USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The Albany Rural Cemetery > Part 4
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Near Cypress Water.
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ION. D. D. BARNARD'S ADDRESS.
on which we now stand has been procured for a rural cemetery for the city of Albany.
This manner of preparing pleasant habitations for the dead. apart from the bustle and throng of busy dwelling- places, in grounds selected for the beauty of their position and outline, and susceptible of every kind of sylvan embellishment, is not new. In this matter we can only follow the example which the Egyptian, the German, . the Hebrew, the Asiatic, the Greek, of the old time, have set us. They went without their cities, and made their ceme- teries in shady groves, and laid down their dead beneath waving trees, amid embowering shrubbery, and near to bub- bling fountains, murmuring streams, and placid lakes. There is one of the most beautiful cemeteries of this sort in the world in the environs of Constantinople. It is guarded by the Moslem with religious care. The commu- nities of Moravian brothers have long been accustomed to form their burial-places into ornamental gardens. Need I tell you that the tomb in which the body of the Redeemer was laid was in a garden?
The grounds where we are now assembled have been selected for a cemetery, as in the examples to which I have referred, with a special view to their natural beauty, and their capability of improvement after the manner of land- scape gardening. No one, after looking at them, can doubt, I think, that they have been most happily chosen. We see and know what they are, but we can scarcely know what they will be-how full of inexpressible beauty- when the forming hand of taste shall once have been laid
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THE ALBANY RURAL. CEMETERY.
upon them. I shall not attempt to describe them. Here they are to answer for themselves to every eve. What pleasant hills and knolls-what gentle slopes- what abrupt declivities-what bushy dells-what trees and groves- what silvery, soft-toned, gentle, living waters, are here - and what expressive silence-what religions repose ! Think of all this natural beauty at once fully brought out and softened by the hand of art-at once heightened, yet subdued by the civilizing and humanizing processes to which it may be subjected -and then think of it inhabited only by the dead; here and there a grave, or a group of graves; some in one lovely spot, some in another, as the dying themselves may choose, or as fond surviving friends may select, and marked by every variety of modest memorial which affection can suggest. What scene in nature could be more beautiful, more attractive, more impressive, more improving !
These grounds, under becoming regulations, will be open to all-to every class, and every complexion in society, and to every sect in religion. The poor will have a place here as well as the rich; and wherever the dead are laid in these grounds, there will they remain. There will be no crowding of grave upon grave, or heaping of bodies one upon another. This will be a common burial-place where all shall meet on terms of common fellowship and brother- hood. Every dear relation in life, severed by death, shall be found restored again in these grounds-husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, shall be re-united here. Friend shall meet friend here; and enemies, too,
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HON. D. D. BARNARD'S ADDRESS.
shall meet, their enmities all forgotten. Yonder city, where, as everywhere in life, the harmonies of society are apt to be broken by petty feuds, by ungentle rivalries, by disturbing jealousies, by party animosities, by religious dissensions, shall, one after another, as death singles them out, send up her multitudinous population to these grounds,
and here they shall take their respective places, in amiable proximity to each other, peaceful, harmonious, undisturbed and undisturbing, the same shadows deepening on them, the same sun-light over them, resting in the same hope, and waiting for the same change and the same resurrection. It is a place appointed for the final composition and adjust-
ment of all their difficulties and differences. And what weights of sorrow, too, and pain, trouble and affliction, shall the inhabitants of that city, first and last, lay down in this place. What a refuge shall it be. from shivering misery, and squalid want, from secret griefs, from penury, oppression, injustice-in short, from the world. The young, the innocent, the beautiful, the happy, must make their bed, also, in this hallowed earth, as well as others; and what an exquisite tenderness of interest shall their presence lend to the place, and the scene. The graves here, like trees in the tropics, shall bear at one and the same time, the fresh bud, the opening flower, the unripe fruit, and that which is yellow to the harvest. The aged, and the honored, the wise, the brave, the learned, the skil- ful, the eloquent, shall lie down here to their last sleep, and with them, the undistinguished, the humble, and the lowly in heart and life. What a congregation will be gathered
THE ARANY RURAL CEMETERY.
here how vast, and varied and in how short a space of time ! And in the process of filling up these grounds from the tide of death which shall be turned in upon them from the living city, oh, who can tell what anguish of spirit. what agony, what despair, must here be felt and suffered !
