EVERGREEN CEMETERY
SINCLAIRVILLE BURYING GROUND
History
SINCLAIRVILLE, NY
THE SINCLAIRVILLE BURYING GROUND
The Sinclairville Burying Ground was the second place
of interment set apart in the town of Charlotte.
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On the 20th of June, 1809, John Pickett, of the Pickett Settlement,
piloted a party of pioneers down Mill Creek, and along the grounds afterwards
selected for burial purposes at Sinclairville, to Cassadaga Creek. Here he
felled a tree to enable the party to cross. After pointing out the way that led
through the woods to the Smiley Settlement in Ellery, he returned to his home. No
white man that we have any account of had visited the place now occupied by
Sinclairville prior to Mr. Pickett, except the surveyors of the Holland Land Company.
They, in 1808, ran the northern line of Lot
41, which passed very near to the northern limits of the village burying ground and cemetery.
In March, 1810, Major Sinclair, William Berry and his family,
and some others arrived at Sinclairville, completed and occupied the first
building erected in the village—a log house that had been commenced
the fall before. The first clearing made here in this wilderness,
was a tract of two or three acres that lay east and adjacent to the burying
ground, which in June following was planted to corn. In the summer of
1810, a dam was thrown across Mill Creek, and a saw-mill
built northwest of the cemetery, not a stone's throw from its
western limits. It thus happens that the first openings in the forest at
Sinclairville, and the first settlement of the village, were made close around
this burial place.
A little later, and improvements were commenced further away.
Clearings began to be made, and buildings to be erected, on and near Main street, and
along what is now Railroad avenue.
The barren character of the soil where the burying ground and cemetery are
located was undoubtedly the cause of its not having been selected for
improvement, so that the thick forest and undergrowth of hemlocks, for several
years after the settlement of the village, remained undisturbed, the natural
habitation of rabbits and conies, which even to this day haunt the locality.
No spot for burial purposes was allotted to the public for some
time after the settlement of the village. The first settlers were hardy and
vigorous people. But few died during the early years. The first death that
occurred within the corporate limits of the village was that of Elisha Winsor, an
infant son of Abraham Winsor, who then lived on Railroad avenue, just north of the town
line. He died in 1814, four or five years after the settlement of the village.
He was buried on the bank or hill, that rises a little west of the iron bridge over
Mill creek, on Railroad avenue.
Hiram Sinclair, an infant son of Major Sinclair, died in March, 1818. He
was buried in a little grove of plum trees which then grew a few feet northwest
of the hotel, near the east line of the village lot now owned by James A.
Clark. One or two other young children may have died in the village, and been
buried without the limits of what afterwards became the burial ground.
About the year 1818, Mr. Sinclair set apart for the use of the
public for burial purposes, two acres of land, substantially what is known as
the Old Burying Ground. It occupies the southeasterly portion of the lands
enclosed and improved as Evergreen
Cemetery. It is not
certainly known who was the first interred here. Many years ago, a young
traveler on his arrival at Sinclairville, was prostrated by sickness. He was well
cared for by Mrs. Sinclair at the tavern, and at the house of Dr. Sargent, but
died after a lingering illness, and was buried in the Old Burying Ground.
His grave was long known as the "Stranger's Grave." Upon a rude,
unfinished head-stone, near the central and western part of the Old Burying
Ground, is carved in distinct and well-formed letters, the following words, "
Febr'y 28 1818." This is the oldest inscription in the grave-yard,
and may mark the stranger's grave, and perhaps the place of the first burial. A
few feet from it, is an old, uncut headstone without inscription, while a little
way in another direction is a rude headstone, on which are cut the letters,
"S. W." In the vicinity of these old stones are a number of
unmarked graves, while others near them have at the head undressed stones,
evidently gathered from the creeks and fields around, upon which usually there is
no inscription. These undoubtedly are the oldest graves in the burial place,
made before grave-stones, finished by workmen skilled in the business, could be
readily procured. The first well authenticated burial made in this ground was that
of two infant children of Sylvanus L. and Hannah Henderson. They died
January 26, 1820, and were buried in the Old Burying Ground when it was nearly
covered with forest trees.
The remains of these children were afterwards removed to the
lot of W. W. Henderson
in the new cemetery. Among the oldest graves is that of the infant son of
Samuel Brunson, who died November 21, 1821. In a conspicuous place, not
far from the center of this old burial ground, is the grave of Major Samuel Sinclear,
the founder of the village, and the person from whom it derives its name.
