Pioneer Cemetery, Sidney New York

Date added: October 27, 2023 Categories:

The Pioneer Cemetery tells us about the early settlement and development of Sidney. The earliest European American settlement of the village, which is located in the northwest corner of Delaware County, predates the Revolutionary War, when the Rev. William Johnston purchased land in the Wallace Patent, and permanent settlement occurred in the decades immediately following the war. The cemetery is Sidney's oldest burial ground, with the first interments occurring in the 1780s and 90s. By the turn of the nineteenth century, the small parcel on the banks of the Susquehanna was acknowledged and set aside as the settlement's common burial ground. There were more than forty interments by 1840 and approximately seventy were added in the decades before the Civil War. The last burial occurred in 1890. The Pioneer Cemetery is the resting place for almost all of the village's settlement families, including members of the Johnston, Smith, Avery, Hovey, Rogers and Baxter families. Members of these families participated in the early political, social, and religious life of the town and included town supervisors, farmers, land developers, surveyors, ministers, tavern owners, and road builders. The cemetery is also the resting place of nine Revolutionary War veterans and ten of the founding members of the nearby (but unassociated) Congregational church, Sidney's first religious congregation.

Documenting the history of the village through its first century, the cemetery provides valuable information about the area's early history, including information about immigration and settlement patterns and the ethnic, political, and religious orientation of the early citizens. The Pioneer Cemetery is also significant in art for its many fine examples of early eighteenth-century stone carving. All of the stones are representative examples of their periods and styles; however, a number exhibit an exceptionally high level of craftsmanship, including those produced by a number of well-known regional carvers, including "coffin man" (J.W. Stewart), "open urn man", "eclectic man", "fern man" (Joseph Crandall), and Asa Baldwin. Each of these artists employed period motifs and carving techniques in especially creative and expressive ways. The high number of finely carved stones adds to our knowledge of these important regional artists.

The town of Sidney occupies the northwest corner of Delaware County and abuts Otsego County on the north and Chenango County on the west. The town is defined by its major waterway, the Susquehanna River, which flows east-west, forming the town and county line. The town is generally hilly in character, rising from the Susquehanna Valley to the foothills of the Catskill Mountains to the south. Two principal streams, the Ouleout and Carrs Creeks, flow through the town, forming deep valleys between rocky hillsides, and empty into the Susquehanna. The Ouleout passes through the northeast corner of the town, while Carrs Creek cuts through the center from southeast to northwest. Delaware County was formed from Otsego in 1796 and the town of Sidney was formed from Franklin in 1801; Masonville (to the south) was divided off in 1811.

The village of Sidney, the town's principal village, is located on the Susquehanna River in the northwest corner of the town. Sidney is believed to have been the site of an Indian settlement and burial mound. In the years before the Revolution, the Indians sold large tracts of land to the English government, which in turn patented it to prospective developers and settlers. Sidney was originally within the Wallace and DeBernier Patent, granted to Alexander Wallace and twenty-five others in c1770. The Wallace patent, approximately two thousand acres in size, was a long and narrow tract along both sides of the Susquehanna River (in what are now the towns of Sidney, Delaware County, and Unadilla and Otego, Otsego County). Sidney's first European American settler was the Rev. William Johnston, a native of Ireland and a Presbyterian minister, who left his home in Schenectady County and traveled down the Susquehanna from Cooperstown in 1772 until he identified a spot near the present-day Sydney airport as the location of his future homestead. In 1773 he moved his family to his 520-acre parcel, only to be forced (with the few other early settlers) to abandon the site after a threat from Joseph Brant at the commencement of the Revolution. The Johnstons sought refuge in Cherry Valley and were among the few survivors of the infamous 1778 massacre at that site. From there the family retreated to Schenectady until the close of the war. Although the Rev. Johnston never returned to his home on the Susquehanna, the rest of his family returned in 1784 to rebuild the settlement, then known as Johnston's settlement. Although Wallace, a Tory, had forfeited his land during the Revolution, the Johnstons were able to complete the purchase of their parcel from New York State. The settlement was later known as Susquehanna Flats and renamed Sidney c1800 in honor of the then-admired British poet and admiral Sir Sidney Smith, considered a "noble and romantic figure" of the time. The village became Sidney Plains in 1817 but finally reverted to Sidney in 1886. In 1801 William Johnston's son Witter became the first supervisor of the town of Sidney.