Doubtless the sting of Death-the barbed arrow shot from his Parthian bow -is in the heart of the living, of the wretched survivors of the loved dead. How many are there who go mourning all their days! We hope and believe that in the use of this ground as a cemetery, there may be found something to aid in asuaging the bitterness of the mourner's grief. Here the dead will possess quiet graves, which friends may watch over and beautify at pleasure. Here Nature will put on all her loveliness to tempt the mourner forth to frequent communion with her. with the spirits of the departed, and with God, the Author of all. The habit of coming abroad into her presence, in places where she clothes herself in aspects and garments of inespressible beauty, when the heart, melted with grief. has acquired a lively sensibility to her attractions and power, cannot fail to bring soothing and comfort to the wounded spirit. The gloom which usually surrounds and settles over the grave will here be dissipated, and the sacred spot where the remains of the loved and lost are deposited. will be associated only with objects and accompaniments the most attractive and beautiful.
We hope and believe, too, that the custom of visiting these grounds, which can not fail to become general, when once they shall be brought into arrangement and order.
HON. D. D. BARNARD'S ADDRESS.
subdued and embellished, and made accessible at every point by easy avenues and graceful walks, will conduce to other eminent benefits and blessings. It can hardly be otherwise. We may expect this place to become a great moral teacher; and many valuable lessons there are, that may be learned here-lessons of humility, of moderation, of charity, of contentment, of mercy, of peace -lessons touching nearly all that concerns life, touching death, and touching immortality. In the ceremonies of this day, we open wide the ample volume where these lessons are to be read; we point to its recorded page; we invite to a frequent and diligent perusal. We think there is wisdom in it above the wisdom of men, and profit, unspeakable profit. both for the life that now is, and for that which is to come.
A dirge-performed by the Lothian Band, in a most effective style-followed, when
The Doxology, having been read by the Rev. Dr. KES- NEDY, was sung by the choir, to the tune of Old Hundred.
The Benediction was then pronounced by the Rev. Dr. POTTER, and the company dispersed.
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THE ALBANY RURAL CEMETERY.
NOT many, probably, recall the fact that the place
where these exercises took place, and which is now occupied by Consecration lake, was once the site of a country school-house. The following letter charmingly records its carly surroundings and associations:
Mr. J. P. THOMAS, Supt. Albany Rural Cemetery,
DEAR SIR :- In compliance with your request that I would furnish you with any facts I might be able to recall regarding the location, history, etc., of the old mill and school-house that occupied the site of what is now Consecration lake in the Albany Rural Cemetery, at the time it was organized and went into opera- tion, I take pleasure in sending you the following brief sketch which it has afforded me an agreeable pastime to prepare, relating, as it does, to a spot associated in my mind with so many early and cherished recollections.
The place itself, as its retired situation even yet, after all the changes that have passed over it, indicates, was one of the most secluded and romantic that could be imagined. Far removed from the highway and the noise and bustle of the world, and only approached by the solitary footpaths that led to it from various directions through the surrounding forest, it was seldom visited by the feet of strangers, and no one could have dreamed that it con- tained a habitation. much less a seat of learning, where the rudi- ments were taught in all the fullness and renown of Webster, Daboll and Murray; and I might add, enforced with all the per- suasive arguments of birch. Few of its old features remain at the present time. The old mill, with its, to us children, huge over-shot water-wheel, and the school-house standing close to the margin of the brook and nestled under its green canopy of leaves, are no more. The brook no longer ripples over the pebbles as it winds its way under the shady banks; and where the green play-ground extended in front and around, and the luncheon-bank invited under its spreading branches, is now an expanse of water.
The main approach to this retired little nook was from the east, by a path that followed the windings of the stream through the beautiful ravine that now forms the carriage entrance, till it sud-
Consecration Lake.
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LETTER FROM MR. JOHN HILLHOUSE.
denly emerged upon this lovely little secluded dell, covered with its carpet of verdure and wild flowers, hid away in its amphitheatre of wooded hills that closed in on every side to embrace it. As one wrote who had visited it after a long interval :
The foot-path winding with the woodland stream, With beating heart I tread; where oft, a child 1 lingered, bound as in a blissful dream Of rapt enchantment by their charms beguiled.
Through leafy glen they lead, by music cheered, The sweetest that the silvery streamlets sing ;
And to the well-known spot, so much endear'd, Where the old school-house rose, my footsteps bring.
