Saturday, May 26, 2012

Memorial Day visit to Revolutionary Cemetery, Salem, NY

Today we went to Salem, NY for their townwide garage sale. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. We saw a sign that said "burying ground" and decided to see what it was. It turned out to be the oldest cemetery in Salem. It was interesting to visit such a cemetery on Memorial Day Weekend. There were flags on the graves of the Veterans. I took a pamphlet from their information mailbox and the following is taken directly from it:
      "This is the oldest cemetery in Salem, established very soon after the first settlement of the town in 1764. The earliest date of burial recorded on a tombstone is that of Abram Savage who died in 1769 at the age of 18, and the most recent burial is that of John E. Gillis, born 1858, died 1923. The oldest burial is that of John McNish who died in 1821 at the age of 104."
     "Documents show there are 101 Revolutionary soldiers buried here. Tradition has it that after the Battle of Saratoga, the bodies of another 100 soldiers were brought to this cemetery and buried in a common grave.  More Revolutionary War dead are buried here than in any other Washington County cemetery."
     "Many fine examples of early American sculpture can be found here, including 32 stones displaying the rounded angel head style of Zerubbabel Collins, a master carver of the late 18th century who had a marble shop in Shaftsbury, Vt."
     "Number of Stones: approx 1,032.  Number of Veterans 100+"