Mount Pleasant

Cemetery

Canastota, Town of Lenox

Madison County, New York

1805 – 2010

Record of Inscriptions & Burials

From the compilation by

Brandon J. Fraley, 1996

Edited and transcribed by

Sandra B. Wilsey and Anita M. Ingalls

TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication i

Acknowledgements ii

Introduction iii

Historical Burials v

Cemetery Map xiii

Listings by Section:

1

2

3

4

5

B

6

7

8

9

9-Single Burial

9-Baby

9-Town

……….…………………1

………….………………7

…………….…………..17

…………………………20

…………………………24

…………………………28

…………………………30

…………………………36

…………………………41

…………………………50

…………………………66

…………………………66

…………………………68

10

11

12-A

12-B

12-C

12-D

A

East

B-2

Veterans

Behm

Vault

Additions (NP)

…………………………69

…………………………75

…………………………77

…………………………80

…………………………84

…………………………85

…………………………86

…………………………92

…………………………95

…………………………98

…………………………99

………………………..100

………..………………101

Alphabetical by Surname 105–208

Original cemetery reading in the collection of the Madison County Historical Society, 435 Main Street, Oneida, NY 13421

Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association

PO Box 45

Canastota, NY 13032-0045

Online version: http://home.comcast.net/~ingallsam/Cemeteries/Lenox/Mt_Pleasant/MtPl.htm

© 2010 by Sandra B. Wilsey and Anita M. Ingalls

i

Dedication Evalena Marguerite Hubbard (30 Mar 1875–14 Nov 1948)

Evalena M. Hubbard, daughter of Lebbeus Chapman Hubbard and Mary

Adalaide Marvin, lived on the Lake Road (NYS 31) in the Town of Sullivan.

Her former homestead was reportedly built by Harrison Allen, a descendent of

Fort Ticonderoga’s Ethan Allen.

Like many early Madison County residents, Evalena took pride in her New

England roots. Her research included the history of northern Sullivan and its

pioneers. In 1939 her written genealogy of the Spencer family was presented at a

family reunion in Wisconsin.

Evalena’s tireless work documenting the graves of Revolutionary and Civil War

soldiers as well as others in northern Madison County resulted in an extensive

interview published in the Democratic Union (Chittenango, NY, date unknown)

of the farm burials of early settlers in the Town of Sullivan where she noted

there are many who were "...born between 1800 and 1820 who lie buried in these

places—many of them forgotten."

As a member of the Skenandoah Chapter of The National Society of the

Daughters of the American Revolution, she recorded or assisted in surveying

more than 30 cemeteries in and around Madison County.

The last of her family, Miss Hubbard’s grave remains unmarked in Mount

Pleasant Cemetery. She is buried with her parents, near the graves of Constance

and Richard Hubbard, the young children of her nephew Raydon Hubbard.

By dedicating our work to Miss Hubbard, we hope her legacy will inspire others to work together to preserve the burying places of our

ancestors; and her name, although not carved on a gravestone, will not be forgotten.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association

Donald Perretta, acting Secretary-Treasurer

Rev. Robert A. Bromfield, former Secretary-Treasurer

(5 Dec 1928–14 May 2010)

Village of Canastota

Elizabeth Metzger, Director, Canastota Public Library

David L. Sadler, Village of Canastota Historian

Town of Lenox

Charlene L. Barres, Town Clerk, Town of Lenox

Nancy Pulverenti, Town Clerk’s Office

Sue Reed, Town Clerk’s Office

Weldon Allen, Flag Warden

Vital Records

Madison County Historical Society

Historical Burials

Donna Dorrance Burdick, Town of Smithfield Historian

Joe DiGiorgio, President, Canastota Canal Town Corporation

Civil War Soldiers in Madison County

Susanne Greenhagen, Town of Eaton Historian

iii

Introduction Recording an entire cemetery of this size is a vast undertaking and Brandon J. Fraley is due enormous gratitude for completing such a task in

1996 by recording some 3,000 inscriptions on 133 handwritten pages. More than 4,200 gravestone inscriptions or burials are included in these

listings with the additional 1,200 from cemetery visits and various records of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association and the Town of

Lenox. The Town of Lenox flag warden (FW) provided a listing of names of veterans buried at Mount Pleasant.

Identification numbers were added to identify each record and have no meaning except for transcription recordkeeping purposes. Inscriptions

were verified by visits (C) or through the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association records (R); and in some cases both (C/R). Burial permits and

early death certificates maintained by the Town of Lenox contributed additional burials and information (O). NP in the additions section

signifies those burials which have not yet been placed within the cemetery. In Section 9, the Town of Lenox for a time maintained its own

burial section (Town) for the indigent or for whom relatives were not found. The cemetery provided free burials for infants in a special section

(Baby). Section 9-SB contains single burial lots.