The brook (called by the old Dutch inhabitants of the valley " Moordenaer's kill," from a tradition of a murder committed near the bridge that crossed its mouth at the time the road between Albany and Troy ran along the river bank), originally hugged the base of the hills bounding the dell on its northerly side. The school-house stood directly on its bank on the south side, at the base of the most prominent of these hills, whose top was crowned with a lofty pine. The mill was further up the stream, on the same side with the school-house, just at the point where it emerged from the ravine and entered the open dell. A bridge now occupies its site. It was called the "old oil mill," and was originally built by my father for the purpose of preparing oil-cake for the fattening of cattle. The house was for the miller's use. There were two dams on the creek above for the supply of water for the mill, one at the bend just beyond the high bridge, the other on the site of the present dam at the outlet of the lake above. From the former the water was conveyed in an open plank race carried along the slope of the hill, and discharged through a long, high trough upon the over-shot wheel. The mill and dwelling were erected about 1816. How long they served their original purpose I am not able to say exactly, but probably some five or six years.
The school was kept by Mistress Olive Phelps, daughter of Deacon Phelps, of Gibbonsville, now West Troy. A strict disci- plinarian and an excellent teacher, thorough and pains-taking. Her governing principle was that learning and obedience go together, and that birch was intended to keep them in their places; a principle which, if things are estimated by their results, was both sound and practical, for all of her scholars, both boys and girls,
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THE ALBANY RURAL CEMETERY.
became very smart. She was also a staunch advocate in upholding the necessity of the dunce-block and fools-cap as helps in the edu- cation and training of youth. These ancient implements-the former an octagonal block of wood two feet high, painted black ; the latter a lofty beaver without rim, made of blue sugar-loaf paper-occupied a conspicuous place in the north-west corner of the room, whence they shed a subduing influence over the school- room. Several well-known gentlemen of the present day, and must I add, a number of charming ladies, owe their first elevation in life to the old dunce block. The girls used to look very pictur- esque and pretty upon it, in the sugar-loaf hat and in tears.
This, being the only school in the neighborhood, became quite flourishing, numbering at times as many as forty scholars of both sexes. I think none of them can ever have forgotten those pleasant days; strolling through the wood in search of winter-greens and wild-flowers, building little dams in the brook and imprisoning therein the tiny pin-fish.
"O what are the pleasures we perish to win,
To the first little shiner we caught with a pin." -
Running and sliding headlong down the steep path that de- scended the hill in the south-west angle of the dell; or, before all other sports, clasping the long arms and going over and over, round and round with the big water-wheel. This last pastime I think the girls never attempted, at least not while the boys were there.
About 1829, the mill, having been leased to some parties for the manufacture of printers' ink, the school, with its fixtures and dunce- block, was removed to the new school building, which my father built and which is still standing on the south side of the Cemetery avenue. The manufacture of ink not proving a success, the work was abandoned and the school-house became thereafter the home of one of the farm laborers, while the mill was given up to the bats and flying squirrels, and suffered to go to decay. In this state they continued until 1846, when, in the purchase made by Gov. Wm. L. Marcy and Thomas W. Olcott for the Albany Rural Ceme- tery, they became the property and passed into the possession of that most worthy association and fell before the tide of improve- ment.
Yours very truly,
417 Madison Ave., New York, August, 1880.
JOHN HILLHOUSE.
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REV. BARTHOLOMEW 1. WELCH, D. D. First president of the Albany Cemetery Association. From a photograph, by permission of his son. Dr. Welch of Castleton, N. Y. ]
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EARLY DAYS OF THE ASSOCIATION.
TI HIERE is no one living to-day to tell the story of this enterprise as it might have been told twelve or fifteen years ago. All the men who were interested in its origin, who first urged its importance upon the slow cars and reluctant pockets of their generation, who issued appeals, who solicited subscriptions, who contrived ways and means, and who finally placed the association upon a firm foundation, with land to sell and money in the bank -- these men are all gone. Doubtless they carried the knowl- edge, and perhaps the secret, of many a discouragement to the grave with them. To build up such a magnificent property as that of the Albany Cemetery Association against the inertia of public apathy represents more endeavor than is ever recorded -- certainly more than can be recorded here, much as we should be pleased to credit in particular, and to the fullest extent, the public spirit and enterprise of Rev. Dr. Welch and Mr. Thomas W. Olcott. Without the inspiring words and noble example of the one and the financial skill and resources of the other, it is doubtful whether the project would have been carried through for many years.
