Ballou Cemetery, Town of Fenner, Madison County, NY  (aka Little Ballou, Ballou South Plot, Munger, Between Fenner Corners and Perryville, North of Fenner Corners, [perhaps Gamlin farm?]) Field Check by Daniel H. Weiskotten, April 26, 1994  MNI = 26, names = 25, 1822 - 1901   (old lists include: DAR undated, Gallup 1948, Meyer et al. c.1960 [with unsourced notations], and an anonymous and undated [Tuttle 1940?]) posted 7/19/1999   Click here to go back to the CAZENOVIA, FENNER, and NELSON ROOTSWEB Main Page  Click here to go back to the FENNER CEMETERY Main Page Comments or Questions??? - CONTACT ME  

There are several parts to this history and transcription.  If you wish, you may jump ahead to the Destruction of this Cemetery, the Property History, or the discussion and list of Those Buried Here.
 

The Destruction of this Cemetery        To an archaeologist this cemetery now presents a serious challenge, to local historians it is a fragment of what it had been, to the descendants of those buried there it is a disgrace, and to several local and State laws it is a violation.  Most of the tombstones are still there and the bodies are still there, but few, if any, are matched together.  Until recently the cemetery had been overgrown with weeds and was perhaps occasionally cleaned, but it had become a parking area for farm equipment, with scattered stones poking up between the tires and hitches.  A low squarish mound in the center held the monument of Arnold Ballou and several of his immediate family surrounded him.  The graves of other members of the family and a few people from the neighborhood were scattered in the area around the mound, principally to the east (front) where there were only a few and to the north where there were a larger number.  The total named population of the cemetery is 30, but (as is the case with all cemeteries) there are undoubtedly many unmarked graves also.  Just on the immediate north side of the cemetery is the much larger and much better kept Munger Cemetery which appears to have been more of a community cemetery than this one.  The earliest dates in the Ballou Cemetery are found on the stones of several members of the Ballou family who died in 1822.  The earliest date of the Munger Cemetery is 1804.  While the two cemeteries were active at the same time it is not clear why the two cemeteries exist side-by-side.  The cemetery covered approximately 100 feet square which is acknowledged by the recent surveys which show the plot.
        The cemetery had long been neglected and abused by the land owner who parked farm machinery amongst the tombstones and allowed tall grass and small trees to grown up there.  At some recent point in time the southwest corner of the cemetery was cut away to enlarge part of the nearby farm yard and for a drainage ditch (I do not know what, if any, graves were disturbed.)  In 1993 the cemetery was "cleaned up" by an unsuspecting volunteer and all the stones were collected and placed upon Arnold Ballou's small plot at the center of the larger cemetery.
        The destruction of this cemetery occurred not long after plans were formulated to develop the surrounding land.  In a deed for the premises dated October 31, 1989, at the time that the development was being planned, is the following subjection:

The premises shall be subject to an easement of access and egress for the purposes of conservation by public or private individuals of an unmarked cemetery located upon the premises and shown on said maps as "old cemetery to be used for access" and said cemetery shall in no way be disturbed.  Access shall be only from Nelson Road onto said area and not elsewhere on Lot 11-A. (Deed 898:087)

But, since the cemetery had been rearranged to occupy only a portion of the original area, it is uncertain what will become of the area between the Ballou plot and the adjacent Munger Cemetery.  When last I saw the cemetery the entire northern half was used as a lane to the fields to the west, and because of the barns along the road to the south of the cemetery, the easiest access to the fields (and the proposed development) is through the old cemetery (now devoid of stones, but wherin many bodies still lie).
        The first known burials were made in the Ballou Cemetery in 1822 and the latest known burial is from 1901.  When the original burying ground was first described in 1847 it was three rods (50 feet) square with the monument of Arnold Ballou as the center (Deed BI:334).  As the cemetery continued to be used in the following years other graves were placed outside of this space.  The subdivision map of 1989 shows the cemetery as being 100 feet square (Madison County map 2391) and it is remembered that a number of tombstones extended beyond the fifty foot square area of 1847.  Most of the stones clustered in and around the small mound in the center where Arnold Ballou is buried but others were located in the area to the front and along the north side to the border of the adjacent Munger Cemetery.  In 1993 the volunteer, who was considered to be doing a responsible community service, perhaps at the initiation of the owner of the adjacent land, cleaned up the old burying ground.  Unfortunately the removal of the scattered stones from the northern part of the cemetery set the stage for placing the lane between the two cemeteries (it had been a cow path for many years previous).  A few of the stones around Arnold Ballou's grave still remain in their original location (over the graves) but a large number of them were moved some distance to Arnold Ballou's mound where they are unnaturally grouped too close together with headstones and footstones being all mixed together without order.  It is clear that while the tombstones were moved in this clean up, the bodies were not.
        I have so far been able to determine that such treatment of a known burial ground is in violation of New York State Highway Law 181 of 1909 which governs the laying out of highways through burying grounds:

No private road or highway shall be laid out or constructed through any burying ground, unless the remains therein contained are first carefully removed, and properly reinterred in another burying ground ...

Also, the Membership Corporation Law 81 of 1926 and 1952, which prohibits the sale or disposition of cemetery lands unless all bodies have been removed, may be violated.  Should the site be listed with the State Register of Historic Places through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, then, under Indian Law 12A of 1971 and 1974, regarding Indian cemeteries or burial grounds, permits would be required to perform other work at the site or the developer could face prosecution.  Also pertinent, after the fact, is Town Law 296 of 1932 and 1939 which authorizes the removal of remains from potters fields and neglected or abandoned cemeteries in which no burials have occurred for twenty years, and provides for the relocation to a properly kept incorporated cemetery, after which the land would then be available for other uses.  Other laws may be applicable beyond these.
  Property History

        The Ballou Cemetery is located on the west side of the Nelson Road on the north edge of Lot 11 of the Third Allotment New Petersburg Tract.  The cemetery was a small portion of the property that was primarily designated as the north half of Lot 11.  The earliest record that I could find for the property at the Madison County Clerk's Office was when Phineas Dodge sold 72 acres of the north half of Lot 11 to William Whitman on October 22, 1805 (Deed C:366).  Whitman sold the same to Thurston Wells on March 13, 1809 (Deed N:487).  Another later reference, which mentions the record of a parcel sold by Thurston Wells to Daniel Woodworth in 1801, was found to pertain to a neighboring parcel and not the one containing the cemetery.
        I have not completed the research to find how and when the premises came into the possession of Arnold Ballou (who settled nearby about 1800) but after his death (1833) his heirs sold 13 acres with the cemetery to Quincy A. Ballou on September 21, 1847 (Deed BI:334).  The cemetery is  mentioned therein as:

... reserving from + out of the said thirteen acres of land forever for the purpose of a burying ground three (3) rods [49.5 feet] square in the north orchard on said lot the monument of Arnold Ballou lat[e] of the said town of Fenner deceased to be the center thereof and the east line of said excepted + reserved square to be parallel with the highway running north and south by said orchard.

