer and Overbaugh.
[Overview only]
Burials in this section include Ferdinand R. Horn, Jr., “The
Father of the
Dr. Edmund Mayer died in 1987 at the age of 97 years.
He was a pioneer in pathology—founder of American Cyanamid’s first experimental
pathology laboratory in 1943. Dr. Mayer transferred to Lederle Laboratores in Pearl
River from American Cyanamid staff in
Stephen M. Flamik, died in 1986 at the age of 79 years. He was a butcher and owner of Flamik’s Meat Market in Nanuet; past chief and president of Nanuet Fie Engine Co., a WW II Army Air Force veteran.
One of the most interesting Nanuet families is the Insley family. Albert Babb Insley
died in 1937 at the age of 95 years, his biographer, Roy Blankenship, called
him “one of
Albert A. Insley studied painting
in 1864 in
The original Insley farmhouse,
constructed prior to the Civil War still stands on its original foundation at
SCOTLAND HILL BURIAL GROUND
Carriage Lane, off
This burial ground [also referred to as Blauvelt Family
Burial Ground] is on the former Albert Hopper/Cornelius Blauvelt farm
property. The site is now within a housing development and can no longer
be described as being on a slight rise of ground near a small brook. The
brook is gone, and the entrance to the site is from
The earliest burial date recorded is 1749 and the latest date, 1839. Only one stone was standing, that of Rachel Cole Blauvelt. Two Revolutionary War veterans are known to be buried here: Cornelius A. Blauvelt, 3rd Co. Regiment, Orange County NY Militia (Cornelius was married to Margaret; and Harmanus Blavuelt, 2nd Regiment, Orange County NY Militia. Harmanus was married to Rachel Van Orden.
SNEDEKER
Alongside the United M. E. Church, Congers NY
[At
intersection of
This grave site was formerly the property of the Snedeker family. Garret Snedeker’s
Will, dated 1841 and proved 1843, mentioned this as a family burial
ground. It was later considered to be unsuitable. A site in the
southern part, on land at the south end of
The two remaining gravestones are flat in the earth and difficult to find. Earliest date: 1810 and latest, 1856. The other two stones are not visible.
The tract of land for this cemetery was donated by Hercules
Ryder who owned considerable acres of land in this area. He had donated
land where the one-room (enlargeable to a double room) school at
Hendrick Snyder was the owner of a house a short distance to the North; original construction was in 1730. There were 143 burials at this cemetery, the earliest date was 1773. A total of 100 are for the following families: Garrabrant, Tremper, Ryder, Conover, Onderdonk, Baker, Tallman, Garrison, Locke, Conklin, Stoothoff and Gilchrist.
The Garrabrant family
have been residents of this area for close to 200+ years. The
patriarch, John P. was a vegetable farmer with produce being shipped to
TRUMPER / VAN ORDEN BURIAL GROUND
Off
[On a knoll just
south of the Centenary Grocery store at the intersection of
This burial ground spans a total of 82 years, basically the
cemetery for members of the Trumper and VanOrden families in the Centenary area – the outskirts of
This is one of the two oldest burial grounds in Clarkstown. It has 66 graves of some of the earliest families and includes six Revolutionary War soldiers.
In a history of
“All Upper Nyack at one time belonged to Cornelius Claessen Cuyper who, with his “huisvrouw,” Aeltje Teunis (Bogert) and their family
of little ones, settled somewhere along the river shore between 1685 and
1687. Frontier hardships apparently agreed with the young couple, for by
1708 their progeny had increased to fifteen; thirteen of whom reached
maturity. Cuyper became a wealthy, prominent
and influential man in the
“Cornelius died in 1731 and his wife died four years later, both are interred in the family plot. Their graves wee marked by low, heavy slabs of red sandstone undressed except for the crude lettering. These probably had been quarried from the five stone beds near the river shore.
“Aury Smith bought 320 acres and Capt. Jacob Vanderbilt and his step-son, Andries Onderdonk, also became residents of the locality. A homemade headstone containing the initials “V.D.” and the date “1739” is supposed to mark the Captain’s grave.
“If Aury Smith is buried here, he lies in an unmarked grave.
“The last burial marked by an inscribed stone was that of Garret S. Smith in 1857.”
VAN HOUTEN FAMILY BURIAL PLOT
South side of
This family burial ground was located a short distance from the family residence. Claus R. VanHouten settled in Clarkstown prior to 1761. He was a farmer and miller. He built a house a short distance from that of his son, Isaac B. VanHouten. No visible evidence of these former residences remains.
Isaac B. VanHouten was born in his father’s house on 04 June 1776. Like his father, he was a farmer and miller, and was elected in 1833 to represent his district in the 23rd Congress. He was also appointed as Rockland County Treasurer.
There were ten graves here, the earliest date: 1844 and the latest date, 1907.
VAN HOUTEN / HOWARD BURIAL GROUND
[On
the north side of
This small burial ground includes Cornelius Howard, his wife
Ann VanHouten and their two children. The
Howard family traces its lineage back before the Revolutionary War when Thomas
Howard, Sr., came from
It was a great-grandson John Cornelius Howard, who settled in Rockland County after the American Revolution on 98 aces of farmland near High Tor Mountain, Centenary, in northern New City. The Howard family lived in the area for over 200 years.
There were six graves here with the earliest date 1841 and the latest date 1890.
VAN ORDEN and KNAPP BURIAL GROUNDS
See the history of these two sites under Knapp and VanOrden Burial Grounds.
WARING FAMILY GRAVES
Congers Road, Congers, NY
[opposite
The only known gravestone is that of Solomon Waring, born 31 January 1772. Solomon married Aefje Snedeker, born 31 October
1776. He was one of the members of the first town meeting on record in
Prior directions for the site were “On top of hill on the
In the 1980s, only two stones remained – one was overturned and the other broken in pieces. The site had been threatened by a large housing development.
WELLS FAMILY BURIAL GROUND
Landing Road,
This site is located in
There are 21 graves here with the earliest date1831 and the latest 1874.
Benedict Wells was the former owner of a large portion of
Along with Benedict and Bridget Wells, other family members are buried in this cemetery.
In addition to stone quarrying,
WILLIAMS GRAVE
[To the rear of the former Home of the Sisters of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church]
The prior owner of the site was the
This solitary grave, identified only by a two-by-four marker bearing the initials “O.L.W,” has been identified as the burial place of Oscar L. Williams.
The only known information is that Oscar was 19-years-old
and died of smallpox while a prisoner in the
24 February 1902.
YEOMANS / TOWNSEND/ HERME BURIAL GROUND
[South side of
Prior directions: “Private Plot on west side of road from Pye’s Mill to Short Clove, near Turner’s Corner.”
There are eight graves in this 15’x75’ burial ground with the earliest date: 1863 and the latest: 1908.
YOUMANS
[At the rear of the former Centenary M. E. Church; in 1985, it was the VFW Hall.]
There are two graves located at the rear of the building, the one of John Youmans, died 22 Jun 1852 and the other William J. Youmans, who died 28 October 1854. The relationship between the two men is unknown.