In the settlement's early years, its economic base was tied to agriculture, timber, potash, and related industries. With the coming of the Susquehanna Turnpike, which linked the Hudson and Susquehanna Rivers, in 1805, the town's fortunes changed. The turnpike followed the path of the Ouleout Creek through the town and ended at Unadilla, just east of Sidney, bringing prosperity along its route but leaving the village of Sidney just outside the sphere of increased activity and commerce. Sidney's fortunes improved beginning in 1866 with the construction of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad (later Delaware and Hudson) through the village and the Ontario and Western Railroad's 1873 expansion of its line north to connect with the D&H at Sidney. Reborn as a railroad hub, the village saw a substantial improvement in its economy; within a decade the population had doubled and commerce greatly increased. The railroad also spurred the construction of hotels, and by 1896, the village boasted seven hotels and five churches. Among the most important late nineteenth-century industries were a cheese factory, silk mill, cigar factory, carriage works, glass works, and car manufacturing plant. Although most of these business were closed by the early twentieth century, the Bendix Aviation Company, makers of aerospace products, located in the village in that period, boosted Sydney's fortunes for many years.

The land that became the Pioneer Cemetery was part of the Wallace Patent; however, it is not clear if anyone other than the original patentees ever held title to it. The patent was forfeited during the Revolution and as settlement resumed after the war, this small riverside plot seems to have been become the community burial place almost immediately, with the first burial occurring in 1787. A title search was undertaken in the 1930s in association with the taking of a small piece of cemetery land for the new bridge. Newspapers from this era report the results differently, stating either that the cemetery plot was never invested in another person or that it became property of William Dovenor, a Dutch tavern owner and farmer who donated land for the adjacent meeting house. The deed for the meeting house lot describes it as a distinct parcel located east of the cemetery without any reference to cemetery ownership. Either way, no subsequent owners of the cemetery were recorded, and it appears that as land was sold off around it, the cemetery was defined by its omission from these sales. In addition to the 1787 interment of Lois Johnston, there were three other eighteenth-century burials: Abigail Smith, wife of Israel Smith, who died in 1791, Henry Evans, who died 1792, and Anna Johnston, who died in 1795. Anna Johnston was the wife of the Rev. William Johnston, while Lois Johnston was the wife of Anna and William's son Witter.

With four eighteenth-century graves and more than forty from the first three decades of the nineteenth century, the Pioneer Cemetery holds the remains of many of Sidney's earliest citizens. Another seventy-plus interments date to the decades before the Civil War. After the war, the old cemetery, which had been neglected, was overcrowded and rundown. The matter became a public issue when there was no room to bury Civil War veterans with members of their families who had predeceased them. In 1875 the new Prospect Hill Cemetery was established in Sydney, replacing Pioneer Cemetery as the village's primary burial place. Prospect Hill is a designed cemetery of the rural cemetery type. Most of the village's Civil War veterans are buried in Prospect Hill, along with a number of their family members who were moved from the old cemetery. In the late nineteenth century, there was a movement to relocate all of the burials from Pioneer Cemetery to Prospect Hill; however, only a few were actually moved until the 1930s, when the construction of a bridge over the Susquehanna at this location necessitated the removal of another small group. In all, about forty bodies were moved from Pioneer Cemetery. Not everyone in Sydney was in favor of relocating all of the interments to Prospect Hill. A series of articles and letters in local newspapers of the period (c1883-1905) reveal that some residents were both concerned about the condition of the old cemetery and willing to assume responsibility for it. Meetings were finally held in 1904 and it was agreed to solicit a fund of $2,000 to restore and maintain the cemetery. Funds for this purpose would be allocated to the Congregational church, even though the church did not own the burial ground. It is not known whether this refurbishment was carried out or how much work was done.

In the 1930s, another committee (including representatives of the village, town, and DAR) was formed to beautify the cemetery with funds generated by the sale of the strip of land needed for the right of way for the new bridge approach. As part of this endeavor, a title search was undertaken to determine the cemetery's legal owner. This search determined that there had been no clear title to the parcel since the original patent was issued; subsequently, the town of Sidney formally assumed responsibility for the property. Work (undertaken in 1937) included grading, landscaping, and construction of a memorial. Evergreens were planted, and tall, square bluestone markers were constructed with the assistance of the DAR to mark the entrance to the cemetery on Main Street. According to local newspapers, work was done by J.H. Tweedle of Walton. The posts bear the names of David M. Johnson and his sister, Lydia Dunham; the latter, a descendant of the settlement family and resident of Utica, bequeathed $200 for the upkeep of the cemetery. In 1976, in honor of the bicentennial, a project was undertaken to place markers on the graves of the Revolutionary War veterans buried here.

