Sunday, May 4, 2008

Cemeteries in Scipio

It seems like the time of year when I always do some cemetery walking. So many of our little rural cemeteries get overgrown with brush during the summer months and this time of year it is easiest to find fallen markers and do a little weed pulling. To find a cemetery, click on the link below to the Cayuga County Rootsweb site.
I think my favorite find was my third great-grandparents, Abiel and Mehitable (Smith) Mosher. After finally learning the location, my cousin and I obtained permission from the farmer to enter their property. Scrambling over a low stone wall that marked off the burial ground and ducking a few tree branches, we found a large stone clearly marked and easily photographed. What a great discovery! But had we waited until July or August, I doubt we could have entered the area or seen the stone so easily.
I've been looking at the records for the Cornwell or Cornwall Cemetery recently. There are probably 8 Revolutionary War veterans in that cemetery, and we would like to ensure they all have markers.
The records I saw that were gathered by Louise Coulson stated that the earliest burial here was in 1799, when the infant son of Joel and Huldah (Horton) Coe was buried. Sadly, Huldah joined him there in 1803.
Joel was one of Scipio's earlier settlers. He purchased property here in September of 1790 from General George Fleming. In the early spring of 1796, Joel and a few other men, including his brother-in-law Benjamin Fordyce, came to Scipio. They built log homes, cleared land and planted corn, then returned to New Jersey. In the fall, they returned with their families to settle in Scipio and harvest their first crops.
The Revolutionary War veterans known to be buried here are Ebenezer Cheever, Joel Coe, Elias Manchester, Samuel Hoskins, Frederick Van Liew, Caleb Wadams, Israel Ward, and Benjamin Fordyce who is in the Fordyce burial ground nearby.

6 comments:

Roger A. Post said...

Joel Coe has another distinction that I find interesting: Joel ran a distillery on his property, which was on Scipio Lot 16, 2 miles north of Scipio Center, not too far from present-day Cornwell Cemetery, which also is situated on Lot 16. My 3rd great-grandfather, Elisha Barnes, worked at this distillery between 1812 and 1813, before he set up his own distillery on present-day Burtless Road in Scipio (see pp. 420-421, 423 in History of Cayuga Co., New York 1789-1879 by Elliott G. Storke [1879]. I don't know how long Joel Coe produced firewater, but it may have been until 1820 when he removed to Springport. Elisha Barnes apparently kept his distillery going for at least 20 years, which would take it into the 1830s. Given the great prominence of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century, we can suspect that there may have been some excesses in the consumption of hard liquor in the first half of the 19th century!

Sandie Stoker Gilliland said...

That's interesting, Roger.
I know that during Prohibition, Scipio had a few "speakeasies" and certainly the local apple crops kept our farmers in good supply of hard cider over the years, but I did not know about the distilleries.
Alcohol use or rather overuse in the early years of America is quite an interesting topic. Given the Quaker and WCTU background of this part of NY, it is an interesting fact indeed!

Roger A. Post said...

I can add some information on Frederick Van Liew, Revolutionary War veteran, buried in the Cornwell Cemetery. Frederick is a traditional name in this family, and there are a lot of them. I call this particular one Frederick Van Liew (Van Leuwen) II. Frederick II (born 20 May 1753) was the son of Frederick Van Liew (van Leuwe) I and Maritje van der Bilt. Frederick II apparently married four times. His first wife was Gerritje Ten Eycke (b. 31 May 1756), and they were married 22 December 1774. Gerritje had six children and died bef 19 February 1792, apparently in Somerset Co., NJ.

Frederick II then married Eadith Perrine (Prine) 16 May 1793. Eadith had four children: Maria (2nd), Charity, Daniel Perrine, and Eadith (1st) Van Liew. At least the first three of these children were born in NJ.

Frederick II married third Maria Brokaw (born 14 June 1768), daughter of Benjamin Brokaw and Sarah Auke, on 30 April 1803. They had at least two children, Sarah and Ida, born in NY.

Frederick II supposedly married last Maria Sebring.

It appears that Frederick II and his family removed from NJ to NY ca. 1800. Daniel Perrine Van Liew, Sr., son of Frederick II and Eadith Perrine, and other Van Liew descendants resided in the vicinity of present-day Hunter Road and Rice Road in the Town of Scipio, now the area of the Allen family dairy operation. Daniel Perrine Van Liew, Sr. and his wives, Rebecca Babcock and Salina (West), left many descendants but few if any remain in Scipio.

Roger A. Post said...

Sandie, I'll add the following on Caleb Wadams, another of the Revolutionary War veterans that you listed in the Cornwell Cemetery. Caleb Wadams (born 14 January 1751/52 in CT) married as his second wife Eunice Farr (born 28 February 1752 at Dutchess Co., NY), daughter of John Farr and Eunice Adams, on 28 February 1782 in Dutchess Co., NY. They had 10 children. I don't know when they arrived in Scipio, but one of their sons, John Wadams, married Charity Van Liew, daughter of Frederick Van Liew II and Eadith Perrine, ca. 1814. John and Charity had a daughter, Elsie, who married first Abraham (Abram) Post and lived virtually within site of your office on present-day Hunter Road.

Kathy Lenahan said...

My husband's ggggg grandfather was Joel Coe. His daughter Rachel Coe Olney (gggg grandmother) is also buried at Cornwall Cemetery, as is her husband Benjamin, some of her children and her in-laws, Nathaniel and Eleanor Irish Olney. Eleanor was the sister of Elder Irish, 1st preacher in Scipio. Rachel's sister, Mary Coe Bennett, was also my husband's gggg grandmother as their children married. Mary was married to David Bennett. The Bennetts must have lived in Scipio for a whils as their children were born there. They evntually moved to Hunt in livingston County.

Roger A. Post said...

Storke (1879:420-421) gives Benjamin Olney's brother, Nathaniel Olney, Jr., as married to Eunice Fordyce, daughter of Benjamin Fordyce and Rebecca Horton. Sandie listed Benjamin Fordyce as another Revolutionary War veteran who settled in Scipio. Benjamin Fordyce was born before 1 March 1759, probably in NJ. Rebecca Horton was born before 17 November 1762, also probably in NJ. Benjamin and Rebecca had five children, the last three of which were born in Scipio, beginning ca. 1795 when Benjamin Fordyce, Joel Coe, Robert McCullum, and Elisha Horton removed from Chester Co., NJ to Scipio. The wives of the first three men were all sisters of Elisha Horton.