Great Discovery at the Cemetery

Last week while working at the Evangelical Protestant cemetery in Albany I made an awesome discovery. While looking at the gravestone of Civil War veteran, Philip Myers, who married a distant cousin of mine, Magdelena Sanger, I noticed that there were low spots and clumps of dead grass in spots to the left and to the right of Philip's gravestone.

Philip Myers
photo courtesy Genevieve Philomena Stack Casler

I scraped the dead grass with my foot and discovered two tablet style gravestones that broke off from its buried section. The gravestones fell over, sunk into the ground, and then were covered over by dirt. I always found it surprising that Philip had the only visible gravestone in a large lot.

Immediately I called a distant cousin, Pat, who I was supposed to meet at the cemetery last year. After telling him of my find, he quickly came to the cemetery and helped with this project. Philip is Pat's great great grandfather. One of the newly found gravestones was that of Pat's great great grandmother, Magdalena Sanger and the other was of an uncle, Max Myers.

The gravestones were removed from the soil and Pat cleaned them with D2 while I prepared the area for installing wood frames so that I could fabricate slotted bases for the new found gravestones.

The next day, while mixing cement for the bases, Pat stopped by and he dug out another gravestone that had fallen over and sunk into the ground. This gravestone was that of Mary Myers, daughter of Philip and Magdelena. So, in total, three gravestones that had not seen the light of day for many years were found.

WIFE
MARY MYERS
GOODMAN
1881 - 1949

When coming home I checked the burial lot cards to see how large the plot was and how many burials were interred. The lot was 16' x 12' and there were additional burials also. However after probing the entire plot area, no additional gravestones were found. Below is the lot card.

Today, the gravestones were reset into the newly made bases. The stones will need to be cleaned again with D2 but so far the project looks amazing. Cemeteries always hold stories that are waiting to be found. Sometimes you need to dig to get at them.

Gravestones Correctly Aligned

Myers Lot Overview

MADELINE MYERS
wife of
P. MYERS
Co. A. 18 N.Y.S.V.
Died Oct. 15, 1896
AE 55 Yrs.

PHILIP MYERS
Co. A.
18. N.Y.S. Vols.
Died Dec. 23, 1922
AE 86 Yrs.

MAX MYERS
Co. f.
12 N.Y. Cav.
Died Sept. 4, 1909
AE 31 yrs.

Update on the Work at the Evangelical Protestant Cemetery

For those who are following the saga of the Evangelical Protestant Church Cemetery in Albany, here is a long overdue update. For background information on this story click here. If you read the background story, well, now the cemetery is back to way that it should always be; neat, orderly, and nicely landscaped. But... this is only temporary. As we all know, the grass will continue to grow until early November. Within another two weeks, maybe sooner, the grass will need to be cut again. The grass cannot be allowed to grow to the extreme length that it was previously.

So far the present owner of the cemetery and its accompanying South End church building is missing in action. He cannot be located by the authorities. We do not think that the municipality is trying very hard though. However, when I decide to tackle the task of finding our absentee cemetery owner. Oh, he will be found. Those who are in hiding need to realize that I am a genealogist with super skills and have the ability to find information and people. Enough on that.

The primary individuals who tackled this project were Travis, Mike, and Dan. These three amigos worked at the cemetery for about two weeks and they got it done. There was help from a lot of other people including a crew from Albany Med, workers from Mater Christi, UAlbany football players and their coaches, and numerous lot owners. However Travis, Mike, and Dan were present at the cemetery on a daily basis.

Will the city of Albany invoke their "Action Plan" so that this does not happen again? I very seriously doubt they will do anything. But, time will tell what happens here.

Below are a series of before and after photos at the cemetery detailing the amount of work and effort that those who helped with this project undertook. While the cemetery was overgrown, deer, skunks, and groundhogs were plentiful.

Below are before and after shots at the front of the cemetery on Krumkill Road.

Where are the gravestones?

Oh, here they are

Overgrown entrance road

Entrance road looking good

van Rensselaer Family Burial Ground Restoration Project Presentation

On Sunday, September 15th, the Greenbush Historical Society will host genealogist, historian, and gravestone conservator Christopher White; as he gives a presentation on the restoration of the van Rensselaer Family Burial Grounds in East Greenbush off Route 9J.

The program is free and open to the public.
All programs at held at 2 PM at the
East Greenbush Community Library
10 Community Way
East Greenbush, NY 12061
518.477.7476

Burial Grounds Before Restoration

Albany History Race: Alexander Hamilton Edition!

The Albany Public Library and the Albany Institute of History and Art has teamed up to host the Alexander Hamilton Edition of the Albany History Race. The following information is culled from the Discover Albany website.

Here's how you can participate and win!

• Make a team! All teammates must fit in one car. You provide the car.
• Meet at the Washington Avenue Branch of Albany Public Library, at 2pm on Saturday, 9/7 to receive clues directing you to Hamilton locations in Albany.
• Plan the quickest route to visit the locations that afternoon.
• Hop in your team's car, drive to the spots, and document your quick visit with a picture. 
• The final stop is the Albany Institute of History and Art, where teams that complete the race will get pizza! The fastest teams to arrive will win Hamilton themed prizes! 

Registration began August 7th. To sign up your team, only one member of your team needs to register at this link. For more details, please call 518.427.4376.

Historical Presentation about Adirondack Jews

A free program on the history of Jewish migration into the Adirondacks will be hosted by the Nassau Synagogue and Jewish Community Center titled "Adirondack Jews- Community and Contribution." The program will be held at the Nassau Synagogue located at 12 Albany Avenue in Nassau. The event begins at 7 PM. The featured speaker is Diane O'Connor, Managing Director of the Ticonderoga Historical Society.

Refreshments will be served. Donations will be graciously accepted. Reservations are appreciated and can be made by emailing: nassausynagogue@gmail.com

Troy Annual Armenian Festival

The Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church will host its Annual Armenian Festival on Saturday, September 7, from 12 PM till 8 PM and on Sunday September 8, from 12 PM till 4 PM.

Armenian food, desserts, music, and games are available. The local Armenian Dance Group will give a live performance.

Admission is free! For more information please contact the church by calling 518.274.1477.

Albany Rural Cemetery September Walking Tour

Tickets are now available for the next Albany Rural Historic Walking Tour on September 14th. Stroll through the beautiful cemetery and stop at the graves of prominent people whom are buried in Albany Rural Cemetery. Listen to the stories of sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer, Margarita Schuyler, a daughter of General Philip Schuyler, and many more.

Cost is $20 per person. The tour will take approximately one and a half hours. Tickets are NOT available by phone or in person. Tickets are only available by following this link:
Eventbrite 2019 Historic Walking Tour of Albany Rural Cemetery

Getting Back to Business

This Summer is flying by. Too much going on, actually! Unfortunately much of it is aggravating "stuff" that should have never have surfaced and become an issue. Such as the condition of Albany's Evangelical Protestant Church Cemetery on Krumkill Road. As most know, it became overgrown due to a lack of mowing and upkeep. Fortunately, a small group of volunteer and some of them coming from quiet a distance stepped up and did the right thing. They brought the cemetery back to the way that it should be; neat, orderly, and trimmed. For the latest on this ongoing saga please view this link. A new update on the cemetery will be posted soon.

Regular genealogy and historical posts shall return...