Elizabeth Street Cemetery
Oneida, Madison County, New York, USA
ALL STONES & BODIES MOVED OR LAID UNDER
Burials 1844-1875
See also duplicate cemetery
Oneida Dispatch, August 25, 1913:
Relatives' Names Wanted of Persons Buried in the Old
Elizabeth Cemetery.
Jul 2, 2009 ONEIDA — A crew digging down to an underground oil tank behind Willard Prior Elementary School found more than they bargained for as they dug through pavement and several feet of dirt Thursday morning, coming across what was once a cemetery.
Oneida City Police were called to the scene when a headstone, partial headstone and a few human bones were discovered by Bovis Lend Lease workers earlier in the day. Oneida City School District Superintendent Ron Spadafora was at the school after the items were found. He said workers discovered the headstones and bones as they were digging to reach the oil tank, which they will be working on as part of the district's capital project.
"We're talking (with police) and trying to figure out what to do," Spadafora said.
The headstone found was that of Richard G. Emerson, who died in 1849 and reached the age of 57.
Oneida City Police Chief David Meeker said that he had tried to make contact with the Division of Cemeteries for New York State and had talked to local historian Sandy Wilsey of Canastota about the site.
Wilsey, who is a co-author of the second edition of "Guide to Madison County Cemeteries," said that the site was once a community cemetery, started when Oneida was still a village. It was established in 1841 and had its last burial in 1875. Wilsey said that back then, cemetery care wasn't very common.
"Like with most community cemeteries, there were no funds set up to maintain it," she said.
In time, the cemetery fell into complete disrepair and Wilsey said that by 1913, an article ran in the local paper that a local civic group, the City Federation of Women's Clubs, wanted to raise money to clear the lot to convert the overgrown area into a park.
Wilsey said that it seems as though the area did become a park for a time before hosting two school buildings, the Elizabeth Street school and later, Willard Prior, but before all of that, relatives of people buried in the community cemetery had the option to have their relatives' bodies moved to other cemeteries.
Many were moved to Glenwood Cemetery and to other places, Wilsey said, but according to documentation she has found, some families chose to have their relatives "laid under," which she said may have meant burying the bodies further and with their headstones. It also seems possible that this happened to people whose relatives didn't come forward.
Meeker said that this investigation isn't considered criminal and therefore, the school district will be responsible for dealing with Thursday's findings.
ALL STONES & BODIES MOVED OR LAID UNDER
Burials 1844-1875
See also duplicate cemetery
Oneida Dispatch, August 25, 1913:
Relatives' Names Wanted of Persons Buried in the Old
Elizabeth Cemetery.
Jul 2, 2009 ONEIDA — A crew digging down to an underground oil tank behind Willard Prior Elementary School found more than they bargained for as they dug through pavement and several feet of dirt Thursday morning, coming across what was once a cemetery.
Oneida City Police were called to the scene when a headstone, partial headstone and a few human bones were discovered by Bovis Lend Lease workers earlier in the day. Oneida City School District Superintendent Ron Spadafora was at the school after the items were found. He said workers discovered the headstones and bones as they were digging to reach the oil tank, which they will be working on as part of the district's capital project.
"We're talking (with police) and trying to figure out what to do," Spadafora said.
The headstone found was that of Richard G. Emerson, who died in 1849 and reached the age of 57.
Oneida City Police Chief David Meeker said that he had tried to make contact with the Division of Cemeteries for New York State and had talked to local historian Sandy Wilsey of Canastota about the site.
Wilsey, who is a co-author of the second edition of "Guide to Madison County Cemeteries," said that the site was once a community cemetery, started when Oneida was still a village. It was established in 1841 and had its last burial in 1875. Wilsey said that back then, cemetery care wasn't very common.
"Like with most community cemeteries, there were no funds set up to maintain it," she said.
In time, the cemetery fell into complete disrepair and Wilsey said that by 1913, an article ran in the local paper that a local civic group, the City Federation of Women's Clubs, wanted to raise money to clear the lot to convert the overgrown area into a park.
Wilsey said that it seems as though the area did become a park for a time before hosting two school buildings, the Elizabeth Street school and later, Willard Prior, but before all of that, relatives of people buried in the community cemetery had the option to have their relatives' bodies moved to other cemeteries.
Many were moved to Glenwood Cemetery and to other places, Wilsey said, but according to documentation she has found, some families chose to have their relatives "laid under," which she said may have meant burying the bodies further and with their headstones. It also seems possible that this happened to people whose relatives didn't come forward.
Meeker said that this investigation isn't considered criminal and therefore, the school district will be responsible for dealing with Thursday's findings.
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- Added: 1 Jan 2010
- Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2336562
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