(1667-1711); Church Grounds
Second Mayor of Albany (1694), Alderman, Judge, Sheriff, Recorder (1702). During his term as Mayor, Colonel Pieter Schuyler took the sachems of the five Iroquois tribes to England to meet the Queen. Re-interred from the South Dutch Church burial ground.
(c1890-1900); lot 155 ½, sec 26
Sioux Indian. A ward of the Albany Indian Association, originally from South Dakota. She died of pulmonary tuberculosis. Age 10.
(1726-1783); Church Ground
Major General in the Revolutionary War; one of Washington's most trusted generals during the Revolutionary War. He was an uncle to the original Lord Stirling in Scotland. A committee in Scotland decided he should be awarded the title “Lord Stirling” but the British House of Lords refused to recognize him. He was originally buried in the Livingston family vault under the Dutch Church in downtown Albany. Those interments were later moved to Albany Rural Cemetery.
(1811-1883); lot 20, sec 19
Grain merchant, malting, he owned barges on the Hudson, operated between Albany and New York City. Monument by William Manson ($9,000).
(1768-1836); lot 1, sec 59
Portrait painter, painted miniatures and oils of celebrated New Yorkers. His portraits of George Washington and New York's first governor, George Clinton, hung in the legislative chambers and later the Executive Chamber of the Old Capitol Building. Today Washington is in the Education Building and Clinton in the present Capitol. President of Mechanics and Farmers Bank; Grand Master of the Masons.
George I. Amsdell
(1825-1906); lot 20, sec 21
His father William Amsdell came to America in 1845 and established Amsdell Brewery, one of Albany's largest breweries. George continued the Amsdell Brewery after his father's death and his brother, Theodore, purchased the Dobler Brewery. Theodore's son-in-law George C. Hawley continued the Dobler Brewery. George's home is now the University Club on Washington Avenue.
(1795-1865); lot 24, sec 58
He came to Albany in 1802 with his father William Annesley and they opened Annesley's Looking Glass Store. They also became engaged in the picture framing and art business founding what later became the Albany Art Gallery. In 1860, his son Isaac became proprietor and, when Isaac died in 1865, his son Richard Lord Annesley succeeded him. The members of the Albany Art Colony including Addison Durand, Thomas Cole, John F. Kinsett, Frederick E. Church, James McNeil Whistler, William and James Hart, George Boughton, Edward Gay, Frederic Remington, Will Hicok Low, Erastus Dow Palmer, Walter Launt Palmer and later Charles Calverley and Ezra Ames met in the back room of Annesley's store. The Annesley business was open in Albany for well over 100 years.
Dr. James H. Armsby
(1810-1875); lot 16, sec 12
With his father-in-law, Dr. Alden March, he founded Albany Medical College in 1839 and later started the Albany Hospital. He also was one of the founders of Albany Law School in 1851. He drew up plans for the organization of the University of Iowa and led a group that established a soldier's home in Albany following the Civil War. He was a Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. His monument has a medallion by John Hartley.
Benjamin Walworth Arnold
(1865-1932); lot 13, sec 30
Albany “Lumber Baron.” Logged timber and shipped logs to Albany and then lumber over the Erie Canal westward. Owned several timber holding companies, lumber manufacturing businesses and three railroads.
Chester Alan Arthur
(1829-1886); lot 8, sec 24
President of the United States, Quartermaster General of the New York State Militia during the Civil War; signed the Pendleton Act prohibiting the solicitation of federal employees for political contributions, created the Civil Service Commission, dedicated the Brooklyn Bridge and Washington Monument, dubbed “Father of American Navy.” He was a Civil Rights attorney early in his career and participated in several precedent-setting cases. Monument by Ephram Keyser. (Arthur Drive in Colonie)
Ellen Herndon Arthur
(1837-1880); lot 8, sec 24
Wife of President Chester Arthur. Her father was Captain Lewis Herndon who went down with his ship, the SS Central America in a hurricane.
(1797-1875); lot 8, sec 24
Baptist Minister at Newtonville's First Baptist Church (now a Post Office near Colonie Town Hall), father of the President, antiquarian. (Colonie's Arthur Drive)
Jeremiah J. Austin
(c1819-1879); lot 43, sec 21
Steamboat captain and owner of the A&C (Albany & Canal) Towing Line on the Hudson River. In 1853, he purchased the 197-foot Austin that was custom built as a tow boat at Hoboken, N.J. In 1855, Austin purchased the passenger steamboat General McDonald and converted her to a tow boat. His third tow boat, the 218-foot Syracuse, was built as a tow boat in 1857 and was considered to be the most powerful tow boat on the Hudson River. His fourth steamboat, the Ohio was converted to a tow boat probably in the 1850s. He also bought the Silas O. Pierce, a transport vessel used to deliver troops and food and evacuate casualties from the battlefields during the Civil War, and used her as a towboat. His A&C Line of towboats suffered several accidents in the late 1860s and went out-of-business. Jeremiah J. Austin was also a trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. His grandfather, Benjamin Austin (1758-1844), a Revolutionary War soldier, is also buried here.
Samuel N. Bacon
(1829-1889); lot 4, sec 20
With Leander Stickney, he was a dealer in coffee and spices; Bacon, Stickney & Co.
Daniel Dewey Barnard
(1796-1861); lot 33, sec 56
U.S. Minister to Prussia, District Attorney for Monroe County, Congressman (1827), Assemblyman (1838), noted Whig politician allied within the party with Millard Fillmore as a conservative Whig (in favor of Henry Clay's slavery compromises of 1850) against Senator William Seward and Thurlow Weed (who strongly opposed slavery). He supported the removal of Lewis Benedict, a Weed appointee, as Albany Postmaster as retaliation when Weed and Seward passed an anti-slavery resolution as part of the Whig Party platform in 1852. He delivered the Dedication Address at the opening of Albany Rural Cemetery.
Thurlow Weed Barnes
(1853-1918); lot 3, sec 109
Member of the New York State Republican Committee, he negotiated the Hankow-Canton Contract with the Chinese Government in 1898. Authored The Life of Thurlow Weed. Grandson of Thurlow Weed.
William “Billy” Barnes
(1866-1930); lot 3, sec 109
Purchased the Albany Morning Express and later the Journal Company, publisher of the Albany Evening Journal; New York State Republican Chairman. Grandson of Thurlow Weed.
Capt. Thomas Bayeux
(1802-1844); lot 27, sec 16
Captain and one of the founders of Albany's Burgesses Corps. Monument by James Gazeley
(1845-1920); lot 2, sec 80
Worked for his father in the lumber business, joined William Gould law book publishers, started his own business as a legal book editor and bookseller, published the New York Lawyer's Diary.
Matthew Bender, Jr.
(1868-1958); lot 2, sec 30
Along with his brother John, continued the law book publishing business started by their father, expanded worldwide, the business eventually was purchased by the Times-Mirror Co. (now AOL Time Warner).
(c1785-1862); lot 38, sec 3
Albany merchant, an early 1800s ad in the Albany Evening Journal lists 10,000 cases of cut nails and spikes for sale and lists him as “agent for the Troy Iron and Nail factory.” Also lists “Canal and Boat spikes, Ship spikes, and Rail Road spikes as manufactured in H. Burden's Patent Machines from the best quality of iron.” It also lists “various shovels, spades, crowbars and drills for sale.”
