While most of the graves and headstones in the State Street Burying Grounds were moved by the city’s Common Council to the Church Grounds lot, there were exceptions.
Some graves, of course, were removed by relatives to private family plots in the Albany Rural Cemetery. In other cases, the remains presumably made the journey to the Cemetery safely, but their headstones did not. There have been several incidents of gravestones found on properties along the route from the old burial ground to the Rural Cemetery. However, stones originating in the State Street Burying Grounds have also been discovered well away from their original location, including this one which found its way to a backyard near the Empire State Plaza.
Benjamin, Elizabeth. “Boys on a mission unearth signs of past.” Albany Times Union. September 3, 1999: B1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5944680
“When the cemetery was moved, more graves than stones were found. The stones lie flat near the road by a toolshed.” Kelderhouse Cemetery http://www.onentofl.com/tcsnyalbbethkeld.html
“Only 3 stones found but many more graves are there. [I believe a contractor illegally removed many stones to use as sidewalk slabs]” Schoonmaker Burial Ground http://www.onentofl.com/tcsnyalbbethschoon.html
Sad!