Among those buried in the cemetery are numerous members of the Johnston family, including two sons of William Johnston (Witter and Hugh) who were also prominent in the early history of the area. In addition to the Johnstons, other early settlers buried in the Pioneer Cemetery include the Smith family, in particular Israel Smith, first deacon of the Congregational Church; John Avery, a farmer who once owned the ferry and most of the land included in the village; Moses Hovey, farmer and road builder, who led a crew in constructing the road between Wattles Ferry (Unadilla) and Oxford; William Dovenor, another large landholder and a tavern owner who donated the land for the Congregational church; Levi Baxter and his family, early settlers, and large lumber manufacturers (three of Baxter's sons married daughters of William Johnston); and members of the Rogers family, descendants of one of the original signers of the Mayflower Compact. Among the Rogers clan, Samuel Rogers stands out for his service to the village as a shoemaker, land surveyor, and lawyer. The cemetery also contains the graves of at least nine Revolutionary War soldiers, Witter and Hugh Johnston, Thomas Gould Bacon, Moses Hovey, Jonathan Fitch, Samuel Anderson, Henry Evans, Israel Smith, and Henry Butterfield. Some of these veterans as well as several others buried here were also "Vermont Sufferers," New Englanders who were displaced when New York and Vermont resolved conflicting land claims after the Revolution.

The Pioneer Cemetery is important for the information it provides about the settlement and early growth of the village of Sidney. As the village's earliest burial ground, it documents the history of the settlement from the earliest European American arrivals through the nineteenth century. As a repository of information about the village's history, the cemetery is important in documenting the history of the town, including immigration and settlement patterns; ethnic, social, and political trends; and family, religious, and business affiliations.

All of the grave markers in the Pioneer Cemetery are representative examples of their periods and styles; however, the cemetery also contains many that display a high level of craftsmanship and some have been identified as the work of well-known regional carvers, including Asa Baldwin, Joseph Crandall, "coffin man" (J.W. Stewart), and the as-yet-unidentified carvers referred to by the characteristics of their work. The latter include, "open urn man," and "eclectic man." Each of these artists employed common period motifs in especially creative and innovative ways.

"Coffin Man" was the nickname given to stone carver Jonas W. Stewart, son of well-known folk carver Jonas Stewart of Clairmont, New Hampshire. Apparently, the Stewarts were a family of stone carvers, including another son named James. Jonas W. Stewart was not a junior; however, he was the second son to bear the name Jonas (the first having died), and he was known by the initials J.W. Although a native of New England, J.W. Stewart did most of his work in New York State. Over 220 grave markers attributed to him have been identified in central New York, in an area stretching from Ithaca to Pennsylvania. There are local examples of his work in the Delaware County communities of West Meredith, Meredith Square, and Bloomville, as well as Sidney. In Chenango County, the cemetery at Coventryville has thirty-five examples of his work, and there are examples in Guilford, West Hill, and other cemeteries. Stewart's work is generally dated between 1814 and 1821; however, he is thought to have stopped carving in 1820. Apparently, he had a number of sons and apprentices who carved until 1828. All of Stewart's stones were of sandstone and they were relatively small in size with simple carved incisions; his stones featured simple willows over closed urns and "walking the chisel" borders. Stewart's signature, carved at the foot of each grave marker, was an upright coffin under a weeping willow branch. There are at least nine identified examples of Stewart's work in the Pioneer Cemetery. Among the most unusual is the stone of John T. Hovey (d. 1813); its triangular top bears an angel's head depicted in flight over a tooled background. Other coffin man stones mark the graves of Moses Hovey (d. 1813) and his wife Phebe (d. 1813).

The Hovey markers have similarly tooled borders and bear the trademark carved coffins and willow branches.