Also an active anti-slavery Whig, supporter of the Thurlow Weed – William Seward faction of the party. He was removed as Albany Postmaster (a Weed appointment) when Weed and Seward forced an anti-slavery resolution onto the Whig platform in 1852 in opposition to Henry Clay's negotiated Compromise of 1850. Father of General Lewis Benedict (see “Military” section). Monument by William Gray, medallion by Erastus Dow Palmer
Samuel O. “One Armed” Berry
(1839-1873); sg 19, tier 9, sec 98
Partner of Marcellus Jerome Clarke otherwise known as “Sue Mundy,” Confederate soldiers but later guerrillas, murderers and thieves. Their gangs included Bill Marion, William Quantrill, James Younger and Frank James. They terrorized the residents of the State of Kentucky during the Civil War, robbing, killing and raping many people. Berry alone was convicted of 12 counts of murder and 6 counts of robbery although these were probably but a small portion of his crimes. His sentence to be hanged was commuted to ten years at hard labor at Albany County Jail where he died after serving seven years.
(1773- ); lot 22, sec 42
Servant at the home of the Van Rensselaer family. He was educated at the Van Rensselaer Manor and brought up in the Dutch religion. He served as “body servant' to Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer III, and later went on to manage and supervise the staff at the Patroon's home. He also served as the Master of Ceremonies at Albany's Pinksterfeest, a Dutch-African Spring celebration held annually in Albany.
(c1829-1881); lot 22, sec 42
Owner of the Kenmore Hotel and considered to be the most successful Black businessman in the United States. He was born to parents who were servants in the Van Rensselaer Mansion in Albany. Together with other Van Rensselaer children, he received a grammar school education at the mansion. He went on to become a restaurant owner and hotelkeeper. He owned Congress Hall, one of Albany's most prestigious hotels and residence of many legislators during the Legislative session. When Congress Hall was taken by the State to build the new Capitol, Blake used the money to build the Kenmore Hotel, which at that time was Albany's most beautiful hotel. Son of Adam Blake (above).
Charles Edward Bleecker
(1826-1873); lot 1, sec 101
Mayor of Albany (1868), wine merchant, planned Washington Park. During his term as Mayor, the construction of the Capitol was started; Broadway was paved with wood blocks of Canada pine; and the New York Central and Hudson River Railroads were consolidated, trains could now go from Chicago to Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany and New York City.
(1779-1848); lot 61, sec 3
Congressman (1811), State Assembly (1814), Ambassador to the Netherlands (1837), Regent of State University of New York (1822), one of the signers of a call for a meeting at the Tontine Coffee House in Albany on February 7, 1816 to petition for the construction of the Erie Canal. He left $80,000 to his wife but upon her death it was to be used to finance improvements for the city of Albany. When his wife returned to the Netherlands, she released the funds to J.V.L. Pruyn to decide on a proper public project, by then the fund had grown to $130,000. (Harmanus Bleecker Hall, Harmanus Bleecker Library, Bleecker Stadium, Bleecker Street are named after him or his family).
Jan Jansen Bleecker
(1641-1732); lot 1; sec 61
Member of the Provincial Assembly (1698-1701), Mayor (1700), Indian Commissioner, Captain of the Militia during the Indian War (1689), City Recorder, Justice of the Peace, fur trader. While he was Mayor, 15,241 beaver skins were exported in a single year. The main issue confronting him was to obtain support from the Iroquois tribes in the struggles against the French in Canada. After many days of deliberation, the Indian Sachems told him that they would support the group that gave them the most presents and gave them the best trade deals. Originally interred at the Middle Dutch Church on Hudson Avenue in Albany, he was moved here by his descendents. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
Johannes Bleecker, Jr.
(1668-1738); Church Grounds
Mayor of Albany (1701), carried captive to Canada by French and Indians (1686), returned (1687), member of the Colonial General Assembly (1701), Indian interpreter. During his term as Mayor, the city wall was strengthened expecting an attack from the French. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
(1675-1756); lot 1, sec 61
Mayor (1726), son of Jan Jansen Bleecker, brother of Mayor Johannes Bleecker, Jr., first President of the Albany Common Council, merchant. While Mayor, he enacted laws restricting the sale of intoxicants to the Indians. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
(c1745-1787); lot 1, sec 61
Gunsmith. He provided much of the armament for the Albany Militia during the Revolutionary War.
Anneke Jans Bogardus
(1605-1671); lot 1, sec 61
At one time owned 62 acres of downtown Manhattan referred to as Domine's Bouwerie that she inherited from her first husband, Roelof Janszen. She also inherited a farm of 84 acres called Domine's Hook on the Long Island shore of the East River from her second husband, Domine Everardus Bogardus, Minister of the Dutch Church in New Amsterdam (New York City).
Domine's Bouwerie was sold to British official Francis Lovelace by her heirs, although not all of them participated in the sale. Lovelace's lands were confiscated by the British and in 1705 given to Trinity Church by Queen Anne. The legality of the sale was disputed unsuccessfully for years. Her farm was the origination of the term “The Bowery” for this section of New York City. Originally interred in the “Old Dutch Church” in the intersection of (today's) State and Broadway, she was moved to the Middle Dutch Church on Hudson Avenue in Albany and then to Albany Rural Cemetery by her descendents, the Dudley family. She was originally buried in a vault under the Dutch Church and later moved to Albany Rural Cemetery.
Jeptha Richard Boulware
(1820-1887); lot 30, sec 30
Physician, invented specialized surgical instruments, developed surgical procedures, served in the Civil War (177th Regiment), principal surgeon at Albany Hospital. Monument by Charles Calverly.
(1762-1839); lot 69, sec 33
New York Assemblyman (1811), Weighmaster on the Erie Canal. He was born in County Atrim, Ireland.
(1908-1998); sg 12, tier7, sec 24
Noted Jazz Drummer during the “Swing Era” from 1928 to 1950. He later played with various swing groups until 1988. During the Swing Era he played in the bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Jimmy Lunceford as well as jazz groups the Savoy Sultans, Savoy Dictators and Herman Bradley's Rhythm Dons which he founded in 1933. He played in many locations around New York City and also the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
(c1840-1869); lot 1, sec 84
Headstone inscription: “Killed on the Susquehanna Railroad, Jan 19, 1869.”
(c1819-1898); lot 71, sec 28
Prominent Albany builder, he supervised the initial phases of the construction of the New York State Capitol. He built and donated one of the Egyptian style receiving vaults at Albany Rural Cemetery. He served on the original Washington Park Commission.
Arthur John Bright
(c1872-1921); lot 21, sec 36
Survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. Bright was a crewman and was assigned to collapsible lifeboat “D,” the last lifeboat to depart the Titanic. The last lifeboat contained 25 passengers out of a capacity of 49. At the time of the sinking Bright lived in Southampton, England, he later moved to 50 Dove Street, Albany. He was buried in the St. George's Society burial plot.
(1778-1839); lot 106, sec 33
Agriculturist, printer, publisher, founded Albany's Argus newspaper voice of Albany's Democratic Party and counterbalance to Thurlow Weed's Whig and later Republican Albany Evening Journal, Assemblyman, unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1836 against William Marcy. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground. Monument by John Dixon.
Rev. Peter Bullions DD
(1791-1864); lot 5, sec 16
Presbyterian minister, scholar and world-renowned author of Bullion's Grammar, or The Principles of English Grammar, a book widely used by American schoolchildren in the 1800s. An 1800s writer described: “By how many thousands is that name associated with vivid recollections of weary hours and days spent in endeavoring to elucidate grammatical conundrums … it still holds an honored place among the text books of the period.” Published in 1850 it was republished in at least 32 editions. He was professor of Latin and Greek at Albany Academy from 1824 to 1848.