As it was, part of the money to be paid for purchase of the land was secured by mortgage, and it is a tradition that the stately and courteous " old Dr. Wendell," meeting Mr. Olcott and Mr. Hillhouse opposite the bank one morning, openly and roundly denounced the whole project, bringing his cane down upon the pavement most emphatically, and
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THE ALBANY RURAL CEMETERY.
declaring it was the height of absurdity to expect any one to bury their dead in " a mortgaged lot."
This, however, did not prove an insuperable obstacle, although it appears that the title deeds to the original pur- chase were not executed till January 1. 1846, or more than a year after the grounds were consecrated. These deeds were for about forty-two acres bought from Thomas and John Hillhouse, and seventy-eight acres bought from Governor Marcy and others, executors of Benjamin Knower, deceased, and for which, in all, the consideration was about $12,500.
Rev. Dr. Welch and Mr. Olcott having been appointed a committee of the trustees to superintend the improve- ment of the grounds, as well as to locate and purchase them, engaged the services of Maj. D. B. Douglass, who had won some reputation by his treatment of Green-Wood, and the work began. Subscription-books for lots were opened the June following the consecration, and persons making the highest bids were entitled to first choice. The bids ranged from $1 to $80. Bidders were ranged in classes, according to the amount of their bids, and the days on which they should have priority of selection in each class were determined by number. Rev. Dr. Welch and Mr. Olcott, in consideration of their services, were author- ized to select one lot cach, without charge. The price of lots, 16 x 16, at first was $25. The first deed of a lot recorded was July 4, 1845, to Edward C. Delavan.
The trustees being permitted by their act of incorpora- tion to give to the Cemetery " such name as they may
THOMAS W. OLCOTT. Second president of the Albany Cemetery Association.
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CHANGES IN THE BOARD.
think appropriate," at first decided on "The Evergreens," and it was so designated for once, at least, in the official advertisements ; but this action was speedily rescinded, and it became the Albany Rural Cemetery.
Its history up to 1868 was, more or less, that of a strug- gle for support. Many persons bought lots, it is true, but the expense of improving the grounds and keeping them in order, was large. The burial-grounds on the site of Washington park were now closed. In fact there had been but few interments there for some time, but in 1868 the bodies were removed to the Rural and to St. Agnes Cemeteries, at an expense to the city of some $40,000, and the Rural Cemetery speedily became the place of burial for all outside the Roman Catholic church, not only in Albany, but in a great many instances for residents of Cohoes, West Troy and Troy. The beauty of the grounds, and their complete adaptation to the purpose, have also attracted the attention of many people in other cities, and scores of lots have been sold to persons living in New York and Brooklyn. It is twenty years since the finances of the association have occasioned any anxiety, except as to how they shall be invested.
In less than a year from organization changes were made in the board of trustees, but as it is not the intention to here record all the details which make up the book of minutes, it will be sufficient to merely mention the names of the trustees in their succession, as follows :
Archibald MeIntyre was succeeded at death by S. HI.
So
THE ALBANY RURAL CEMETERY.
Ransom, January 8, 1859; succeeded by Grange Sard, October 9, 1883.
Rev. B. T. Welch resigned January 27, 1847. and was succeeded by Dr. Peter Wendell, who died and was suc- ceeded in 1850 by Greene C. Bronson, who resigned and was succeeded. July 26, 1852, by William 11. De Witt, and he, January 15, 1873, by Jeremiah J. Austin, and he resigning was succeeded, January 10, 1878, by Robert L. Johnson, who dying was succeeded by Abraham Lansing. April 12, 1881.
Stephen Van Rensselaer resigning was succeeded, Jan- uary 15, 1845, by Isaiah Townsend, who removing to Cornwall was succeeded, January 23, 1856, by Gen. John F. Rathbone.
Gen. John A. Dix resigning was succeeded, January 27. 1847, by Marcus T. Reynolds, and he, January 8. 1861, by Charles Van Benthuysen, who at his death was succeeded October 21, 1881, by Daniel S. Lathrop, who dying was succeeded by John Boyd Thacher, April 10, 1883.
John O. Wilson going to Chicago was succeeded, July 17. 1863, by Isaac W. Vosburgh, and he at his death by Gen. John G. Farnsworth, June 7. 1889.
James Horner resigning was succeeded, January 27, 1847. by John L. Schoolcraft, and he January 8, 1861, by Otis Allen, and he dying, by Erastus D. Palmer, January 10, 1866.
Anthony M. Strong resigning was succeeded, February 15, 1871, by John T. Norton, and he by Erastus Corning, September 21, 1871.
ERASTU'S CORNING, [Third and present president of the Albany Cemetery Association.
