Following Geneabloggers 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, I decided to write about cemeteries. Cemeteries are the week #9 prompt for 2012.
One thing which has been bothersome to me as I got interested in genealogy is that of abandoned cemeteries. I found quite a number of cemeteries which have fallen into disrepair. Do you know of an abandoned cemetery? If so, reply to this blog. Let me know the cemetery name and location. I’ll try to contact someone from that area. Perhaps town or county officials are unaware regarding the state of disrepair of the cemetery. A Boy Scout Troop in the area might have a scout looking for a Good Eagle Scout Project.
One cemetery which is in a very sad state of disrepair is Scutt Cemetery in Preston Hollow, Albany County, New York. Someone took transcription of the cemetery back in 1994 and posted it on rootsweb: Scutt Cemetery Transcription . It is a small cemetery. In 1994 when the transcription was taken there were only 57 gravestone markers which were recorded. These records have also been loaded to Find a Grave .
This cemetery is the last resting place of at least one Revolutionary War Veteran by the name of Abel Ford. Perhaps there is more revolutionary war veterans buried there. Abel Ford was my ancestor. According to his revolutionary war pension record he served during the time the American forces were defeating General Burgoyne in upstate New York. He was discharged and left a few days before General Burgoyne surrendered.
A number of Abel Ford’s family members are buried in the same cemetery. His wife Abigail who died 22 years earlier is buried there. Two of his sons Reuben Ford and Solomon Ford along with their wives Eunice and Nancy respectively are also buried there. A kind woman a year or two ago volunteered to go the cemetery for me and was able to photograph Abel’s gravestone. I will be forever grateful for her kindness. At that time a number of markers which had been transcribed only about 15 years earlier were no longer to be found.
I wonder what can be done for these small abandoned cemeteries. I’ve tried unsuccessfully so far to get some interest from the local and county authorities to restore this small cemetery. I keep trying and I’m hoping eventually the funding and interest will be there.