He also authored The Principles of Greek Grammar that had its 42nd edition published in 1882 and The Principles of Latin Grammar republished at least 22 editions by 1856.
Henry Bullions MD
(1832-1858); lot 5, sec 16
Medical doctor, son of Rev. Peter Bullions (above). He graduated from Union College and Albany Medical College in 1853. He served as a house surgeon at the Troy Hospital until poor health forced him to move to Honolulu in 1854, where he and Dr. Seth Porter Ford formed the City Hospital at the corner of Kaahumanu and Queen Streets. By October 1855, he was listed as one of six physicians on the staff of Honolulu Marine Hospital. In 1856 he returned to Troy where he practiced as a physician but also owned and operated a drug store. Poor health forced his return to Hawaii at the end of 1857, but as his condition worsened he returned to Troy where he died of consumption (tuberculosis) in 1858 at the age of 26.
John G. Burch
(1827-1905); lot 71, sec 44
Mayor of Albany (1874) appointed to serve during the contested election between George Thacher and Edmund Judson, President of the Common Council, master painter and foreman at the New York Central's West Albany Shops. He owned a general store selling coal, wood and groceries. He lived at 2 Watervliet Ave.
(1791-1871); lot 4, sec 61
Iron mill owner, invented machines to make horseshoes, hook-headed railroad spikes, and rolling iron into cylinders. His horseshoe machine could make sixty shoes in 1 minute; previously it took 2 men 1 full day to make 60 horseshoes. He was a leading resident of Troy. This mausoleum was designed by his widow, Helen Burden, who is also interred here. Woodside Memorial Church in Troy is also dedicated to Mrs. Burden.
Walter R. Bush
(1815-1885): lot 9, sec 28
Partner in Gilbert, Bush & Co. one of the world's largest manufacturer of street cars and later railroad cars. He succeeded Uri Gilbert as president of the company in 1864. During the Civil War, the company made about 500 gun carriages for cannon for the Union Army. The cannon were probably cast at the Watervliet Arsenal.
(1833-1914); lot 109, sec 107
Sculptor, executed the Robert Burns statue in Albany's Washington Park, did many busts and medallions including those on the graves of newspaper publisher Horace Greeley and sewing machine inventor Elias Howe in Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery; he has several works in Albany Rural Cemetery.
Lizzie M. Calhoun
(1858-1877); lot 39, sec 65
An Albany High School student who, on May 31, 1877 while visiting the cemetery with two friends, jumped from a carriage attached to a team of run-away horses and was killed in the cemetery in the ravine behind this gravesite.
(1828-1900); lot 45, sec 85
Member of the New York Assembly in 1881. He was a machinist and constructed many knitting mill machines. With John Clute, they erected “a commodious modern block” opposite the Harmony Hotel in Cohoes.
Rev. John N. Campbell
(c1798-1864) lot 25, sec 41
Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Albany for 34 years. He was also Chaplain to Congress in 1820 and pastor of a church in Washington, D.C. Regent of the University of the State of New York; he wrote many of their annual reports.
(1817-1867); lot 27, sec 4
President and owner of Albany Argus newspaper, he was on the Board of Park Commissioners that established Washington Park and moved the burial ground to Albany Rural Cemetery.
Daniel D. T. Charles
(1821-1892); lot 32, sec 34
One of the founders of the Van Heusen - Charles Co. retailers of fine china, silverware, lamps and other furnishings. In 1897, the Van Heusen - Charles Co. was already listed as the oldest enterprise of its kind in the Eastern United States. Founded in 1843, the firm lasted into the late 1900s.
(1861-1922); lot 35, sec 4
Member of the N.Y. Assembly in 1885; member of the N.Y. Senate in 1890-1891. He was an attorney in the firm of Judge Samuel Hand.
Rev. John Cheshire (Chesshire)
(1821-1881); lot 192, sec 26
Headstone inscription: “Ready for Either.”
(1792-1850); lot 1, sec 6
One of Albany's chief builders and contractors. For the last 13 years of his life, he was the principal proprietor and manufacturer of Townsend's Sarsaparilla, in its day a most popular and curative medicine. It was later sold as a soft drink. His son, Augustus Henly Clapp owned a popular book, stationery and periodical business in Albany.
Edward W. Clark
(c1849-1907); lot 4, sec 102
Son of Rev. Rufus Clark, he was graduated from Albany Academy (1864) as a student of the famous physicist Joseph Henry (later the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution). The Emperor of Japan recognized that science was going to become of great importance in the future of civilization and hired Clark to come to Japan and instruct Japanese educators on the design of proper scientific curriculum. Japan now credits Clark with having started them on the road to preeminence in scientific research.
John Mason Clarke LL.D., Ph.D.
(1857-1925); lot 268, sec 105
New York State Paleontologist appointed in 1898 and State Director of Science, Geology and Paleontology in 1904. He served as a professor of Paleontology, Geology and/or Zoology at Smith College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He authored more than 200 books on various technical subjects. He served on many different committees and societies.
(1838-1897); lot 1, sec 108
Founded and operated the Cleveland Brothers Baking Powder Company in Albany. He previously owned the Cleveland & Snyder Drug Co. in Chicago, and a baking powder business in Peoria, Ill.
General (?) George Cooke
(1788-1873); lot 241, sec 95
Self-Promoter, General (?), Professor (?), Lawyer (?), Physician (?), sold medicinal elixirs. In his will he donated a bust of himself, by famous sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer, and $1,000 to the YMCA that was used to purchase books for their library. Today, the bust is on his headstone.
(1924-2008); lot , sec
Chairman of Pittsburgh Tube Company, he served as President of Albany Medical Center, Albany Hospital for the Incurables, Wildwood School, Vice Chairman of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, governor and treasurer of Union University.
(1852-1929); lot 30, sec 29
President of Townsend Furnace and Machine Shop, President of New York State National Bank, Secretary of Albany Savings Bank, Cashier of First National Bank.
Ledyard Cogswell, Jr.
(1878-1954); lot 30, sec 29
President of New York State National Bank, Chairman of Pittsburgh Tube, President of Albany Lumber and Planing Mill, Director of Albany Insurance Company and Albany Savings Bank.
Mason Fitch Cogswell, M.D.
(c1810-1865), lot 19, sec 89
Medical Doctor. He served as Medical Inspector of troops enlisting at Albany during the Civil War. He also served on a commission to interview candidates for the positions of surgeon and assistant surgeon treating New York State troops. Together with Doctors John Swinburne, John V. Lansing, and Sylvester D. Willard, he established a Civil War hospital nicknamed the White House on the Pamunkey River. He served as a volunteer surgeon with the Army of the Potomac during the peninsular campaign in 1862. In 1863, he volunteered to serve with the Christian Commission inspecting military hospitals in the west and southwest.
(1818-1898); lot 15, sec 53
Ran for Vice-President of the U.S. with John Fremont against Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson in 1864 (Fremont withdrew prior to the election), Congressman (1857), New York Attorney General (1863), Brigadier General during the Civil War. Declined an appointment by President U.S. Grant to become U.S. Minister to Uruguay and Paraguay in 1869.
Lorenzo D. Collins
(1821-1898); lot 46, sec 5
In 1895 when the Town of Colonie was established, he was elected the first Town Supervisor. He was re-elected in 1897. He had previously been a Trustee (1852) of the Village of West Troy (now Watervliet) and in 1853 was President of the same village. In 1859 and 1860, he was a member of the Assembly and in 1866 was a member of the N.Y. State Senate. He was President of the N.Y. State Farmer's League and chairman of the executive committee of the N.Y. Farmer's Congress.
