From the companion blog, Albany (NY) History, a brief look at some (though not all) of Albany’s former burial grounds.
From the companion blog, Albany (NY) History, a brief look at some (though not all) of Albany’s former burial grounds.
Material: White Marble
A small stone with severe damage. Upper third has broken off, the carved lamb is eroded and there is much wear to the edges. The inscription is eroding, but partly legible.
Inscription: Carl Rosche geb 15 Dec. 1855 gest 14 Juli 1857
Census records show several Rosch(e) households listed in both Albany and nearby Watervliet, though no child by this name is listed. This photo at Find A Grave illustrates how quickly this stone has eroded in just a few years.
Filed under Featured Gravestones, Uncategorized
Material: White marble
Large, plain stone that has broken into three sections, possibly from weight being applied. Inscription is very worn, but name can be read with effort.
The Common Council inventory notes that she was from Saybrook, Connecticut and that she died May 28, 1842 at the age of 54. Her name appears several times in the local newspapers in 1834 on lists of individuals with letters awaiting them at the post office. There is very little other available information on her.
Filed under Featured Gravestones, Uncategorized
As noted in this previous post, the removal of remains from the State Street Burying Grounds was proposed as early 1845 (though it was more than twenty years later that the actual removal was undertaken by the Common Council). While the author of the previously posted letter was in support of the removal of remains from the old municipal cemetery to the new Rural Cemetery, the opinion was clearly not unanimous.
FROM THE EVENING JOURNAL
At the last meeting of the Common Council, Alderman Robert H. Pruyn, introduced a Resolution, having for its object the removal of the dead from the various Burying Grounds in the city, to the new Cemetery in Watervliet. This appears though something like the moral compulsion of the subject was in contemplation. That the new Cemetery is a beautiful place, and well adapted for the purpose designated; and that the undertaking is most praiseworthy; and that the gentlemen engaged in it are deserving of high credit for their good taste and public spirit, is denied by none; and the writer of this most cordially unites in the universal sentiment; but that the public should be compelled to break up, disturb and eradicate the present receptacle of the departed, and carry the bones of their ancestors (perhaps for the second or third times) to a new resting place, merely to please the fancy of a few individuals, will be an undertaking, it is believed, beyond the power of an Alderman, or even a body of Alderman, to accomplish.
The grounds appropriated, some forty years ago, for the public cemeteries of the different churches of the city, comprises about thirty acres of land, which, although yet but partially occupied, contains the remains of more than forty thousand persons and there is scarcely a family, or a individual in the community, who have not friends or relations interred there; it is, therefore, very obvious that it will be a herculean task, to coerce the change hinted at in the Resolution now pending before the Common Council. In the language of Alderman Bleecker, “the Corporation have not the right to interfere in this “matter;” and I will go yet further, and ask, what right do “the Clergy” (as one paper has it) or “the Trustees of the different Churches,” (as another paper states the Resolution,) posses to enter into any arrangements for such a removal?
I do not believe that the Trustees of the Watervliet Cemetery countenance this movement, or that they desire to advance their undertaking in any other way than by the voluntary preference of the citizen. Let them, those who think proper, bury their dead hereafter in the new Cemetery, and let those who prefer the present Burial Grounds, use them as heretofore; but let not the “place of our fathers’ sepulchres” be disturbed or desecrated. People are not yet prepared to root out and (word blurred) up the bones of their friends and relatives, without some better cause than now exists, and I venture to predicted that the mover of this resolution will gain neither credit nor success by any further agitation of the subject.
W.
July 16, 1845 – Albany Evening Journal
Filed under Uncategorized
Material: White marble
A very plain stone with significant erosion, wear and darkening. Name is extremely difficult to read in person and the rest of the inscription is almost completely illegible.
The Common Council’s inventory (copied from the stones at the time of the removal) notes that Graham was a native of Drumlough, Rathfreland, County Down, Ireland and that he died at the age of forty. No dates are listed, but a legal notice appear in the Argus and states that a Jane Graham had made application to the surrogate’s court to probate the last will and testament of Samuel Graham in September 1845. It does not state whether Jane was his wife, daughter, or sister. In 1841, there is a very brief mention (also in the Arugs) of a “conviction affirmed” in Samuel Graham vs. The People, but no further details are given. He may also be the Samuel Graham who was robbed of cash by a boy named Dennis in 1843.
Filed under Featured Gravestones
Material: Sandstone
A simple stone with some damage to edge, particularly the chipped left finial. Surface is darkened and has some lichen growth, but inscription is legible.
Inscription: In memory of Andrew Van Woert eldest son of Henry & Catharine Van Woert who died the 27th Sept. 1798 aged 25 years & 2 months. He came forth like a flower and was cut down.
Andrew was the oldest of eight children of Henry (also known as Hendrick) Van Wort and Catharine Eights. His parents are also listed as interred in this section.
Filed under Featured Gravestones
Material: Sandstone
Plain stone with large section flaked away near base, chipping around edges and finials, and some darkening. Inscription is generally quite legible near the top of the stone, but worn towards the the left side and the lower portion.
Inscription: Here Lies The Body of Gertrude Lush (illegible) April 1788 Died (illegible) June 1789 Aged One Year Two Months and Three Days.
Gertrude Lush was the daughter of Albany attorney Stephen Lush and granddaughter of Dr. Samuel Stringer who is considered Albany’s first trained physician. She was also the great-granddaughter of David and Gertrude Vanderheyden. A later daughter of Stephen Lush and his wife, Lydia Stringer, was also named Gertrude and married Robert James, a son of wealthy Albany merchant William James.
Filed under Featured Gravestones