"Open Urn Man" and "Eclectic Man," who have not yet been identified, are believed to have been apprentices of coffin man. The work of the former is distinguished by an open urn at the top of the stone; inscriptions are carved on raised circular panels in especially large lettering. The latter's work can be identified by his use of a temple rather than an urn at the top and much more elaborate ornamentation. Stones carved by open urn man include those of Israel Smith (d. 1811), Gold Bacon (d. 1821), and Dinah Mersereau (d. 1822). All three have rounded tops, elaborate borders, and large, distinctive lettering. Bacon and Mersereau died a decade later than Smith, and their stones are considerably more detailed and elaborate. The Mersereau stone, in particular, has a frame with highly articulated architectural detailing. While this appears to indicate the carver's increased skill after years of practice, we cannot be sure exactly when the stones were carved; they may have been added years later. There are at least five examples of open urn man's work in the Pioneer Cemetery.

Joseph Crandall (1777-1851) was a Massachusetts native who moved to the town of Plymouth, Chenango County, in 1806. Crandall (sometimes called "fern man") was a stone engraver and mason, and he is believed to have constructed foundations and stone walls throughout the region. He taught the trade to his sons, who joined him in the business, which was continued by several generations of Crandalls. The Crandalls specialized in grave markers, and many examples of their work can be seen in the town of Norwich and surrounding region. Like other examples from this period, the Crandalls' (collectively known as the "Crandall School') stones are distinguished by their complex rounded forms and the use of draped urns, willows, and other motifs. However, their stones are especially ornate. Epitaphs are set within elaborate frames and nearly all of the space is filled in with geometrical and foliate forms, including pinwheels, stylized flowers, philodendron leaves, and stippling. Crandall designs are also characterized by large tympanums containing stars and topped with rounded spikes. Joseph Crandall's work was especially ornate and can be identified by the distinctive serpentine carved "I" used in the "In memory of...." Stones carved by Crandall's sons are similar but lack the signature elements. The work of another Norwich carver, Asa Baldwin, whose sandstone markers are typically large, is also represented. Baldwin and Crandall's stones date to the period 1830-1850. There are eighteen stones attributed to the Crandall school, including those of Henry Evens (d. 1792), Dolly Nedley (d. 1802), and Augustus Anderson (d. 1836). The Nedley stone is especially lovely, distinguished by the carver's skillful use of serpentine forms and foliate decoration to create a frame.

Cemetery Description

The Pioneer Cemetery is located in the village of Sidney, in the northwest corner of Delaware County. The village is sited on the banks of the Susquehanna River and is bordered by Otsego County on the north and Chenango County on the west. The village's history is related to its location on the Susquehanna River, a major east-west transportation corridor historically, as it remains today, with I-88 paralleling the river and passing just south of the village. CR 8, a major regional route, runs north-south through the village, serving as Sidney's Main Street before crossing the Susquehanna to connect Delaware and Otsego Counties. The Pioneer Cemetery is located on the west side of Main Street, immediately south of the bridge over the Susquehanna. The village of Sidney was originally part of the Wallace patent, granted by the crown in 1770, and the earliest permanent European American settlement occurred just after the Revolution. This parcel was apparently used and set off as a community burial place from the earliest days of the settlement, with the first recorded interment occurring in 1787. Construction of a bridge at this location in 1935 necessitated the taking of several acres from the cemetery and the removal of several bodies to the nearby Prospect Hill Cemetery, established in 1875. With the exception of that parcel, the cemetery retains the boundary established during the settlement period as other parcels were sold off around it. The Pioneer Cemetery was Sidney's first cemetery and it served as a non-denominational burying ground for all village residents until the late nineteenth century.

The cemetery is a small tract (less than one acre) on the south bank of the Susquehanna River. The rectangular parcel (approx. 200' by 175') is flat and sparsely vegetated, with scattered trees occurring around the perimeter. There are thirteen rows of markers arranged in rows (northeast-southwest) with the stones facing west (away from Main Street). Cemetery records indicate 275 burials, and of the 241 extant markers, 193 can be identified and 48 are broken or incomplete. Burials date from 1787 to 1890 and are dispersed throughout the cemetery, with slightly more density in the southeast section.

There are square stone gateposts with shallow flanking walls on the east, Main Street, side of the cemetery. Constructed in 1937, the dressed bluestone piers are six feet tall and two feet square. Each bears an inscribed bronze plaque, with David M. Johnston, 1848-1921, on the south post and Lydia M. Johnson Dunham, 1836-1928, on the north. The gates were funded with a bequest from Lydia Dunham, a sister of David Johnston.