Dr. Charles D. Cooper
(1770-1831); lot 15, sec 19
He was a medical doctor and son-in-law of Judge (later Governor) John Tayler. The fateful comments uttered by Alexander Hamilton that led to his duel with Aaron Burr were spoken at Tayler's home at a dinner attended by Hamilton and his father-in-law Philip Schuyler and Cooper. Cooper wrote a letter that was published in the Albany Evening Register newspaper that later appeared in the New York Post reporting what Hamilton had said. Even though General Schuyler later wrote a separate letter to both newspapers stating that the report was not correct, the duel resulted in Hamilton being killed.
(1883-1934); lot 2, sec 31
President of Ludlum Steel (later Allegheny Ludlum, later Altec Steel) producers of stainless and alloy steels; Treasurer of Albany Felt Company; Director of the New York State National Bank, and Albany Savings Bank, managed a large farm at Kenwood. He was chairman of the Executive Committee of the Albany County Democratic Committee and the New York State Democratic Committee, grandson of Erastus, father of Erastus 2nd. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York (1927-1928) under Governor Alfred E. Smith.
Elizabeth Platt Corning
(1912-1993); lot 2, sec 31
Wife of Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd, noted horticulturist, President of the Garden Club of America.
(1794-1872); lot 2, sec 31
Founder of the New York Central Railroad, at the time it was founded it was capitalized for $23 million making it the largest corporation in America. Director of the Michigan Central Railroad and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, owned Albany Ironworks and Rensselaer Ironworks (plates and bars for the Civil War ironclad Monitor were cast and rolled here); State Senator (starting in 1842), Congressman (1857) during the Civil War, Mayor (1834), Regent and Vice Chancellor of the University of New York, President of the Hudson River Bridge Company. He started in business with Hart & Smith hardware store in Troy, New York. Later went into business with John Spencer in a hardware store in Albany and later, Corning, Horner & Co. Hardware in Albany at 11-13 South Market Street (South Pearl). He owned the largest plot in Albany Rural Cemetery.
During his term as Mayor, Albany's Patroon, Stephen Van Rensselaer III split his huge estate in half giving all the land on the east side of the Hudson River to his son William and all the land on the Albany side to his son Stephen IV. (Corning, New York is named after him.)
Erastus Corning Jr.
(1852-1893); lot 2, sec 31
He ran iron mills in Troy, noted collector and horticulturist, President of Albany Rural Cemetery. Son of Erastus Corning
Erastus Corning 2nd
(1909-1983); lot 2, sec 31
Mayor of Albany for 41 years (1942-1983), Assemblyman, New York Senator, Democratic leader. Unsuccessful candidate for New York State Lieutenant Governor in 1946 on a Democratic ticket headed by gubernatorial candidate James Mead. Great-grandson of Erastus Corning. (Corning Preserve Park, Corning Tower).
(1874-1943); lot 2, sec 31
One of the founders and President of Albany Felt Company, later Albany International. He was the First Vice-President of Ludlum Steel Company and the New York State National Bank; Director of Mechanics and Farmers' Bank, Albany Insurance Company, and City Safe Deposit Company; Congressman (1923), grandson of Erastus Corning.
(1838-1890); lot 9, sec 11
Tailor, furrier, with Daniel Leonard he started the formal cap and gown rental industry, Cottrell & Leonard.
James C. Covert
(1835-1911); lot 10, sec 108
Founded Covert Manufacturing in Troy, later moved to West Troy (now Watervliet), he had over 50 patents, famous bolt harness snap, various snaps, ropes, halters, ties, chain goods. Also owned Dr. Bury Medicines including Lung Balsam, Catarrh Snuff, Camphor Ointment.
John Schuyler Crosby
(1839- 1914); lot 1, sec 14
Territorial Governor of Montana (1882-1884), U.S. Consul to Florence Italy (1876-1882), First Assistant U.S. Postmaster General (1885-1889), Colonel during the Civil War, later stayed in the regular army serving under General Philip Sheridan and fought in battles with the Plains Indians as aide-de-camp to Sheridan. Organized big game hunting trips accompanied by President Chester Arthur, Colonel George Armstrong Custer and William F. (“Buffalo Bill”) Cody. Grandson of General Philip Schuyler and husband of Harriet Van Rensselaer (granddaughter of Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer).
(c1661-1740), Church Grounds
Mayor, Alderman, Deacon, Elder in the Dutch Church, Indian Commissioner, trader. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
(1869-1968); lot 34, sec 21
Chief Engineer for American Locomotive in Schenectady (ALCO). Cinerarium by Marcus T. Reynolds.
Rev. Henry Darling
(1823-1891); lot 48, sec 30
Pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, President of Hamilton College from 1863 to 1881.
(1813-1883); lot 1, sec 33
Editor (later partner and owner) of the Albany Evening Journal for Thurlow Weed. Born in Scotland, he started as a printer and later foreman of the paper. He left to edit papers in Rochester and Detroit, returning as Associate Editor in 1846. Also wrote books on angling. His son, Major George S. Dawson of the 2nd NYVI, who died at Petersburg during the Civil War, is also buried here. Postmaster of Albany.
Amos Dean LL.D.
(c1803-1868); lot 2, sec 52
Author of History of Civilization, and one of the organizers of the Young Men's Association to foster continuing education. He was a founder and a member of the first faculty of Albany Medical School in 1839 and Albany Law School when it was started in 1851 (4th law school in the country). He was also the first Chancellor of the University of Iowa in 1855. He authored several books and many lectures including, “Manual of Law” (1838), “Philosophy of Human Life” (1839), “Medical Jurisprudence” (1854), “Bryant and Stratton's Commercial Law” (1861), and left unfinished a 7-volume elaborate work on the “History of Civilization” (1869).
Archland M. Dederick
(1880-1950); lot 13, sec 29
Brought the first “horseless carriage” to Albany on December 26, 1899. Son of Peter Kells Dederick.
Peter Kells Dederick
(1838-1911); lot 13, sec 29
Founded Albany Agricultural and Machine Works. Invented and manufactured hand and power presses to bale hay, cotton, rags, flax, hemp and many other products. His inventions led to the start of the hay baling industry; he had branches and warehouses in Montreal, Chicago, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Denver and offices in France, Germany, Austria and Russia. Also manufactured horse-powered hoisting equipmen, and steam-powered hoisting equipment for coal, ore, iron, stone, grain, etc., self-dumping carts, tubs and brick and tile machines.
Edward C. Delavan
(1793-1871); lot 10, sec 53
Owned the Delavan House - Albany's pre-eminent hotel at the time, hosted the Lincoln family, many political and entertainment figures. He was a noted temperance advocate; President and founder of several of the first temperance organizations. He traveled extensively promoting temperance including to Rome, Italy where he presented his views to the Pope. On July 4, 1845, he was assigned the first deed in Albany Rural Cemetery (16' x 16' plot for $25). Monument by T. K. Kenney.
(1694-1789); Church Grounds
French Huguenot, Mayor (1729), son of J. DePeyster – Mayor of New York City, Provincial Assembly, Captain in the Militia – participated in the first expedition against Crown Point (French-Indian War), Indian Commissioner, lived on Yonkers Street (State Street). As Mayor, he purchased Albany's first fire-fighting equipment, ladders and fire-hooks. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
(1756-1834); lot 30, sec 56
First Surveyor General of the State of New York. He held the office for 50 years. He also served as the second Surveyor General to the Army of the United States of America appointed by George Washington after the death of Robert Erskin. He founded Ithaca, New York. He also served in the Continental Army and fought at Saratoga.
