van Rensselaer Family Burial Ground, East Greenbush

Last September one of the van Rensselaer family burial grounds was restored. There were at least two more family cemeteries that were in use by the van Rensselaer's. One of the two burial grounds was located on Riverside Avenue in Rensselaer across from Fort Crailo. Whether the bodies are still interred there is unknown but all of the gravestones are either removed or buried. It is definite that the gravestones, if any existed, are long gone. Today the area is a fenced in grassy area next to the city waterworks department. The second family cemetery was located somewhere on nearby Papscanee Island in southern Rensselaer. Until specific locations are determined, this cemetery will be forever hidden. The cemetery might even be under today's Port of Rensselaer.

Knowing that I was interested in history, genealogy, and cemeteries, in 2002, a deceased cousin of mine, Charles J. Koreman, mentioned the van Rensselaer family burial grounds to me. He told me the location was along the railroad tracks approximately one mile north of the intersection of Hayes Road and the railroad tracks.

The following year I walked along the tracks and located the small overgrown cemetery. Fast forward ten years I went back again; this time carrying a camera. Photographs were snapped and later I posted a short blog article on the cemetery including pictures. For the April 2013 blog article on the cemetery click here. The photos taken in 2013 are below.

Very noticeable is the fact that the cemetery was in drastic need of attention. Since the 2013 article was written, I received numerous queries regarding the cemetery. Most of which I could not answer. Looking to put these questions to bed, in February 2018, I contacted the property owner on which the cemetery is located for permission to restore the cemetery. Permission was granted. Thank you!

Work began in early March immediately after the snow melted. A weed-whacker, rake, and loppers were brought to the site to knock down, cut down, and rake out the inside of the cemetery. This task was accomplished in two hours. Now the site was ready for restoration. In April, tools and materials were dropped off at the cemetery. Work began shortly thereafter. Below are photos from March 2018 before the brush inside the cemetery was cleared.

For the most part, the gravestones were restored in piece-meal fashion. Little by little. There was no rush. Plus, the terrain to get to and gain access to the cemetery was very difficult. I am not sure I would tackle another project such as this unless access was easier. A steep hill had to be climbed and that was also while carrying the tools and materials. Then the equipment had to be carried another 150' to the cemetery up a slight incline. Below is a picture of the terrain that I needed to climb before trekking to the cemetery with my gear which included various tools, approximately 50 5 gallon buckets filled with stone dust, shovels, tripod and chain hoist, tampers, many gallons of water, and other materials which escape my memory.

All of the gravestones were cleaned with D2 Biological Solution, the go-to chemical for cleaning gravestones. Tablet style tombstones were excavated leveled and back-filled with tamped stone dust that was brought in in five gallon buckets.

A few of the tablet style stones needed to have a hidden cement bases fabricated on-site to hold those gravestones upright. Four 80 pound cement bags were brought in and mixed on-site and poured in to wooden base frames.

The obelisk proved to be the most challenging stone, aside from being the largest. The column was toppled and laying 15' away from its base. The five foot long column was moved near the monument base for raising later. The foundation, which was a combination of rocks and shale failed and the base portion of the obelisk was un-level. The monument was disassembled. A new foundation consisting of compacted stone dust was put down. The obelisk base was reassembled stretching the limits of capacity for my equipment. Knowing your own capabilities and also the limits of your equipment is key!

Further work in the cemetery includes replacing the acorn on top of the obelisk. The base of the acorn was rebuilt with Lithomex mortar. The acorn finial should be re-pinned and be set upon a thin layer of lime mortar with a bead of mortar pointed around the base. A ten foot ladder will need to be brought to the site to accomplish this.

When the base for the obelisk was being dug out a small broken footstone with the initials M.H. inscribed into the marble was found. The broken footstone pieces was epoxyied back together and then the crack/seam in-filled with the appropriate lime mortar to keep out water intrusion. The freeze thaw process can and will re-break the gravestone repair if water were to constantly infiltrate into the repair. The footstone was reinstalled into a hidden slotted base to hold it upright and in front of the appropriate grave.

The following names are taken from the Find-a-Grave website. Find-a-Grave lists the following individuals as being buried in this cemetery. Where these names and information came from is unknown to the researcher. Today there is no visible grave marker indicating that they are still buried in this location. Many of the dates of death listed on Find-a-Grave pre-date the earliest gravestones here by quite a few years.

