USA > New York > Onondaga County > Past and present of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : from prehistoric times to the beginning of 1908 > Part 38
USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Past and present of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : from prehistoric times to the beginning of 1908 > Part 38
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"This present is to level the earth in which I have put them, and this other is to erect a palisade around their tomb, so that beasts and birds of prey may not disturb their repose. Finally this last is to restore thy mind into its repose and place, so that our peace continuing in the same stability, no demon can change it.'
"These were the appropriate terms of the speech of this grave barbarian, which was accompanied by eight beautiful presents of wampum, which he made in the name of the public."
Whatever were the Christian ceremonies at these funerals, and they were certainly as full and stately as circumstances permitted, this is the oldest ad- dress extant at any European funeral in this county. It was that of an Indian chief.
A French prisoner was killed in 1661 because he would not marry an Onon- daga wife. Ile was a favorite with the Indians and the many captives then had much liberty, so that he had Christian burial. This was in Pompey, and these are the three recorded cases of that period.
In Bruce's Memorial History of Syracuse, page five hundred and seventy. it is said: "On the shores of Onondaga Lake, in the rear of the residence of the late William A. Judson, on West Genesee street, now ocenpied by his wid- ow, is the grave of a man who is supposed to have been the first white person buried within the limits of Onondaga county." He suggested, however, the pos- sibility of early French burials here, though he knew of none. General Bruce gives the inscription over his grave as "Benjamin Nukerk, Died December 7, 1787, Aged thirty-seven years." Mr. Cheney differed from this, and his ae- count also follows :
"In 1824 that portion of our city now occupied by the Syraense Pump House, was covered with a dense growth of small trees and bushes. Among
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these trees, near the present sand bed, stood a grave stone which had been erect- ed to the memory of a poor Indian trader who was murdered on that spot by the Onondagas. The inscription on the grave stone recorded the name of 'Benjamin Newkirk, 1783.' With Newkirk came a boy by the name of Web- ster." An Indian cemetery (recent) was a little east of this spot. The date is certainly too carly. Clark dates Webster's coming in 1786, with Selkirk [Newkirk]. Webster's own journal made his first visit here in 1784, but it was probably 1786. After his western embassy he came back, and the second year after his return, "a Mr. Newkirk eame into the country with two men in his employ." and plenty of rum and whiskey. Of this he drank freely. and his men left him. Webster also remonstrated, without effect. Instead of be- ing murdered he died of delirium tremens and was buried by Webster.
Clayton's Onondaga agrees substantially with the Memorial History, saying that Benjamin Nukerk eame in 1786 with Webster. "He died December 7, 1787, and was buried on a little eminenee which overlooks the Onondaga Lake and its shores, now embraced in Farm Lot No. 310, lying directly in the rear of the residence of William Judson, on West Genesee street. The head and foot stone are still standing [1878], bearing the inscription
BENJAMIN NUKERK, Died Dec. 7th, 1787, Aged 37 years."
To the above is added that "About the year 1845, Joseph Savage, Esq., who owns the land occupied by this grave, had occasion to dig a trench two or three feet below the surface, and while doing so struck upon a line of graves. . On examination they proved to be placed in a direct line for some twenty or thirty feet, and consisted of quite a number of bodies. The bodies were mostly decomposed, except the skulls, and among them were found quite a number of bullets."
In many cases places at first used for burial by white settlers were chang- ed to suit circumstances. Frequently family cemeteries were set apart on farms, and some of these still remain. Small cemeteries were rather common as a convenience, but in some of these there has been no interment for many years. The condition of some of these is deplorable, but, while some are well eared for. the tendency now is to large central cemeteries, "beautified for sit- nation," and with ample means for care and improvement.
In Onondaga county the map gives over a hundred cemeteries for public use; some very small and without beauty; others large and picturesque. One visited recently. lying beside a rural church, had dense shade, prostrate fences, broken monuments, and weeds, weeds everywhere. Yet there were verses full of pious and tender memories, the dead pleading not to be forgotten, friends promising they should not be. Another had an iron picketed fence around it, without a gateway, and bristling with magnificent weeds. It may make no dif- ference to the dead. but excuse us from such resting places.