He belonged to a distinguished family of New
Hampshire. He was a near kinsman of Joseph Cilly,
formerly United States Senator from New Hampshire,
and of Jonathan Cilly, who while a member of Congress from Maine, was killed in the celebrated duel
with Graves of Kentucky. He was a kinsman of Gov. Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts. In his
youth Major Sinclear was a soldier of the Revolution, in the regiment of his
uncle, Col. Joseph Cilly, a distinguished officer of that war. Mr. Sinclear was
in the battles at Saratoga
that immediately preceded the surrender of Burgoyne. He was in the battle of
Monmouth, and at Valley Forge. He served in
the campaign against the Indians under Sullivan. At his grave is an ancient, but
fine headstone, carved from the quarry stones of the county, and finished with skill
and taste, scarcely equaled by any other in the burial ground.*
On the same lot is buried his wife, Fanny Sinclear, and her mother,
Thankful Bigalow, who died in the year 1839, at the age of 96 years, 11 months,
and 8 days. Pioneers of the county lie buried here, in graves without
head-stones, who have many descendants living in the locality of the burying
ground. Among the earliest residents buried here, whose graves are marked, are
Nathaniel Johnson, and Sylvanus L. Henderson his son-in-law, Abraham Reynodls,
Samuel Hurley, Warren Dingley, John M. Brunson, Justus Torrey, John Sinclair,
David Cobb, Melzer Sylvester, Lemira Camp, William M. Wagoner, Hannah Wagoner,
and John McAlister, who died at the age of 88. He was the founder of the
Baptist church in Sinclairville, and grand-father of Gen. John McAlister
Schofield, the general highest in rank in the armies of the United States.
Here are buried the Rev. Chester W. Carpenter, Rev. N. H. Barnes, and Rev. J.
B. Gale, esteemed pastors of the Congregational Church in Sinclairville; Dr.
Gilbert Richmond, and also Henry B. Hedges, young and skillful
physicians—over the remains of the latter stands the first monument
erected in the town; Albert Richmond and Elezer M. Peck, well known lawyers of
Sinclairville; Jarvis B. Rice, once Sheriff of Chautauqua, and John M. Edson, a
well known citizen, formerly a judge. He came to Sinclairville in 1810, with
the family of Major Sinclear, his step-father. He was prominent among the
pioneers of the county. Among other well known persons buried here are
James Williams, John Reed, Ulysses Tracy, David Sinclear, Henry
Kirk, Elizabeth Hedges, Jonathan Hedges, Asa Dunbar, William Strong, Ebenezer
Skinner, Caleb J. Allen, David Sackett, John Thorn, Ebenezer and Erasmus Brown,
Anna Brunson, Nelson Mitchell, John Arnold, Isaac Newton, Susan Marsden, Henry
Smale, a citizen of Cuba, West Indies, Dr. Samuel Parker, and Robert LeGrys.
Although the land constituting the Old Burying Ground was
fully dedicated to the public, and for many years actually used as a burial
place, yet no written conveyance was made of it by Major Sinclear in his
life-time. Upon a carefully prepared map of the village of Sinclairville,
made by Simeon Clinton, May 10, 1836, is accurately delineated all of the village
lots, including that of the Old Burying Ground, giving the length and bearing
of its boundary lines. Upon a still older map, the burying ground appears,
carefully plotted with respect to its dimensions and boundary lines, while upon
the earliest plot of the village that has been preserved it is not delineated. The
first conveyance of these grounds made to the public was by deed bearing date
March 3d, 1849, executed by Elias S. and Jonathan Hedges, and Lucy his wife, to
"John Reed, John M. Brunson, and Nelson Mitchell, trustees, duly appointed
by the town of Charlotte, to superintend the burying ground situate near the
village of Sinclairville.” Subsequently the boundary line of the old
burying place was slightly changed by the conveyance of a small portion of its
grounds to Richard D. Sherman, in exchange for a strip of land nearly twenty
feet in width, extending along its western limits. The ground was regularly
surveyed, and divided into lots, probably not long after it was dedicated to
the public, but during many years afterwards, no one exercised any special
authority over it. Nothing was charged for lots. People buried their dead where
they chose, and no inconvenience or misunderstanding resulted. Such money and
labor as was expended to keep the grounds in order, was raised by subscription.