The cemetery includes four eighteenth-century markers (1787, 1791, 1792, 1795) and approximately forty-two markers from the early decades of the nineteenth century (1800-1830). Those in the latter two periods include the graves of many of the village's settlement period families. The largest number of stones mark interments that occurred in the mid-century period (1831-1860), which is represented by approximately eighty-one markers, and a small percentage (about twenty-nine) post-date 1860. Nearly half of the burials, approximately 130, occurred before the Civil War, and the last interment took place in 1890. There are also nine stones commemorating Revolutionary War veterans. Burials do not appear to have occurred in a set pattern, with those of different periods scattered throughout the cemetery. A number of stones are damaged or worn and cannot be read, and a few are missing.

Markers are typical examples of the styles popular in their periods. The largest number are of marble (approx. 150), while a good number are slate (or sandstone) (approx. 66) and a few are granite (approx. 5). Most of the early ones are rectangular and feature rounded, segmental, or multi-foiled tops. There are a number of obelisks, a handful of family monuments, and one large plot (for the Rogers family), which is enclosed by an iron fence. Many stones exhibit exceptionally fine craftsmanship, featuring delicate carvings, foliate and geometrical decoration, weeping willows, and/or other popular period motifs. There are also a number of markers that represent the work of well-known regional carvers, including Asa Baldwin, Joseph Crandall and his sons, and those known as coffin man (J.W. Stewart), eclectic man, and open urn man. Other highly artistic and well crafted stones are by as yet anonymous carvers. Although carvers can be generally identified by their distinctive characteristics, they cannot necessarily be verified by the dates of death, as in some cases markers were added many years after interment. Among the stones with exceptional artistic value are those marking the graves of:

Lois Johnston (d. 1787); unknown carver: features a small urn draped with willow sprigs and simple chiseled border framing the lettering

Abigail Smith (d. 1791); Crandall School: features an oval panel with etched frame, elegant lettering, and an urn with a stylized etched willow

Henry Evans (d. 1792); Crandall School; features an open urn, elaborate foliate carving of leaves flowing from urn, a frame around the lettering with foliate decoration, and stippling

Dolly Nedley (d. 1802); Crandall School: features an elaborately arched "Baroque" top; the area within it features an urn draped with long, detailed willow leaves over a chiseled background; foliate border presents itself as serpentine leaves flowing from a central trunk and gracefully enclosing a center panel

Israel Smith (d. 1811); "open urn man": features a delicate willow sprig over a geometric feature, double arch and graceful lettering

John T. Hovey (d. 1813); J.W. Stewart ("coffin man"): features a triangular top with an angel's head depicted "in flight" on a tooled background

Moses Hovey (d. 1813); J.W. Stewart ("coffin man'): features a chiseled border and foliate decorations, and signature coffin with draped willow

Phebe Hovey (d. 1813); J.W. Stewart ('coffin man'): features a rounded top, chiseled border, stylized urn on a chiseled background, willow, leaves, and signature coffin with draped willow

Joseph Draper (d. 1817); "open urn man": features an epitaph within an oval panel with an etched frame and a stylized etched willow over an urn

Gold Bacon (d. 1821); "open urn man": features a rounded top, decorative border, graceful lettering, and stylized urn with foliate and geometric details

Dinah Mersereau (d. 1822); "open urn man": features a decorated urn draped by a naturalistic tree with long, detailed leaves, elegant letters, pinwheels, and an architectural frame on either side of the lettering

Henry Butterfield (d. 1832); unknown carver: this stone is very extensively and elaborately carved

Henry Spickerman (1834); Crandall School: features serpentine foliate decoration, with leaves flowing from tall urns flanking the lettering

Augustus Anderson (d. 1836); Crandall School: elaborately decorated stone features a "Baroque" arched top filled with a large decorative urn and elaborate foliage; an architectural border frames a square panel, within which is a heart-shaped form holding the lettering

Hester Belkin (1840); unknown carver: features a very geometric design with triangles, circles, rectangles, and arrows

One of the most unusual amateur stones marks the graves of the twin daughters of William Dovenor, an innkeeper and large landholder. Dovenor himself is thought to have carved the intersecting, sad-faced circles to represent the twins, who died in 1803.