History of Mount Pleasant Cemetery: Land for the cemetery was purchased in 1869 for $4,500 from Joseph A. Esmond. William E. Fiske

advanced a loan of $500 for the down payment. The balance of $4,000 plus interest was guaranteed by a bond for $8,000 by 16 local citizens

who agreed to pay the principal and interest due with monies derived from the sale of lots. On January 22, 1876, there were insufficient funds

to repay the bond and 11 cemetery trustees agreed to pay $400 each for interest certificates to satisfy the bond and mortgage due. In 1901,

$2,000 was still owed on these bonds. (Source: Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Canastota, N.Y., D. H. Rasbach,

Superintendent, May 30, 1901)

In 1878, a new "mortuary" or receiving vault costing about $600 was dedicated on the grounds, a gift of

Thomas N. Jarvis Esq. in 1876, president of the cemetery association. Vault records are included in the listing

although as noted the burials were made at other cemeteries.

There are approximately 175 gravestones with inscriptions recording death dates from 1805 to 1868 which

predate the 1869 purchase of the cemetery land. For example, Lot 14 (shown on front cover) in Section 2 was

purchased in 1880 for $30 and holds the monument and gravestones for Conrad Moot (died 8 Aug 1843), and

his 2nd

wife Elizabeth (died 20 Dec 1831). A number of impressive taller monuments seem to record earlier

family deaths as a memorial and are not actual burial sites. Some examples are the Lewis, Stroud, Jarvis and

Hitchcock monuments.

iv

Additions and corrections to the listings have been made through numerous visits to the cemetery, with burials after 1996 recorded as a result

of these visits. Other sources include the ledger of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association which is a transcription of lot sales through

December 3, 1920; and Town of Lenox burial permits and death certificates for the late 19th

and early 20th

centuries. Sources reviewed include

the vital records collection of the Madison County Historical Society as well as information extracted from obituaries in the extensive

newspaper collection of the Canastota Public Library using David L. Sadler's Canastota Obituary Index (1876-1999) archived at

http://web.archive.org/web/20040202200532/170.215.208.66/canastota/Directory.htm.

Records Marked Additional: These are burials which mostly predate the 1939 records or for which stones have not yet been found. Research is

continuing on these burials which are marked NP for section number.

Sections: Sections are not strictly sequential, but reflect the way the cemetery was walked when Mr. Fraley recorded the inscriptions. In the

index is a listing of the page numbers for each section. Note on the cemetery map on page xiii the small section B between sections 2 and 5. A

new section was recently opened (Behm) with only two burials to date.

Reconciliation of Records: Where information from cemetery records, burial permits and death certificates differed, the death certificate

information was used as the source of death date. In some cases the calculated age recorded does not correspond to birth and death dates. No

attempt has been made to correct those calculations.

Death Certificates: Copies are available from the Town Clerk’s office for deaths that occurred in the Town of Lenox and include those in the

Village of Canastota. The earliest death records in the area were recorded beginning circa 1885. The death certificate requested must have been

on file 50 years.

For each death record requested, include a check for $10.00 written to the Town Clerk, Town of Lenox, and mail to:

Town Clerk – Town of Lenox

205 South Peterboro Street

Canastota, NY 13032

v

Historical Burials Included among the burials of historical interest are the Spencer, Morehand, Jarvis and Palmer families.

WIZARD AMONG LENS MAKERS

World Has Yet to Honor Charles A. Spencer for His Work.

HIS GRAVE IS UNMARKED

Body of Man Whose Scientific Genius

Electrified the Country

Buried Near Canastota.

CANASTOTA. May 14, 1904.—When, Charles A. Spencer, lens maker, died in Geneva, N.Y. on

September 28, 1881, Prof. Towler of that place, a then eminent educator, wrote in a letter to a

friend: ―He was one of the great scientific geniuses of the world. If ever an American was worthy

of a slab in Westminster Abbey for work done, that individual was Charles A. Spencer.‖

The Geneva professor wrote truthfully of Mr. Spencer, but the latter’s memory has never been honored by even a slab where he is buried. His

grave in Mount Pleasant Cemetery on the southern outskirts of this village is unmarked… He was a power among makers of lenses for

telescopes and microscopes half a century ago, was famous in America and Europe, and his pioneer discoveries in the field of applied optics

had much to do with advances in the natural sciences. But now, except for a small circle of surviving friends and the older members of his

trade, he is almost forgotten.