It was with a view to bring about a better state of things that Mr. W. W. Newman and others founded the Onondaga Cemetery Association in 1895. For
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a time it did excellent work. but gradually dropped out of sight, perhaps because its work was rural and its members scattered. City and village cemeteries feel the need of such societies but little. at least in most cases; the rural districts require them, and the whole subject might well form a part of grange work. A patient examination of some scattered cemeteries, large and small, shows that they have historic value- no news perhaps, yet a new thought to some. Verses and epitaphs form a curious literature, of which some illustrations may appear here, and any person may do a valuable work by compiling the inscriptions in any rural cemetery. The local proof of this is in Captain Collins' Mortuary Records of Spafford. The general proof is in the burial records so frequently published in the New England states. The opportunities here are great.
The first burials in what was the village of Salina were made near the inter- section of Spring and Free streets. Interments ceased there before 1794. and began in what is now Washington Park. This was found to be too near the dwellings of the living, and burials began on a ridge running through Block forty. This was abandoned in 1801, when Sheldon Logan laid out a cemetery on state lands. Some were removed to this, and it was used till 1829. Block fifty-nine, in the First ward. covers this. An act of the Legislature in that year substitutes Block forty-three for this. The village trustees removed the bodies to the new cemetery. which still remains in fair condition, and with some antique stones.
In 1834 the people of Lodi had a small cemetery on the hill on South Beech street, south of East Genesee. About half an acre was enclosed, and it is still known as Lodi cemetery, though burials are not made there now. The first burials within the village limits of Syracuse were near the crossing of Clinton and Fayette streets. Probably not more than thirty were buried there, and interments ceased before 1819. From 1819 to 1824 all Syracuse burials were at Salina, Onondaga Hill or Valley. Then the "Old Cemetery" came into use. continuing till 1841. In 1841 Rose Hill cemetery was bought. including a little over twenty-two acres. It still remains in the heart of the city, but burials are now few. Part belongs to the Reformed Jews. and the general care might be improved.
A better site was discussed for a number of years, and the Oakwood Asso- ciation was organized August 15, 1859. Oakwood at first contained ninety-two and seventy-one hundredths aeres, costing twenty-four thousand five hundred dollars. Afterward fifty-five acres were added. The grounds were dedicated November 3, 1869, with an opening address by Hon. E. W. Leavenworth. presi- dent of the association. a poem by Alfred B. Street, an oration by Hon. Wm. J. Bacon, and a hymn by Mrs. Thomas T. Davis, sung by the Syracuse Musical In- stitute. Beside its natural beauties Oakwood is notable for its fine family vaults.
Woodlawn cemetery is tasteful and well kept. in the northeast part of the city, on Manlius street, and is also accessible by street cars. It includes one hundred and five aeres. Morningside cemetery is another large and beautiful place on Comstock avenue, in the southeast part of Syracuse. The association was organized in 1899, and the fine grounds have not yet the personal interest
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belonging to older cemeteries. The same is true of Greenlawn cemetery, on the main traeks of the New York Central railroad, eight miles west of the Syracuse station.
St. Cecilia's cemetery was bought in 1864, in the northeast part of the city, cast of Highland street. Difficulties were encountered and it was disused in 1877. St. Mary's cemetery is an old burial place on Renwick avenue. innch neglected now. This was purchased since 1843. St. Agnes' cemetery, on En- glewood avenue, has a situation of remarkable beauty, commanding many fine views. The grounds are extensive-originally forty acres-and the monu- ments are of great interest. This was laid out in 1872.
Among other cemeteries are St. Joseph's and the Assumption, both German and in the second ward ; the First Ward cemetery already mentioned; the Jewish cemeteries on the Jamesville road ; and Myrtle Hill, originally the Geddes ceme- tery, in the ninth ward.
The village of Liverpool has a cemetery in the north part, with a fine situa- tion and monuments, but the tmple grounds require more care. Many German inseriptions appear there, and some common English ones are lacking.
The town of Clay has three cemeteries, all in fair condition, but of the usual mathematical rural character. Cicero has four : the principal one at Brewer- ton being the site of an Indian burial place over two hundred years old. Ly- - sander includes ninc cemeteries large and small, the Baldwinsville cemeteries being in Van Buren. One at Belgium has been practically abandoned for Myr- tle Grove cemetery, on a high situation farther west. Those at Lysander, Jack- sonville and Plainville are in good condition; the others like many rural eeme- teries.