        When Quincy A. Ballou sold the lot with the cemetery to Sardis Dana on September 5, 1857 there was no mention made of the cemetery (Deed CI:302) but when Dana sold the land (with the land to the north containing the Munger Cemetery) to James Ingles and George W. Harp on December 21, 1858 it was Reserving the family cemetery on said premises with the right of going to + from the same (Deed 100:448).  Ingles and Harp sold the property to Loren Ransom on December 6, 1864 but no cemetery was mentioned (Deed 104:127).  Ransom sold the property in turn to Martin V. Woodworth on February 26, 1866 with the cemetery reserved Subject to the privilege of egress and ingress to the burying ground from and to the highway (Deed 110:223).
        From Woodworth the property then passed through the hands of Elizabeth Ellis (1876) (Deed 138:523), Sophia O. Tayntor (1882) (Deed 153:71), William Stoker (1885) (Deed 163:347), by his will (in Deed 254:90) to Lucy D. Stocker (Stoker).  From her it passed through the hands of James Christenson, Walter Christenson, Roy Christenson, Richard Christenson, Robert J. Keough, Phillips M. Ferry, and then in 1984 to the Federal Land Bank of Springfield.  It has since been owned by Venture Tech Corp., which became USA Land Inc. which became CTV Inc. which sold it in Henry, John, and Peter Stoker, the present (1994) owners, in 1989.  The cemetery is parcel VI of their holdings and is still (1994) reserved (as noted above) (Deeds 255:9, 304:211, 613:441, 659:341, 677:640, 780:171, 841:316, 878:179, and 898:087).
  Those Buried Here          In compiling the present listing of individuals buried in the Ballou cemetery two older lists were consulted through which a number of stones were noted to be missing from the cemetery in 1994.  One list was made by Clezzie Gallup in 1948 and which had been modified or redone about 1960 by Mary K. Meyer and Joyce C. Scott.  Also, the Meyer and Scott (Meyer, et al.) list that I had access to had notes by an unknown researcher pencilled in saying that two additional stones were to be found in the cemetery (I did not find these stones in 1994).  As was the case with all of the cemetery lists I have used (those of Roberta Hendrix excepted) there were numerous errors in both of the lists.  Even when the three lists were combined there were so many errors as to make even the compilation almost worthless - so there was no choice but to reexamine the stones and make a corrected list.  Because of the disturbances at the cemetery since the old lists were made a number of the stones are no longer to be found there or are unaccessible (buried or face down and too heavy to lift), thus the old lists were useful for making the present list a more complete, although perhaps less correct, list of those buried there.
        Those stones not found in 1994 are: ______ Ballou, Chevalier Ballou, Fenner Ballou, Mary Ballou, Montsier Ballou, Quincy Ballou Jr., Clinton Ballou Gillette, Lettie Haight, infant Martin, Mary Whipple, and Michael Whipple (The errors on these transcriptions are unknown but are assumed to be considerable.)  No additional stones were found in the 1994 examination.
        There are also two stones for individuals whose bodies are no longer buried here: that of Samuel H. Whipple whose body is in Warsaw Mo, and Miner G. Woodworth whose body was removed to Evergreen Cemetery in Cazenovia village in 1909 (Evergreen Cemetery, Cazenovia, Interment Books).  A footstone for "M.B. + S.B." is found in 1994 which might be for Montsier and Shevalier Ballou, twins who died in 1822; and another marked "R.B." whose is not represented in the following list (and is thus assumed to be the extra unnamed individual in the calculated MNI.).
  Those buried in the Ballou Cemetery include:  
B.______, R.______, (footstone only with initials "R.B.").
Ballou, (maiden name), see Caroline Ballou Gillette.
Ballou, (maiden name), see Orilla B. Haight.
Ballou, (maiden name), see Arminda Ballou Whipple.
Ballou, ______, son of Arnold and Nancy Ballou, died ______ __, 18__, (age not given) (stone not found in 1994, data from Gallup).
Ballou, Arnold, Col., monument has: "born Smithfield, RI, March 26, 1772, died October 10, 1833, Son of Moses Ballou of RI.  He came to this town when the county was literally a wilderness.  He was a Colonel in the American army and served in the late war with honor to himself and satisfaction to his country.  He was distinguished for his industry and perseverance & died suddenly," age 62 years 6 months 13 days (one side of the monument gives his age as 61 years).