DeWitt was originally buried in Ithaca but in 1844 he was moved to a vault in the Old Middle Dutch Church in Albany. In the 1890s he was moved to Albany Rural. DeWitt, along with the land commissioners, were responsible for distributing land grants to soldiers who served in the American Revolution. Many of the Greek and Roman place-names in Central New York were chosen by DeWitt (Aurelius, Camillus, Cicero, Homer, Manlius, Pompey, Rome, Greece). He also prepared a 1790 map of Albany where he named east-west streets after animals (Deer, Beaver, Elk, Hare, Fox and Lion) and north-south running streets after birds (Eagle, Hawk, Swan, Dove, Lark, Robin, Quail). He was also a Regent of the State University of New York.
Richard Varick DeWitt
(1832-1901); lot 30, sec 56
Grandson of Surveyor General Simeon DeWitt (above) and great-grandson of Continental Army General Richard Varick. He was Secretary of the Commerce Insurance Company from 1872 to 1890 and Secretary of Albany Insurance Company from 1890 to 1896; President of the Albany Board of Fire Underwriters and a Trustee of Albany Medical College.
William H. DeWitt
(1798-1872); lot 16, sec 4
He built the Church of the Holy Innocents in Albany in memory of his four children who died. He also installed a monument to them at Albany Rural. He was a Trustee of the cemetery.
John Alden Dix
(1860-1928); lot 11, sec 41
Governor of New York (1911-1912). Dix entered the lumber business with his father and eventually became associated with the paper manufacturing business and several banks. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for New York State Lieutenant Governor in 1908. Liberal Democrats denied Dix a second term as Governor and replaced him with William Sulzer who was later impeached. He was State Chairman of the Democratic Party in 1910 and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1904 and 1912, Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. During his term as Governor, the State Capitol Building in Albany burned.
Margaret (Peg) Doherty
(1926-1997); lot 124, sec 205
First female Lettercarrier in the United States Post Office in 1943.
Volkert Petrus Douw
(1720-1801); lot 19, sec 52
Vice-President of the First Provincial Congress (1775), Member of the Colonial Assembly (1759-1766), Mayor of Albany (1761-70), merchant, Alderman (1749), Captain of the Colonial Militia (1775), Presiding Judge of the Albany County Court of Common Pleas (1757-1775), Indian Commissioner (1774), Chairman of the Committee of Safety (1775), First Judge of County Court (1778), Commissary of the Northern Army (1779), New York State Senate. One of the founders and member of the first board of Albany Savings Bank, the second oldest bank in New York.
As Mayor, and with the Common Council's permission, he purchased five tickets in the New York lottery “for the benefit of the city's funds” which apparently worked out as he proceeded to New York City for the drawing and received 4 pounds 5 shillings on one of the tickets. The others were losers. Also during his term, the city purchased James Knox, a bond-servant, for nine pounds to serve as public whipper. Residents of Albany were upset at Britain's passage of the Stamp Act. Originally interred at Wolven-Hoeck (later Greenbush, later City of Rensselaer), he was moved to Albany Rural.
Charles Edward Dudley
(1780-1841); lot 1, sec 61
U.S. Senator (1829-31) replacing Martin Van Buren, State Senator (1823-25), Mayor of Albany (1821-4, 1828-9), President of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank, President of the Merchants' Insurance Company; merchant. With Stephen Remsen and Stephen Van Rensselaer and others, he bought the land surrounding the Cohoes Falls and established the Cohoes Company harnessing the power of the Mohawk River. He was one of the original petitioners to attend a meeting at the Tontine Coffee House in Albany on February 7, 1816 to pressure the State Legislature to build the Erie Canal; while he served in the Senate, he was an important member of the Albany Regency. His widow, Blandina Bleecker Dudley, donated $105,000 to found the Dudley Observatory.
During Dudley's term as Mayor: the State Legislature reduced the pay of the members from $4 to $3 per day; Martin Van Buren moved his law office from Broadway to 109 State Street; Dr. Alden March instructed 14 young men in medicine in a building on Montgomery Street-the start of Albany Medical College; Joseph Bonaparte, ex-King of Spain visited Albany; newspapers boasted of the speed of the mails when letters mailed in New York City on the 19th of July reached Rochester on the 23rd; Thorpe's stagecoach left Utica and made it to his offices at State and Broadway in 9 hours 10 minutes (67 miles – 7.4 mph), the stagecoach trip from Schenectady to Albany down the Albany- Schenectady turnpike had taken 67 minutes for 16 miles (14.3 mph); the Albany Basin of the Erie Canal was under construction; the Erie Canal was completed and opened to much fanfare; and the estate of the late Governor DeWitt Clinton was auctioned off by the Albany sheriff to satisfy a judgment. DeWitt Clinton's body, originally interred with the Spencer family in Albany, was removed to a cemetery in New York City. (Dudley Heights)
Rev. David Dyer
(c1811-c1870) lot 58, sec 3
Chaplain of the Albany Penitentiary and author of a history on that institution.
John Hanbury Dwyer
(c1780-1843); lot 50, sec 41
Headstone inscription: “Professor of Elocution. One of the most distinguished actors of his day. A man of brilliant talent and dedication: an ornament of the British American stage: author of the best Essays on Elocution ever published in this country. Born in Clonnel, County Tipperary, in 1780, came to America in 1811, died December 14, 1843.” His book, An Essay on Elocution, was first published in Cincinnati in 1824 and a later version was copyrighted in Albany in 1843 and the Weare C. Little Company of Albany published six editions of the 300-page book.
(1932-1904); lot 16, sec 15
Mayor of New York City (1883-1884), Congressman (1891) and Secretary to the committee on the Erie Canal. He was a member of the anti-Tammany Democrats and was chosen by Tammany boss John Kelly as a compromise candidate in 1882 to prevent a split in the party. He represented the City of New York at the dedication of the Brooklyn Bridge and appointed the committee to create parks in the Bronx that eventually included Van Cortlandt, Bronx, Pelham Bay, Croatan, Claremont and St. Mary's Parks. Edson supported the construction of the Croton Aqueduct as well as the conversion of Rikers Island to a prison.
(c1829-1862); lot 14, sec 55
Editor of the Albany Express newspaper.
(1791-1869); lot 22, sec 58
With Timothy Bailey, he developed the principle of operating knitting mills with waterpower. He was the owner and founder of Ontario Mills in Cohoes. By 1886, 25 knitting mills were located there employing 4,000 people and representing 25% of the knit goods manufactured in the U.S. at that time. He was President of the Bank of Cohoes and founded Cohoes High School.
(1798-1882); lot 53, sec 56
Painter, historian, geologist. Sailed to the South Seas Islands in 1829-1830, prepared papers and drawings on zoology, botany and geology. He was a participant in the first study of Antarctica. He also did sketches of early 1800s Albany.
(1818-1900) lot 97; sec 100
A Black doctor in Albany in the mid-1800's. He was an officer of the Vigilance Committee of the Underground Railroad in Albany. He was reported to have been a member of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry in the Civil War.
Congressman (1843). Graduate of Union College; Prosecuting Attorney for Saratoga County. Reported to be buried at Albany Rural but we have no record.