A sufficient amount was raised in this manner, at one time, to build a good and
substantial board fence around it. No one regularly served as sexton. The
graves were dug by such persons as happened to be at hand. At a town meeting
held March 7, 1848, John Reed, John M. Brunson, and Nelson Mitchell were chosen
trustees. These were the first persons who had lawful authority to exercise control
over it. At a town meeting held March 6, 1849, Isaac Newton was also chosen
trustee. For many years, Harrison Nichols was usually employed to dig the
graves, and perform some of the duties of sexton. At a town meeting held February
21, 1865, the Board of Trustees of Evergreen Cemetery were duly elected
trustees of the burial ground, and at a meeting of the Board of Trustees of
Evergreen Cemetery, held April 1, 1865, B. W. Field was elected Superintendent
of the burial ground, and John Dewey its Secretary and Treasurer. *This, and several other fine grave-stones, in the Old
Burying Ground, were made by the Damon brothers. The parents of the Damons came
to the town of Pomfret in Chautauqua County,
in the year 1816, with their four sons, Stephen, Martin, Joseph, and North. The sons were
rough, intemperate men. They lived upon a farm in the south part of Pomfret, near
the residence of the late Elislia Norton, on the Old Chautauqua Road.
Little is known about Stephen. He was a half-brother of the
others. Martin was a stone-cutter, and fashioned many of the grave-stones that
are so numerously seen in the early burial places of the county, particularly
the old cemetery at Fredonia. These grave-stones are readily recognized by the
style of the work, as well as the material out of which they are made. They are
usually in a good state of preservation, and are valuable as fine specimens of early
skill. Martin carried on his business for a short time in a shop at, or near,
the village of Fredonia. He was the most respectable of
the family, and his work proves him to have been a man of ability in his business, possessing skill and taste. There
is an unique and almost grotesque specimen of, his work in the old cemetery at
Fredonia. Upon an ancient stone, set at the grave of Capt. Thomas Abell, who
died in 1814, he has represented the Day of Judgment. The angel Gabriel is
seated on a great cloud, with a trumpet nearly as long as his body, out of
which issues the words, "Ye dead arise," "Come to
judgment." Other angels are seated on the cloud, hiding their faces
in their hands, as if weeping. Beneath them, tombstones are represented as
falling into confusion, and the dead, with bald heads, and curious, chubby
faces, appear to be ascending out of opening graves. The execution of this
rather remarkable design is fine, much of the work being in high relief. The
stone is fast going to decay. It would be well worth the trouble for those
having the cemetery in charge to preserve a fac simile of this curious piece of
workmanship as a relic of the past. It is told of Martin, who had a ready and
sarcastic wit, that a leading Fredonia physician who saw him at work, jocosely
asked him if it was his custom to letter the grave-stones before the person for
whom they were intended had died. Martin grimly replied, "Not unless I
hear he is your patient." Joseph quarried the stone on the farm, from the
quarry still known as the Damon quarry. On the 24th of April, 1834, he
committed murder upon the person of his wife. He was tried at Mayville in
September of the same year. He was ably defended by James Mullet of Fredonia,
one of the most talented and eloquent lawyers in Western
New York. He was convicted, and hung at Mayville, May 15, 1835. This
was the first execution for a capital offense in the county. It occurred in the
open field, in the presence of a large concourse of spectators. It was regarded
as a prominent event in the early history of the county, and a deep impression
was made upon the many people who witnessed the melancholy scene. The skull of
Mrs. Damon, and the iron bar with which the murder was committed, are now in the
possession of Elias Forbes of Fredonia. Joseph left two children. Soon after
his brother's execution, North Damon went to Canada. Subsequently dark rumors
came back, that he too had been executed for murder. Martin died soon after the
death of Joseph. I am indebted for many of these facts respecting the Damons,
to Hon. E. F. Warren. O. E.
Source: HISTORY OF EVERGREEN CEMETERY,
SINCLAIRVILLE, CHAUT. CO., N. Y. And Other
Burial Grounds in its Vicinity, with its—LAWS, RULES, REGULATIONS, NAMES
OF LOT-OWNERS, AND MAP.
Prepared by Obed Edson, under the direction of the Trustees
of Evergreen Cemetery Association; Sinclairville, N. Y.: Press of The
Commercial; 1890.
Page 9-15
Provided by Deb Haines, ILGenWeb ASC, cc of Grundy & Will Counties