SI
SUCCESSION OF THE TRUSTEES.
Peter Gansevoort was succeeded by James B. Jermain. January 18, 1876.
Thomas W. Olcott was succeeded at death by Dudley Olcott, May 18, 1880.
Ezra P. Prentice resigning was succeeded, January 15, 1845, by Thomas Ilillhouse, and he by Abraham Van Vechten, September 21, 1871.
John 1. Wendell was succeeded, January 1, 1855, by Rev. Dr. B. T. Welch ; and he, September 21, 1871, by James Kidd, and he by Judge Rufus W. Peckham, Sep- tember 26, 1879.
Ellis Baker was succeeded, September 17, 1850, by Gov. W. L. Marcy ; and he, September 17, 1857, by Dr. Alden March ; and he, January 11, 1870, by Dr. James H. Armsby ; and he, January 18, 1876, by Charles B. Lansing, and he by Judge William L. Learned, January 12, 1891.
Ira Harris was succeeded by Robert Lenox Banks, Jan- uary 18, 1876.
There have been but three presidents: Rev. B. T. Welch, 1844 to 1849; Thomas W. Olcott, 1849 to 1880 ; Erastus Corning, 1880.
Mr. James B. Jermain was elected vice-president Octo- ber 12, 1886.
The secretaries have been : Anthony M. Strong ( who was also treasurer), John W. Ford (not a member of the board), James W. Greene (superintendent ), A. M. Strong, Charles Van Benthuysen, Robert Lenox Banks.
The treasurer was combined with the secretary in Mr. A. M. Strong ; with superintendent in Mr. Thomas, and
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THE ALBANY RURAL CEMETERY.
is now Mr. Dudley Olcott, with an assistant in Mr. Willis G. Nash.
Mr. John F. Shafer has been the book-keeper since November 15, 1886.
Major Douglass was engaged as engineer in laying ont the grounds during 1844-5 and '6, and was succeeded by John Hillhouse, who acted as such until 1848, when he was succeeded by Burton A. Thomas, who was connected in that capacity with the Cemetery till 1879. He was sue- ceeded by his son, Jeffrey P. Thomas, who was also, as he is yet. the superintendent.
The names first given to many of the localities in the Cemetery by Major Douglass were thought to be strangely inappropriate, and January 23, 1856, Superintendent Greene was authorized by the board to change the nomen- clature which he did in many cases. In fact the name of the Cemetery itself has been discussed at various times, many favoring a more poetical designation. Mr. Alfred B. Street suggested that it be called Tawasentha, said to mean in the Indian language, "the place of many dead."
The first keeper of the Cemetery was John Varley. In 1850 John L. Weatherwax was made the superintendent. He was succeeded in 1852 by Rev. James W. Greene, who was also secretary and treasurer, and Robert W. Bell was keeper. Mr. Greene resigned June 1, 1868, and was suc- ceeded by Mr. J. P. Thomas, as stated.
In 1868 the position of superintendent of interments was created and filled by the appointment of Patrick Callen. lle was succeeded in May, 1878, by James A. Burns.
PRESENT BOARD AND OFFICERS. 83
The roster at the present time is accordingly as follows :
PRESIDENT, ERASTUS CORNING. VICE- PRESIDENT, JAMES B. JERMAIN. SECRETARY, ROBERT LENOX BANKS.
TREASURER,
DUDLEY OLCOTT.
ASSISTANT TREASURER,
WILLIS G. NASH.
ACCOUNTANT, JOHN F. SHAFER.
TRUSTEES,
JOHN F. RATHBONE,
RUFUS W. PECKHAM,
ERASTUS D. PALMER,
DUDLEY OLCOTT,
ERASTUS CORNING,
ABRAHAM LANSING.
ABRAHAM VAN VECHTEN,
JOHN BOYD THACHER,
ROBERT LENOX BANKS,
GRANGE SARD, JR.,
JAMES B. JERMAIN, JOHN G. FARNSWORTH,
WILLIAM L. LEARNED.
SUPERINTENDENT AND SURVEYOR, JEFFREY P. THOMAS. SUPERINTENDENT OF INTERMENTS, JAMES A. BURNS.
From the last annual report of Superintendent Thomas, January 1, 1892, it appears that the whole number of lots sold since the Cemetery was opened was at that time 7,148 ; the whole number of interments, 36,223. The number of interments last year was 1,135, which was fifty- nine more than the preceding year. The funds held for the perpetual care of lots amount to more than $100,000.
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