Joseph (Fritz) Kline Emmet
(1841-1891); lot 19, sec 29
World-famous performer in the 1860s; developed one of the first musical plays: Fritz our German Cousin. His home later became Woolfert's Roost Country Club. (Emmet Street)
(1799-1863); lot 46, sec 16
Noted 19th century geologist and biologist; one of the first professors at the Rensselaer School (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). He proposed the Taconic System to describe the formation of the Taconic Mountains and rocks of eastern New York and Massachusetts. He was the first to accurately date the rocks from this area (505 to 540 million years old). He tried to explain how older rocks were positioned above younger rocks especially in the Mt. Ida Gorge. His theory of these older rocks being “thrust” above the younger layer led to this area being named “Emmons Thrust.” The idea of one rock layer colliding with and being thrust above another layer later led to the theory of plate tectonics. His work and that of James Hall and others led to Albany being the center of geologic research in America at that time. The Association of American Geologists, the parent of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was formed at a meeting held in his house in Albany.
Brig. Gen. Addison Farnsworth
(1825-1877); lot 110, sec 18
During the Mexican War, a company of Albanians, Co. H, 1st Regiment, Albany Republican Artillery, commanded by Captain Abraham Van Olinda and Lieutenant Addison Farnsworth [later Brevet Brigadier General in the Civil War] went through the Gulf of Mexico to participate in the landing at Vera Cruz under Major General Winfield Scott.
Brig. Gen. John Gosman Farnsworth
(c1832-1895); lot 53, sec 30
Captain and assistant quartermaster of the Fourth Army Corps under Gen. E.D. Keys in 1861. Served in the Quartermaster General Corps in 1863 and 1864 during the siege of Chattanooga and at the battles of Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain. In 1863-1864, he was promoted to colonel and commanded the supply depot at Wheeling, West Virginia. At the end of the Civil War he was mustered out of service but remained in the New York State Guard eventually being promoted to Adjutant General of the State of New York by Governor Grover Cleveland. He also volunteered as a Washington Park commissioner and was a Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery.
lot 6, sec 72
Erected by members of Tompkins Engine Company No. 8 in 1872, it includes a fireman's hat and speaking trumpet and other fire-fighting medallions. Erected by W. Manson, stonecutter.
(c1792-1840); lot 32, sec 92
“Lamp-Lighter” of the city of Albany. In 1829, Albany had “586 oil lamps, 100 of which held half a pint and the others a gill (of oil).” Each lamp needed to be filled and lit each night. Headstone inscription: “who was drowned by the falling of the bridge crossing from the foot of State Street onto the Pier, August 22, 1840, aged 48 years.” At 5 p.m. on that date, seventy to eighty people and three or four horses and carts fell about twenty feet into twelve feet of water when the bridge over the canal basin collapsed while hundreds were being loaded onto steamboats bound for New York. Twenty-two bodies were recovered. James Hinman, Albany's Constable also buried at this cemetery, died in the same accident.
George H. Fitts
(1851-1909); lot 150, sec 26
New York Supreme Court Justice.
(1874-1932); lot 8, sec 28
Author of books on unexplained phenomena. He wrote four books: The Book of the Damned, New Lands, LO! and Wild Talents. He spent many years thoroughly researching unusual happenings such as raining frogs, UFO's, disappearing telephone poles and spontaneous combustion of human beings. He questioned almost all accepted scientific principles because he felt that scientists and newspapers only reported things that agreed with what they wanted people to believe. The Fortean Times, still published monthly in London, England is said to promote his philosophy.
Peter Van Vranken Fort
(1821-1891); lot 8, sec 28
Founder and owner of Albany's largest wholesale grocers, P. V. Fort & Co. During the Civil War, coins became so scarce in Albany that P. V. Fort & Co. and Albert Wing Sons & Co. both wholesale grocers, began minting their own pennies to use for change. They made each penny worth one pound of flour. These pennies were distributed and accepted widely and even today are turning up as collector's items all over the country.
(c1774-1856); lot 10, sec 8
He was the first publisher of the Albany City Directory. He worked with Solomon Southwick publishing the Albany Chronicles.
Brig. Gen. Henry Stanford Gansevoort
(1834-1871); lot 2, sec 55
A graduate of Harvard and an attorney, he volunteered for service in the Civil War and served with the 7th regiment. He later served with the 5th US Artillery. He fought in the Peninsular Campaign, Gainesville, Second Bull Run, South Mountain and Antietam. In 1863 he served in the 13th NY Cavalry which was partly recruited by him. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1863. He was brevetted Brigadier General at the end of the war in 1865 and served at Ft. Monroe in an administrative position. Returning from Nassau in the Bahamas in 1871, he died on the Day Line steamboat Drew near Rhinebeck, N.Y. Son of Peter Gansevoort, grandson of General Peter Gansevoort.
(1751-1810); lot 7, sec 43
Chairman of the Provincial Congress in 1777 which made him the de facto Governor of New York State during the Revolutionary War. He was a Colonel in the Light Cavalry in the Revolutionary War, Treasurer of the Albany Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War, Member of the Provincial Congress (1778-1779) and Continental Congress (1788), Assemblyman (1787-1788), New York State Senator (1790-1793 and 1796-1802), Judge of the Albany County Court of Common Pleas (1794).
After the Revolutionary War he was a member of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, the precursor to the Erie Canal Commission. On Nov. 17, 1793, a fire started in his stable destroying an entire city block at the northwest corner of what is now State and Broadway. His brother was Revolutionary War hero General Peter Gansevoort. (Gansevoort Street)
General Peter Gansevoort
(1749-1812); lot 1, sec 55
Commanded the colonial troops during the defense of Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York) in the Revolutionary War, turning St. Ledger's troops back and preventing him from assisting British General Burgoyne at Saratoga. He also served under General Montgomery when Colonial soldiers invaded Canada in 1775. Maternal grandfather of Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
(1789-1876); lot 2, sec 55
New York Assemblyman (1831), New York State Senator (1833-1836), uncle of author, Herman Melville. He helped support the Melville family after their father died. He was son of Revolutionary War General Peter Gansevoort. Board Member of Albany Rural Cemetery. He lived at 115 Washington Ave.
(1838-1918); lot 8, sec 115
Mayor of the City of Cohoes from 1886 – 1892. Associated with the Swifts (Swifts' Packing Company), he was a dealer in beef shipped to Albany from Chicago.
Charles Henry Gaus
(1840-1909); lot 23, sec 109
Pharmacist, Mayor of Albany (1902), State Comptroller, Colonel in the New York State National Guard.
While he was Mayor, Prince Henry of Prussia, younger brother of Emperor William of Germany visited the city and was a guest of the Mayor; Andrew Carnegie offered the city $150,000 for a library but his offer was turned down in a public vote with 7,192 in favor but 12,260 against; Albany author Francis Bret Harte author of two best sellers, The Luck of the Roaring Camp and the Heathen Chinee died; there was a smallpox outbreak at the alms-house and seventeen year locusts appeared; due to a coal strike in Pennsylvania, coal prices rose excessively and coal was rationed in Albany. Albany's Dr. Arthur G. Root was appointed to head the New York Industrial School at Rochester to which truant school children from all over the state were sent. In 1903, the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society investigated 10,000 cases of cruelty to children or animals and prosecuted 644 cases.