Henry Dow, 1756

Jonas Dow, 1736

Maria van Rensselaer Ten Broeck, 1756

“Little Son” Ten Broeck, 1732

“Child” Ten Broeck, 1732

“Child” Ten Broeck, 1732

“Child” van Rensselaer, 1739

Caterina Annetje van Brugh van Rensselaer, 1730

Harriet Ariaantje Nicolaase Schuyler van Rensselaer, 1763

Hendrick van Rensselaer, 1740

Jeremias H. van Rensselaer, 1730

Johannes van Rensselaer, 1783

Kiliaen van Rensselaer, 1781

Salomon van Vechten, 1750

Nanning John Visscher, 1821

“Child” Wendell

Harmanus Wendell, 1732

Helena van Rensselaer Wendell, 1792

Jacob Wendell, 1761

Jacob Harmanus Wendell, 1745

“Child” Yates, 1755

Rumor has it that many burials were removed and re-interred in the van Rensselaer Plot in Albany Rural Cemetery. The researcher believes that the bodies removed to Albany Rural Cemetery were originally buried in the family vault at the van Rensselaer manor which was located in North Albany. The cemetery in East Greenbush measures 40’ x 30’. The cemetery is too small to accommodate 21 additional burials. The researcher theorizes that the above mentioned individuals were or are buried in one of the other two van Rensselaer cemeteries. In the City of Rensselaer, formerly Greenbush, across the road from Fort Crailo.

There is a total of seventeen individuals with gravestones buried in this cemetery. Most of the burials have both a headstone and a footstone. All of the headstones were accurately transcribed and the results follow the photos. Before and after pictures are also shown for most of the gravestones.

A brief genealogy of the individuals buried in the cemetery was conducted to determine how each person was related to each other. There are four generations of the van Buren and the van Rensselaer families interred here. Relationships were determined for every burial except for one, Gerritt E. van Schaick. At the moment the researcher has not discovered his connection to these families. The oldest gravestone dates back to 1817 and the last burial occurred in 1918.

________________________________________________________________

Cornelius van Buren

1736-1822

    In

Memory of

CORNELIUS Van BUREN

who died Feb. 5, 1822

in the 86th year

of his age.

_________________________________________________________________

Mayke Hunn van Buren

1735-1817

IN

Memory of

Mayke HUNN

Wife of

Cornelius Van Buren    

Who departed this life

March 21 st 1817

In the 82 nd year

of her age.







__________________________________________________________

Elsie van Buren van Rensselaer

1759-1844

ELSIE

Wife of

Co. Nicholas

Van Rensselaer

DIED

Sept. 28, 1844

Aged 85 years.

______________________________________________________

Nicholas van Rensselaer
1754-1848

Col. NICHOLAS

VAN RENSSELAER

DIED

March 29, 1848

aged 94 yrs.

& 6 mos.

_______________________________________________________

Killian Nicholas van Rensselaer
1782-1845

KILLIAN N.

Van Rensellaer

DIED

Sept. 27, 1845

AE 63 Yrs.

_______________________________________________________

Gerritt E. van Schaick

1803-1875

GERRITT E. VAN SCHAICK

DIED

Oct. 15, 1875

Aged 72 years

_______________________________________________________

Nicholas van Rensselaer

1841-1843

NICHOLAS

Son of

Cornelius &

Maria Louisa

Van Rensselaer

DIED

Dec. 17, 1843

Aged 2 years

and 9months

_______________________________________________________

Eveline Ganesvoort van Rensselaer

1794-1833

SACRED

In the memory of

EVELINE GANESVOORT

wife of Cornelius

Van Rensselaer

who died

May 25th 1833.

Aged 39 Years.

_______________________________________________________

Eveline van Rensselaer Ross
1816-1836

EVELINE VAN RENSSELAER ROSS

BORN

June 19th 1816,

DIED

December 14th 1836

_____________________________________________________

Cornelius van Buren van Rensselaer
1791-1866

CORNELIUS V B

VAN RENSSELAER

FATHER

CORNELIUS V.B.

VAN RENSSELAER

DIED

FEB Y 25, 1866

AGED 75 YEARS

_____________________________________________________

Nicholas van Rensselaer Witbeck

The unscribed and broken stone of Nicholas van Rensselaer Witbeck was determined only because of the existing footstone indicating N.V.R.W

______________________________________________________

Jacob Herbert Witbeck

1813-1855

JACOB H. WITBECK

DIED

May 5, 1855,

Aged 42 yrs.

_______________________________________________________

Harriette Schuyler van Rensselaer Witbeck

1789-1864

HARRIETTE S. VAN RENSSELAER

wife of

A. H. Witbeck

died

Sept 15, 1864

Aged 74 Years

7 mos.

_______________________________________________________

Maria Genet van Rensselaer

1802-1888

Cornelius van Rensselaer

1846-1918

MARIA GENET
WIFE OF
C. VAN RENSSELAER
1802 – 1888
THEIR SON
CORNELIUS
1846 – 1918

_______________________________________________________

Gertrude E. Witbeck Manley

1820-1885

GERTRUDE

E. WITBECK

_______________________________________________________

Magdelene van Rensselaer Witbeck Genet

1813-1900

MAGDELENE

V. R. WITBECK

___________________________________________________

GERTRUDE E.

WIFE OF

THOMAS S. MANLEY   

1820 – 1885

MAGDELENE V. R.

WIFE OF

EDME J. GENET

1813 – 1900

____________________________________________

The remaining photographs were taken in January 2019 and are an overview of the finished product of the restoration project.