Ballou, Arnold C., died March 27, 1851, age 33 years 2 months.
Ballou, Arnold H., son of Q.A. and M.J. Ballou, died January 9, 1865, age 13 years 4 days.
Ballou, Chevalier, twin son of Arnold and Nancy Ballou (twin brother of Montsier / Montsure Ballou), born October 10, 1821, died (April / August) (5 / 9), 1822, (age not given) (stone not found in 1994, data from Gallup and Meyer, et al.).
Ballou, Diana C., daughter of Welcome  and Susan Ballou, died November 11, 1822, age 4 years 8 months 11 days), (the stone was used for part of a retaining wall when the cemetery was cleaned up and only the first name and MI can be read in 1994) (data compiled from DAR, Gallup, and Meyer, et al; Gallup read father's name as William).
Ballou, Eva Lillian, daughter of Quincy A. and Mary J. Ballou, born June 3, 1849, died September 12, 1850, age 1 year 3 months 9 days.
Ballou, Fenner, son of Arnold and Nancy Cook Ballou, late husband of Lucy Ballou, died October 25, 1822, (age not given) (stone not found in 1994, data from DAR, Meyer, et al., and unsourced notation on Meyer, et al.).
Ballou, Mary, born September 11, 1850, died October 30, 1850, (age not given) (stone not found in 1994, data from Gallup, may be in error - see Quincy Ballou Jr.).
Ballou, Mary J. Hill, wife of Quincy A. Ballou, died June 9, 1858, age 32 years 26 days, erected by M. Cammilla Ballou, their only surviving child.
Ballou, (Montsier / Montsure,) twin son of Arnold and Nancy Ballou (twin brother of Chevalier Ballou), born October 10, 1821, died August (8 / 9), 1822, (age not given) (stone not found in 1994, data from DAR, Gallup, and Meyer, et al.).
Ballou, Nancy Cook, daughter of Judge David Cook, wife of Col. Arnold Ballou, born in the Town of Adams, MA, January 20, 1784, died in Fenner, May 31, 1857, age 73 years 4 months 11 days.
Ballou, Quincy A., died January 29, 1858, age 33 years 4 months 6 days, erected by M. Camilla Ballou, their only surviving child (wife Mary J. Hill Ballou).
Ballou, Quincy Jr., born September 11, 1850, died October 30, 1850, age 1 month 19 days (stone not found in 1994, data from Meyer, et al.) (Gallup indicates Mary Ballou, born September 11, 1850 - October 30, 1850, and Quincy Ballou, died January 29, 1858, age 33 years 4 months 16 days, but no Quincy Ballou Jr. - must be an error here somewhere).
Ballou, Welcome, died March 9, 1826, age 27 years 6 months.
Cook, (maiden name), see Nancy Cook Ballou.
Gillette, Caroline Ballou, wife of Daniel M. Gillette, born 1812, died 1901, (age not given).
Gillette, Clinton Ballou, son of D. Miner (should be Daniel M.) and Caroline B. Gillette, died June 13, 1844, age 5 years 2 months, (stone not found in 1994, data from DAR, Gallup, and Meyer, et al.).
Gillette, Daniel M., born 1804, died 1872, (age not given).
Haight, David B., died February 5, 1890, age 88 years.
Haight, Lettie, daughter of A.D. and Meriam Haight, died February 2, 1866, age 2 years, (stone not found in 1994, data from DAR).
Haight, Orilla B., daughter of Col. Arnold Ballou, wife of David B. Haight, died December 21, 1866, age 62 years 1 month 26 days.
Martin, ______, infant, sister of R.K. Martin, died December 23, 1830, age 1 year 3 months, (stone not found in 1994, data from Meyer, et al.).
Whipple, Arminda Ballou, wife of Samuel H. Whipple, died November 30, 1847, age 39 years 11 months 20 days, (stone is face down and it was impossible to read anything but "Arminda Ballou.") (data from DAR and Meyer, et al., Gallup notes 4 stones down near Samuel Whipple - must be one of these).
Whipple, Mary, wife of Michael Whipple, died March 31, 1859, age 45 years 6 months 23 days, (stone not found in 1994, data from unknown source, Gallup noted 4 stones down near Samuel Whipple - and this may be one of these, but, a stone for Mary Whipple is now in the Needham Cemetery and this may be an error in the old list).
Whipple, Michael, died June 30, 1870, age 55 years, (stone not found in 1994, data from unknown source, Gallup noted 4 stones down near Samuel Whipple - and this may be one of these, but, a stone for Michael Whipple is now in the Needham Cemetery and this may be an error in the old list).
Whipple, Samuel H., died September 17, 1845, age 42 years 1 month 2 days, buried in Warsaw, MO.
Woodworth, Miner G., son of L. and F. Woodworth, died March 24, 1876, age 3 years 8 months, (stone still in cemetery in 1994 but his body was removed to section G, lot 31, of Evergreen Cemetery in 1909, #2759).
   END of Ballou Cemetery list by Daniel H. Weiskotten