Also the jail behind Albany's City Hall was abandoned for the new one located to the west of Delaware Avenue near today's Veterans Hospital and a serious meat shortage occurred when union butchers went on an extended strike. The Archbishop of Canterbury and his wife and J. Pierpont Morgan visited Albany and dined with Bishop Doan, and Sarah Bernhardt appeared at Harmanus Bleecker Hall. Also, on Aug. 8, 1905, the 6-story John G. Myers Department Store collapsed while undergoing renovations. The roof fell through to the cellar killing 13 clerks. Trolley drivers, stove-mounters, printers and composers were all on strike in 1905, the second battalion of Albany militia was dispatched to quell a strike at the brickyards in Coeymans and President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed that Nov. 30th be set apart as a day of Thanksgiving. On April 20, 1905, Mayor Gaus sent $5,000 raised from Albany residents to survivors of the San Francisco earthquake. On June 3, 1906 young baseball players in Beaver Park were arrested for playing ball on Sunday and spent a week in jail at the request of the clergy of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, and the Barnum & Bailey circus arrived the next day.
(1830-1908); lot 25, sec 3
Fabricated and erected many of the monuments in the cemetery in the last half of the 19th century. He worked in sandstone, marble and granite. His principal stone works were at the entrance to the Albany Rural Cemetery with a branch at 163 Madison Avenue. His 1880 ad mentioned proudly that he had a telephone at the works.
(1855-1927); lot 5 sec 109
He was President of Gibson Snow Company, successor to A. McClure Company, and reputed to be the largest drug company in America with branches in Albany, Troy, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. They were located at 76 State Street and later Broadway. He was President of Albany College of Pharmacy and Albany Hospital, Vice President of National Savings Bank, Director of State Bank, Trustee of Albany Medical College, Home for the Aged, Wesleyan University and Union University.
(1841-1905); lot 26, sec 29
Civil War soldier, Prisoner of War, author, explorer – explored the source of the Mississippi River at a lake he named “Lake Glazier.” He traveled by horseback from Boston to San Francisco; also traveled to Labrador and South America. He wrote several best selling books about his adventures.
(1842-1911); lot 269, sec 107
Born in Darnstadt, Germany, immigrated to the U.S. and served in the Civil War at age 19. He was the chairman of the committee to raise funds and build the monument to Civil War General Adolph von Steinwehr at Albany Rural. He owned Gloeckner Furniture Store at 147 Pearl Street in Albany.
Charles Watson Godard
(1817-1883); lot 14, sec 4
Mayor of Albany (1855), Captain of the Port of New York, agent for lake boats at pier 98. Godard was appointed Mayor by the Common Council upon the death of Mayor William Parmelee. A subsequent election resulted in Doctor John Quackenbush, the Republican candidate, garnering 20 more votes than Eli Perry, the Democratic candidate, but Perry contested the election. The Common Council asserted that the votes of the 7th and 8th wards were fraudulent and on April 14th voted 11 to 9 to elect Perry as Mayor for one year. However, on May 6, the new Council took office and elected Quackenbush Mayor for one year, resulting in two Albany Mayors serving at the same time in 1856. The case went to the courts that decided in Quackenbush's favor but the decision came only days before his term ended.
(c1990-1879); lot 20, sec 58
On April 15, 1813, he started a carriage factory, Goold Carriage Shop, in a building leased from General Peter Gansevoort on the corner of Maiden Lane and Dean Street. He built horse-drawn carriages and stagecoaches. He constructed stagecoaches for the Mohawk and Hudson River Railroad that they used to run on iron rails pulled by a steam engine named the DeWitt Clinton for America's first passenger railroad which ran from the intersection of Madison and Western Avenues in Albany into downtown Schenectady.
James A. Gray
(1815-1889); lot 10, sec 18
Partner in Boardman and Gray Piano Company, the largest of several piano manufacturers in Albany due to Albany's large lumber industry.
George E. Gregory
(c1811-1878); lot 49, sec 67
Headstone inscription: “Killed by the cars of Troy” (trolley cars).
(1811-1898); lot 93, sec 18
Founder of the New York State Museum; State Paleontologist. State Geologist from the time the New York State Survey was created in 1836 until 1898. He authored a 4-volume work on paleontology, considered a landmark work. He published the first Geological Study of the State of New York, the first in the U.S. He designed the first respected geological chart showing a vertical slice of the earth and the ages and types of rocks that comprised it.
His work, and that of Ebenezer Emmons and others, made Albany the center of geological research in America in the 1800s. In April 1851, he pushed for the creation of the State University at Albany to bring experts and thinkers from many specialties into close proximity. This idea was first adopted in 1876 by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He excavated the Cohoes Mastodon and excavated and brought the “Cardiff Giant” to Albany to be exhibited at Geologic Hall. James Hall Hall at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was named in his honor.
Hendrick Hallenbake (Hallenbeek)
(c1692-1766); lot 29, sec 73
Head of a family of early Albany settlers whose remains were originally interred in a family graveyard located at the southwest corner of South Pearl and Hamilton Street in the 1700s. A group of court appointed Trustees, including Lewis Benedict, sold the land and used part of the proceeds to purchase this plot of 37 graves and move the family here.
(1854-1908); lot 91, sec 28
Insurance attorney, judge, authored much of the New York Insurance law. His three daughters were killed in a train wreck while returning from a family funeral at Hartford, Connecticut. One of his daughters was married to the son of Andrew Brady, wealthy entrepreneur (gas utilities, electric streetcars) and namesake of Albany's Brady Maternity Hospital. Monument is a Celtic cross designed by Marcus T. Reynolds, executed by John Francis Brines.
( ? ); lot 23, sec 5
In her will, she directed that her tomb be locked and the lock filled with lead and the keys thrown into the Hudson River. She apparently wanted to be undisturbed but records show that she was moved to Albany Rural from another burial ground in downtown Albany in 1847. Her dates of birth and death are unknown.
(1872-1961); lot 14, sec 11
Known throughout his life as Learned Hand, he was Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York He wrote the anti-trust decision on Alcoa Aluminum (1944), and was referred to as the “tenth man on the U.S. Supreme Court” because his decisions were held in such high regard.
(1833-1886); lot 14, sec 11
Attorney, he served in partnership with J.V.L. Pruyn, later Hill, Cagger & Porter, and still later with his brother-in-law Matthew Hale. He was one of the premier attorneys of New York State and argued more cases before the Court of Appeals than any other attorney in the ten years before his death. He also served as Corporation Counsel to the City of Albany and President of the Water Commission. He served on a Commission to Reform Municipal Government which opposed voting rights for recent immigrants who had been in the country for less than a year, or could not speak English, which incurred the wrath of Tammany Hall that was courting these voters. In 1878, he accepted an appointment as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals but although he was a strong Democrat his nomination was opposed by Tammany Hall and he did not get nominated for re-election the next year. Father of Judge Learned Hand.
(1695-1756); Church Grounds
Mayor (1754), fur trader. Purchased Albany's first fire engine, a hand operated pump fed by a bucket brigade with water pumped through a leather hose. While he was Mayor, the French and Indian War began. He was also Mayor during the “Albany Congress” when representatives of the colonies came to Albany and adopted Benjamin Franklin's “Albany Plan” precursor to the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution. He was the son of Mayor Hendrick Hanson. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
(c1670-1724); Church Grounds
Mayor (1698), Provincial Assemblyman, Alderman, Indian Commissioner, trader, merchant. He lived on the east side of Market Street (Broadway) near Lion (State). During his term as Mayor the population of the Province of New York was 18,067. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
J. (John) Palmer Harcourt
(1907-1989); lot 95, sec 126
(1869-1893); lot 11, sec 4
Convicted of poisoning his wife (Helen Potts), he was the sixth person to be electrocuted in Sing Sing's electric chair on May 8, 1893.
Frank Salisbury Harris
(1868-1951); lot 53, sec 116
Served as temporary Mayor of Albany while Erastus Corning 2nd served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was head of the Treasury Division of the New York State Division of Taxation and Finance.