Charles A. Spencer was born at Quality Hill just west of Canastota on the Seneca turnpike in 1813. He descended from a well-known and

highly respected family. …Buried beside the remains of Charles A. Spencer in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, also in an unmarked grave (sic,

photograph next page), lie the remains of one of his brothers, Frederick R. Spencer, who once lived in New York and was one of the greatest

American portrait painters of his time. (Excerpted from The Post-Standard, Syracuse, N.Y., May 15, 1904. p. 11)

The Spencer Lens Company operated in Canastota from 1838 until the great fire of 1873 destroyed the shop, drawings and most of the tools. In

1875, father and son were invited to join the Geneva Optical Works, but in 1877, resumed their own business again under the name of C. A.

Spencer & Sons. Joining him were his sons Herbert R. and Clarence Leslie, and his son-in-law Major O. T. May.

Herbert R. Spencer Charles A. Spencer

vi

Frederick Randolph Spencer

The son of General Ichabod Smith and Mary (Pierson) Spencer,

Frederick R. Spencer was surrounded by great talent and intellect.

His father, a lawyer and the first postmaster of Canastota, was an

officer in the War of 1812; his uncle, Joshua Spencer of Utica, was a

judge; and another uncle, Dr. Thomas Spencer of Geneva, was

professor of Geneva Medical College. His younger brother, Charles,

was deemed a scientific genius.

With an early interest in art, he studied with William Dunlap of Utica and at the age of 18 in 1825 went to

New York City to study at the American Academy of the Fine Arts, returning after two years to Canastota to

paint portraits. In 1831, he returned to New York City, and painted many of the city’s prominent citizens,

gaining a reputation as an almost photographic portrait painter with a high degree of finish and vibrant

colors. In 1853, he returned to upstate New York with his two young children, while his wife, Harriet,

remained in New York City.

In 1860, Frederick was living in Wampsville with his mother caring for his two children, daughter Ada and

son Heber. In 1870, his invalid wife Harriet is living next door to Frederick with their son, Heber R., and

daughter-in-law, India. Frederick died at Wampsville on April 5, 1875 and was buried in the family plot at

Mount Pleasant Cemetery. (Sources: Artists of the Nineteenth Century and their Works, Clara Erskine

Clement, Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1879, p. 266; A Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of

Frederick R. Spencer 1806–1875, Susan C. Crosier, The Oneida Historical Society, Utica, New York,

1969)

An important 19th century artist, his paintings are in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, Metropolitan

Museum of Art, and the Washington Gallery of Art. In Madison County, four Frederick Spencer paintings

were donated to the Canal Town Museum in Canastota. Spencer’s portrait of Polly Denny DeFerriere, a

member of the Mohawk Indian tribe and wife of Angel DeFerriere, a French nobleman who resided in

Wampsville, hangs in the Madison County Historical Society.

Self Portrait. 1849.

Polly Denny DeFerriere.

vii

Captain Daniel Lewis

Frederick R. Spencer’s oil-on-canvas portraits of Capt. Daniel Lewis, superintendent of the Erie Canal's

Canastota division, and of his first wife, Lorana, signed and dated from 1858–59, required extensive

restoration, underwritten through private donations in 2008 to the Canal Town Museum.

Daniel Lewis (1798–1872), the son of Eleazer Lewis was born in Washington County, New York, and by way

of Oneida County came to Madison County where in 1808 his father purchased lot 78 and part of lot 82 in the

Canastota Tract. Daniel’s first land purchase was a Canastota village lot from Reuben Perkins and later a farm

of 100 acres from Samuel Halliday.

Extremely industrious, ―… he was given, first, a place as foreman on the canal works, and soon gradually

arose from that up to Superintendent of the Division. It is said the State never had any one in the charge of

public works of more untiring vigilance than Capt. Daniel Lewis. No barrier, no weather, hot or cold, rain or

snow, wind, mud, darkness or tempest, would deter him from duty or cause him to relax the care which was

essential to the protection of the canal. Often in the severest storm he was on duty, lantern in hand, examining

the banks of the canal; in case it was necessary, the midnight found him and his squad of men out at work. Ten,

twelve and more miles were thus traversed at any and all hours by this trusty servant, regardless of health,

strength or life. For seventeen years he was thus employed, when he passed on to higher trusts confided to him

by the Syracuse & Utica Railroad Company, by whom he was employed as Dept. Superintendent. Next he

occupied a corresponding position on the Hudson River Railroad. He was ten

years employed in this capacity, ending with the year 1850.‖ (Source: Luna M.