Van Buren has five cemeteries, reckoning two associations as one, the River- side cemetery at Baldwinsville practically including the old village burial place. This fine cemetery lies on the south bank of Seneca river, affording fine oppor- tunities for future embellishment by the water side, if the barge canal does not interfere.
Elbridge has five cemeteries, one being east of the village of that name on the old Genesee road. The new cemetery for the use of Jordan has a fine situa- tion between these two villages. Two older ones are in Jordan.
Camillus has five cemeteries, and Mareellus three, all of them at that vil- lage. These are all well kept. and one. directly in the village, has interesting memorials of pioneers. An earlier one, opened in 1797 and abandoned in 1804, was at the site of the Bradley home in Marcellus.
Skaneateles has eight cemeteries. One early one was soon abandoned, and the present Lake View cemetery had its earliest interment in 1802. A fine sol- diers' monument has been erected here. Mr. E. N. Leslie has given full details of the later history of this spot. The first burial place was at a considerable distance north of Skaneateles village; the second on a hill within its limits. The third was the nucleus of the Lake View cemetery, first used in 1802, but a fam- ily burial place till 1808. The Mottville burying ground was opened in 1819, and the Roman Catholics have one at Skaneateles village.
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De Witt has several cemeteries, the one belonging to Jamesville being pleas- antly situated a mile east of that place. South of the village in the town of La Fayette, is that of the De Witt family and others, interesting. but sadly neglected. The tombstone of Moses De Witt is a slab over his grave. The record on this is: "Here lie the remains of MOSES DE WITT, Major of Militia, and Judge of the County Courts; one of the first, most active, and useful set- tlers in the county. He was born on the 15th day of October, 1766, and died on the 15th day of August, 1794." The town should care for its foremost citi- zen.
Then follows the above: "Also of his brother Egbert De Witt, born 25th of April. 1768; died 30th of May, 1793."
Manlins has but few cemeteries, but those at Manlius and Fayetteville are easily accessible, ample and well kept.
Pompey has ten cemeteries, the oldest and most notable being at Pompey hill, but that at Oran will repay a visit. being well kept and with early tombs.
Spafford has six, quite fully reported by George K. Collins, who has thus done a valuable work. La Fayette has the same number, and there are five in Otisco. Tully has four and Fabius five.
These are mostly in good condition.
The large town of Onondaga has fourteen cemeteries, of which W. W. New- man has given quite an account. There are two on the Indian reservation, and most of the rest are small. those at South Onondaga and Onondaga Valley being the most notable. leaving out St. Agnes, which is essentially a city cemetery. In these and at Onondaga Hill many pioneers sleep. There was a burial place near the old arsenal, but most of the bodies have been removed. On the road between the hill and valley. on the brink of Hopper's glen, two stones have a military eharaeter. One is in memory of "Benjamin Branch, Captain Light Art. U. S. A. Died Oet. 10, 1814." The other is that of "Henry Crouch. Cap- tain. Capt. Benj. Shaw's Co. First Hopkins N. Y. Military. Died Apr. 22. 1815." During that war many troops and prisoners passed through Onondaga Valley.
Mr. Newman gave a list of fifty burial places in the town of Onondaga. most of them family cemeteries. leaving less than a dozen for interments now. It would be gratifying to have so full a descriptive list in all the towns. This the Cemetery Association had for one of its aims. In an address before it in 1896, Mrs. W. W. Teall ontlined a scheme for that and the Historical Associa- tion, as follows :
"First-A complete and aeenrate genealogy of every family in Onondaga county.
"Second-Biographies illustrating the lives and characters of the inhabi- tants of this county.
"Third-Complete records of each town and parish, records of marriage. births and deaths.
"Fourth-Copies of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments.
"Fifth-Abstracts of wills and deeds that contain facts of interest.
"Sixth-Copies of the originals of all records of the old Indian wars. the Revolutionary war, the war of 1812, and the Civil war.
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"Seventh-We want a complete list of officers, soldiers and sailors; all who have served their country in any publie capacity."
Most of these wants all cannot supply. The fourth is in the power of any one with an eye to read and a hand to write, but may be most easily done by some one on the spot, who might add family or historie notes.