Hammond, History of Madison County, Syracuse: Truair, Smith, 1872, pp. 521-

523)

Captain Lewis was married to Miss Lorana Perkins (1801–1866), daughter of

Benjamin Perkins of Broome County, with whom he had two daughters. After

her death in 1866, he married Carrie A. Way (1804–1888) of New Haven,

Connecticut. He died at his home in Canastota February 23, 1872 at age 75,

leaving a legacy of village improvements including a triangle park created near

his home by the former Methodist Episcopal Church at the intersection of New

Boston and Main streets.

viii

Scipio and Josephine Morehand

Canastota Fire of 1873: A story in the Canastota Herald of October 27, 1873 reported that Scipio Morehand lived in the Young tenant house

which was burned in the 1873 fire. Mr. Morehand was able to save part of his goods but his wife was sick and had to be carried from the house.

His lost goods were valued at $40 and he had no insurance.

DIED – In Canastota, Feb. 26, 1879, Josephine A. Morehand, aged 33 years and 4 months. (Canastota Herald, Friday, February 28, 1879, p.

3, c. 5)

Death of Scipio Morehan (sic). Scipio Morehan, a respected and well-known

colored man, dropped dead Tuesday morning of apoplexy, while preparing to clean a

carpet in the yard of L. E. Stebbins. He had just remarked to Miss Mary Austarman,

who was in an adjoining yard, that "it is pretty hot weather to be cleaning house." As

he said this he raised his hands above his head and fell backward upon the ground. An

alarm was given and an effort made to resuscitate him, but evidence of death was

soon apparent. The body was removed to McMahon's undertaking rooms, where Drs.

Knapp and Edgerton held an autopsy and found that death resulted from apoplexy, or

blood clot in the brain. "Zip," as he was familiarly called, was reared a slave on a

Missouri plantation. He came here in 1863, as the faithful attendant of Miss Fay,

daughter of Dr. M. B. Jarvis, who had made her way, under many difficulties, from

the far south through the rebel lines into the free north. Deceased was very

industrious and had paid for a little house on North Canal street where, since the

death of his wife, a few years ago, he had kept his children together and cared for

them well. He was of a happy nature and had many friends. He was about 55 years of

age. Funeral services will be held at the Presbyterian church at 3 o'clock this

afternoon.

(Canastota Herald, Thursday, July 21, 1887, No. 48, p. 3, c. 1)

ix

Dr. Milton B. Jarvis, Abolitionist

Dr. Jarvis was one of the members of the Canastota Independent

(Free) Church. An abolitionist, Dr. Jarvis was a station master for

the Underground Railroad in Madison County. Dr. Jarvis and his

wives are buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

"Miss Fay," was born Louise Jarvis, the daughter of Dr. Jarvis

and his first wife Jennett Butler. She married Louis P. Fay, born in

the South. Louise and her husband eventually settled in Denison,

Texas. In 1880, Louise lived in the Town of Lenox with her two

children next door to the Morehand family. At the time, she was

operating a restaurant.

Donna Dorrance Burdick, Town of Smithfield Historian

x

Joseph S. Palmer, Madison County Sheriff

In the early 1800’s, on Palmer Hill in the southern part of the Town of Lenox (now

Lincoln), there lived six Joseph Palmers. To differentiate among them, people gave

each a nickname. There was ―Jo Elijawh" because he was Elijah's son; "Jo Down"

because he had lived at the foot of a hill in his home state of Connecticut; ―Jo Deacon"

because his brother was a deacon; "Clever Jo"; "Squire Jo" and his son "Sheriff Jo"

because he had once been County Sheriff.

This last named "Jo" was Joseph S. Palmer, born in Connecticut on February 24, 1793,

the son of Joseph and Hannah (Sherman) Palmer. He married Julia S. Lathrop and they

lived at Alene and Peterboro. He was a Smithfield justice of the peace in 1831 and

Peterboro Postmaster in 1832. From 1831–1834, he was Sheriff of Madison County.

He also ran for Sheriff on the Abolitionist ticket in 1843.

The Palmers had three daughters; Hannah L. was born at Peterboro on January 28,

1827, Julia A. born about 1829, and Mary born about 1831. All three daughters

attended Cazenovia Seminary, Hannah in 1841. She continued her studies at Rev. H.

H. Kellogg's Young Ladies Seminary in Clinton, New York. Afterwards, she taught

French and composition at that same institution. Julia married Rev. George A. Ames in

1850 and died at Carthage, New York, ten years later. Mary was the wife of Linus Fox

of Wampsville and, in 1877, lived at Northfield, Minnesota.

Hannah Palmer was the first Preceptress of Peterboro Academy when it opened in 1851. During the Civil War, she was a nurse and later

became involved in Grand Army of the Republic activities. Residing in Canastota following the war, Hannah was an honorary member of the

local Reese Post, GAR. She was the only woman member of that post and possibly of any post in Central New York. She died at her home on

East Hickory Street on January 13, 1911, survived by her sister, Mary Fox, who was living with her. Hannah is buried with her parents, Joseph

"Sheriff Jo" (died 1849) and Julia (died 1881) at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Canastota.

Donna Dorrance Burdick, Town of Smithfield Historian

Reprinted from Snipets, Volume 6, 1999, pp. 4-5

xi

Hannah Palmer, Civil War Army Nurse

In 1895, former Civil War Army nurse Mary Gardner Holland collected the experiences of almost one

hundred of her fellow nurses. Hannah Palmer was included in that group. In Hannah's story, we learn that

for five years she operated a boarding and day school in Canastota. When the war began, the school was

closed. Hannah was determined to help the ''Cause.'' She collected money and supplies and served as

secretary and treasurer of the Canastota Soldiers' Aid Society for more than two years. Following the

Emancipation Proclamation, she began corresponding with Dorothea Dix and was accepted as one of her

nurses when Miss Dix wrote to her:

"I already have five good Miss Palmers in the service, and think you will make the sixth."

Hannah arrived at the Washington residence of Miss Dix in mid-April 1864 and was sent to Columbia

College Hospital, where she witnessed the arrival of eight hundred men—the wounded from the Battle of

the Wilderness. She nursed many soldiers, including those from Cold Harbor, June 1 to 12, 1864. In November, all men able to travel were sent

home to vote for the re-election of President Lincoln. On New Year's Day, 1865, Hannah was one of the nurses able to attend Mr. Lincoln's

annual reception at the White House. On January 15, she was unexpectedly called home. Her hospital service of nine months had ended.

It was in 1883 that Miss Palmer was elected an honorary member of Reese Post, No. 49, G.A.R., Canastota. In 1891, she was granted a special

pension of $12 a month. She helped to organize Reese Relief Corps, No. 77, in 1892 and served several times as its president. Hannah was also

an officer in the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War.

Hannah mentions that her father was an abolitionist and friend of Gerrit Smith. She states that her mother was a Lathrop. What she doesn't say

(and what we now know) is that her mother's sister was Celinda D. Raymond, first wife of Asa Raymond, another of Peterboro's abolitionists.

Donna Dorrance Burdick, Town of Smithfield Historian

Reprinted from Snipets, Volume 7, 2001, pp. 4-5

Photograph from Our Army Nurses: Stories from Women in the Civil War,

Edinborough Press, Roseville, Minnesota, reprint 1998, p. 198

xii

Willard Cotton, Abolitionist

Death of Willard Cotton.—Died, in Lenox, Tuesday morning, September 1st, 1874,

Willard Cotton Esq., in the 81st year of his age. He was born at Hartland, Windsor County,

Vt., June 3d 1794, came with his father's family to Chenango Co., N.Y., in 1802, went to

Skaneateles in 1806, married in Lenox, Madison Co. N.Y. in 1816 to Miss Eliza Hall,

daughter of Justus Hall Esq., moved to Lenox in 1819, where he has resided since. Mr.

Cotton belonged to a family of ten children, two of whom died in infancy, and eight lived

to adult age, and to become heads of families. Five have died within a few years, between

80 and 90 years of age. Three sisters still survive, aged from 75 to 82. Besides several

children deceased, one son and three daughters are still living. Mr. Cotton has been

engaged during the latter part of his life in all the great reforms, both moral and political, of

the age in which he lived. He engaged with all the energies of his vigorous and active mind

in the Anti-Slavery cause at its commencement, and lived to see the progress and

successful termination one of the grandest

revolutions that ever took place in this, or any

other period of the world's history. And the

cause of temperance which has, for so many

years enlisted the untiring exertions of all good

men, found in Mr. Cotton one of its earliest

pioneers, and most earnest and efficient

supports. After a long life of usefulness he has

gone "to that bourne from which no traveller

returns."

Source: Oneida Dispatch, September 4, 1874, Vol. XXI, No. 22, p. 2, col. 4

xiii

Cemetery Sections