If records of New England cemeteries are examined it will be seen that many mortuary inscriptions are inherited here. Even small burial places may be expected to furnish the familiar lines, often varied :
"Afflietions sore long time I bore; Physicians were in vain, Till God did please to give me ease, And free me from my pain."
He and she vary the person, and there are other slight changes. So there are in another very old and favorite verse, found almost everywhere :
"Friends or physicians could not save This mortal body from the grave; Nor ean the grave confine it here When Christ shall call it to appear."
The last line often reads: "When Christ in judgment shall appear." On a stone in Skaneateles is a change of the first line : "Neither doctors nor minis- ters could save." Another is not so common, though found in several places :
"Silent grave, to thee I trust This mortal part of sacred dust. Keep it safe. O solemn tomb, Until a wife shall ask for room."
In one case the wife survived for twenty-nine years. There is another favorite verse of which the first part alone is often given :
"Respected while living, lamented though dead. Her sanctified spirit to Jesus has fled."
The sentiment of this is often given more simply : "He lived respected and died lamented;" and this has many variations. Another verse may be giv- en by itself, or have differing terminations. In fact it may vary throughout. A simple form is
"A tender husband. a partner dear, A faithful friend lies buried here."
In one ease the following is added to this and to others : "In love he lived, in peace he died. In heaven above may he reside."
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But more women than men seem to get the good epitaphs, and probably de- serve them, so this had to be changed again for a frequent inscription,
"A loving friend, a wife most dear, A tender parent lieth here. Great is the loss we here sustain, But hope in Heaven to meet again."
There is another verse found almost everywhere, with the customary vari? tions :
"Look, friends, and see; behold my fate, This is the doom of small and great. As I am now so you must be, Prepare for death and follow me."
A more frequent form may be the following, but the variations are many :
"Pray drop a tear as you pass by. As you are now so once was I. As I am now so you must be ; Prepare to die and follow me." -
Still another and longer form will sometimes appear:
"Stop, my friends, as you pass by, And on my grave east an eye. Your sun like mine may set at noon, Your soul be ealled for very soon. In this dark place you soon may be, Prepare for death and follow me."
Space would fail to record all these general inscriptions, nor can all the touching or curious ones be now given out of a local collection of several hun- dreds. Some quoted are found everywhere, but the larger part seem original here. Those in memory of children are often pathetie in their simplicity. We may smile at the following on a child but seven months old, but the parent's heart speaks in it :
"His friends they mourn, and well they may, Their lovely charge is snatched away. While here on earth so sweet and mild, He truly was a lovely child.".
Here is another on one but two months older:
"Another little cherub gone, Ilis mother's bright-eyed boy, A lovely little innocent, His father's hope and joy."
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The following, often varying much, seems a favorite for children a little older :
"We laid him here with many tears, And felt when all was o'er. Our home had one bright angel less, And heaven one angel more."
A host of such verses might be quoted. Here is one in a different vein for a woman twenty years old, the lines being apparently original :
"'Tis done! beloved of thy sex We've paid thee now our last respects. Farewell, thon virtuously renown'd, Adieu, 'til gabriel's trump shall sound."
Mr. Myron Clift gives the following inscription from recollection, at How- lett Ifill, saying of Mr. Howlett, in a note following the verse. "By his own re- quest the above was lettered on a marble slab and placed at his grave." It may easily be verified :
"Here Parley Howlett lies- No one laughs, no one eries ; Where he goes, or how he fares, No one asks, no one cares."
The following curions inscription is on a stone in Baldwinsville, exciting much comment :
"The Mother of her Country dies. Naney, the Wife of John Williams, Esq., Died July 7, 1852, at 2 o'clock p. m., Ae. 79 y'rs. 3 mo. and 4 Da. She rests from her labors and her works do follow her."
In the same cemetery, in the same year, is a wife's lament for her hus- band :
"Dearest husband, why did you die And leave your Wife and Children alone ? No Eye but God's saw you die. Oh, James, this world is not our home."
In Spafford a young woman was thus enlogized :
"She was a dear daughter, kind sister and friend, To her happiness and wishes she was ready to attend. In her long and painful illness not a word of complaint, She was always a true and obedient saint."
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In the same cemetery an inscription tells a bit of family history. A young man died afar from home, but was eventually brought back by his brother :
"Removed he was and buried here By William Legg. his brother dear."
This inscription is over a young man in a cemetery near the north line of the county, where there are many worth quoting :
"Yon that pass by, stop and read my stone, Think how quickly I was snatched and gone. Death don't always a warning give; So pray be careful how yon live."
The inscription on the monument to Dennis MeCarthy's parents is in excel- lent taste :
"To the Memory of the just man, the good Father The charitable woman, the tender Mother In whom the needy ever found a friend ; As theirs O Lord such be our peaceful end."
Another follows from the same cemetery, over a young man's grave :
"Just in my bloom and vigorous morn of age, Whilst in the tropic of my youthful days, God gave command that I should quit the stage, The messenger a short but sharp disease."
Another early one over a two year old boy is suggestive of spiritual growth and ocenrs in New England :
"His soul enlarged to angel size Joins in the triumph of the skies."
Lines like those which follow are extremely rare here, and these are over the grave of a pioneer who died in 1834, aged eighty-two years:
"Here lies the body of John Young God's praises dwelt upon his tongue His heart was often filled with love, While here below, but now he's gone To join God's saints around the throne And shout and praise redeeming love."
Slaves were once frequent here, and when freedom eame they often elung to the old families, but their names would not be expected on the family monu- ments. In one case the servitor's fidelity was not forgotten. In the Cardiff cemetery, on the Shue monument is this : "Jack, 27 years a slave in the State of New York."
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If they have not been expressed, no doubt many young men have felt what appears over one of their number in a rural grave in the town of Lysander :
"And I had dreamed such glorious dreams Of what my life should be ; And must I die ? Not yet ! Oh, God, Remove this eup from me."
Another has a sorrowful tone of a different kind :
"My time was short, my days were few, And perfect health I never knew. Now in the cold grave I rest, To wake and rise among the blest."
This unusual one from a cemetery in Van Buren for a two year old boy, has a business sound :
"My prospects in the morning bright, Fair at noon, dead at night."
Another of the brief, old and popular inscriptions appears in many places :
"Death is a debt to nature due, Which I have paid, and so must you."
The following lines appear in Spafford and Skaneateles -- probably else- where :
"Within this tomb by death overeome, A tender parent rests. With love sineere his children dear
Ile frequently earess'd. A master's part with generous heart It's known he acted well. May those he's left of him bereft His virtuous ways excell."
These lines are over the tomb of William Cobb, a pioneer of Marcellus, who died in 1826:
"With pain & toil I long did till the ground But in it now a resting place hath found. Old age & wearied toil without repose, At 77 years in death my eyes did elose."
A younger man died the year before, and his stone bears this inscription. which is both old and variable, and in its first form quoted from Pope :
-
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"How loy'd how valued onee avails me not, To whom related, or by whom forgot ; A heap of dust alone remains of me, "Tis all I am, & all that you can be."
This is over a young woman who died in 1840, aged thirty-one, and has more comfort in it:
"No honest marble better titles show Than this, for her who sweetly sleeps below. The Wife, the Mother, Christian and Friend, Meant what they should until her peaceful end."
It is a pleasure to give the inscription from the tomb of the first and most noted historian of Onondaga, who rests in the Manlins cemetery : "Joshua V. H. Clark died June 18, 1869, Aged 66 Y'rs. Resurgam." Beside this another stone reads thus : "Phoebe A. Sims, Wife of Joshua V. II. Clark, Died Sept. 23. 1887. Aged 81 Y'rs. Requiescat." These are as simple as their lives.
One of the early printers and editors of Onondaga county is buried in Oakwood, and his tasteful monument has a characteristic inscription : "Lewis HI. Redfield, | Printer. | A worn and battered form, | | Gone to be reeast | More beautiful and perfect. | Born November 26, 1793. | Died July 14, 1882."
The following is a favorite, but sometimes has other lines prefixed :
"Dust to its narrow home beneath, Soul to its rest on high, They that have seen they look in death No more may fear to die."
For a man seventy-five years old there is this inscription: "Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord," which does not suggest mourning. This may be read over the tomb of a woman ninety-two years old : "In view of death she selected her funeral text, 2 Timothy, 4 Chapter, 7 and 8 verses." A man of eighty-three years has these words: "He sought no eulogy, but was content to live and die an honest man." A mathematical inscription is just beyond the county line, over the grave of a ehild :
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