(1820-1900); lot 3, sec 18
Attorney, Albany County District Attorney (1853), Assemblyman (1850), New York State Senator (1875) where he was chairman of the Finance Committee. Originally a state Whig Party leader he later became Chairman of the Republican State Committee from 1864 to 1870. He served as President of the Board of Capitol Commissioners from 1865 to 1875. In 1855, he was elected a Regent of the University of the State of New York. He lived at 753 Broadway. Brother of Senator Ira Harris.
(1802-1875); lot 3, sec 18
Judge; New York Assemblyman (1845-46); New York State Senator (1847); U.S. Senator (1861-1867); close friend of Abraham Lincoln, President of Union College, founder and President of the University of Rochester, one of the founders and one of three members of the first faculty of Albany Law School. His daughter, Clara and her fiancé Henry Reed Rathbone were in the box at Ford's Theater with the Lincolns when Lincoln was shot. One of the original founders and Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery, he drafted and proposed the Board resolutions dedicating the plot for Major General Philip Schuyler. His grandson, Henry Riggs Rathbone was a Congressman from Illinois in 1923.
John S. Hartley
(c1786-1864); lot 9, sec 20
Artist, sculptor, pupil of Erastus Dow Palmer.
(1856-1916); lot 87, sec 26
Hugh J. Hastings
(c1820-1883); lot 1, sec 40
Editor of Albany's Knickerbocker newspaper that he founded with a total capital of $7.50. Also later founded the New York Commercial Advertiser.
George C. Hawley
(1860-1928); lot 14, sec 109
He was the son-in-law of Theodore Amsdell and together they owned and operated the Dobler Brewery. The Dobler Brewery was bordered by Swan and Elm Streets and Myrtle Avenue.
(c1793-1845); lot 5, sec 9
Adirondack prospector; iron ore miner, the Town of North Elba near Lake Placid grew up around his foundry. He was the son-in-law and partner of Archibald McIntyre. He was accidentally shot and killed by his own gun at a lake now known as Calamity Lake near North Elba. He was also involved in the early development of Jersey City, N.J. Monument by R.E. Launitz of New York City.
John V. Henry
(c1767-1829); lot 17, sec 19
Attorney. Admitted to the legal bar at Albany in January, 1782, together with Aaron Burr. He was a member of the Federalist Party, Assemblyman (1800-1802), and New York State Comptroller (1800) appointed by Governor John Jay.
D. Cady Herrick
(1846-1926); lot 15, sec 116
Lawyer, Supreme Court Judge, Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, ran for Governor on the Democratic ticket in 1904.
(c1817-1882); lot 1, sec 4
Early organizer of Albany Rural Cemetery, his father owned much of the land (42 acres) on which the south ridge of the cemetery is located. He was also the surveyor and 2nd superintendent of the cemetery. He donated funds to build a holding vault. His father, Thomas Hillhouse was moved to Albany Rural after the cemetery was opened. John was a graduate of West Point in 1842. He served as a captain in the Civil War.
(1816-1897); lot 1, sec 4
Assistant Adjutant General of N.Y., he was in charge of enlistments in New York City under Governor Edwin D. Morgan during the first years of the Civil War. He was the brother of John (above). He administered his father's estate and sold the first 100 acres to Albany Rural Cemetery in 1841.
(c1832-1881), lot 7, sec 27
Owner of Albany's largest brewery, Hinckel Brewery. Died at 49.
(c1788-1840); Church Grounds
Headstone inscription: “Lost his life by fall of State Street Bridge.” Hinman was the Constable of the city of Albany. Samuel Fisher also died in this accident when the bridge from the foot of State Street over the canal basin to the pier collapsed while hundreds of people were being loaded onto steamboats bound for New York at 5 p.m. on August 22, 1840. Seventy to eighty persons and three or four horses and carts fell about twenty feet into twelve feet of water. Twenty-two bodies were recovered.
(1853-1908): lot 135, sec 108
A prominent Albany architect of the late 1800s. His father, Rev. Ernest Hoffman was the pastor of the German speaking St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church for 25 years. He designed the contrasting heavy stone Albany Steamer Firehouse #1, the LaDow House on Thurlow Terrace, the Scott Dumont Goodwin House at 331 State Street, the 5-story Nussbaum and Livingston Building on Broadway and the Albany Insurance Company building. His last notable work was the Carriage House at the Jermain Mansion “Hedgelawn” (592 Broadway, near Watervliet) in about 1904. He also designed the impressive barns at Albany Rural Cemetery.
(1846-1906); lot 41, sec 33
(1702-?); Church Grounds
First English Mayor, his father was the Commander of the Albany Garrison. He lived at the corner of Market (Broadway) and Beaver Streets. He signed a City Ordinance “To prevent Negroes or Indian slaves to appear in the streets after eight at night without a lanthorn and lighted candle in it.” He was buried in St. Peter's Episcopal Church burial ground, which was moved to Albany Rural in 1868.
(1766-1836); lot 12, sec 49
Noted architect. Designed the early State Capitol Bldg. (1806), Albany Academy Building (now Board of Education Bldg.), North Dutch Reformed Church (1797), St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (1829), St. Peter's Episcopal Church (1802), St. Paul's Episcopal Church (1828), Albany City Hall (1829), New York State Arsenal (1799), New York State Bank (1803), Bank of Albany (1809), Mechanics and Farmers Bank (1811), many other banks and municipal buildings. He also designed many private residences for wealthy Albanians including the Van Rensselaers, Cornings, Pruyn's, Lansings, William James and others. One mansion, built for Samuel Hill, is now the Fort Orange Club at 110 Washington Avenue. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
(1839-1909); lot 6, sec 36
Attorney and member of the N.Y. Assembly in 1885. He was a partner of Oliver M. Hungerford and also served as Albany's District Attorney in 1877. He was a Trustee of Albany County Savings Bank and a Director of Albany County Bank.
George B. Hoyt
(1823-1886) lot 46, sec 107
Albany coal dealer and member of the Albany Board of Public Instruction.
Lt. Alfred Huested, MD
(1841-1918); lot 59, sec 3
Studied medicine with Drs. Armsby and Pomfret and, in 1862, became hospital steward of the 113th NYVI, afterwards the 7th NY Heavy Artillery. In 1863, he returned to Albany and graduated with an M.D. degree from Albany Medical College and returned to the 7th NYHA where he served as an assistant surgeon. He was mustered out of service in 1866 in Denver, Colorado. In 1867, he started a drug store at the corner of Hudson and Eagle streets and later moved to State and Eagle in 1886. He became one of Albany's most successful and well-known businessmen.
(c1787-1854); lot 51, sec 3
Mayor of Albany (1843), New York State Senator (1839), successful leather and tanning merchant. He was prominent in educational and religious work.
While he was Mayor; he closed public markets on Sunday; Governor DeWitt Clinton's remains were moved from the Spencer burial ground on Swan Street in Albany to New York City; the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad was extended down through Tivoli Hollow to Maiden Lane adjacent to the ferry; Senator Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams visited Albany; Albany Rural Cemetery was consecrated with a large procession and event; Albany's first telegraph office opened in the Exchange Building; and the Common Council directed that the morning bell be rung at sunrise instead of 8 a.m.; Albany experienced another cholera year (1849 - at least 348 cases and 154 deaths) and on July 12, 1849, firemen rioted while six houses burned on Broad Street.
Henry Hun, M.D.
(1854-1924); lot 14, sec 11
Medical Doctor, President of the Association of American Physicians and American Neurological Association. Published many books and was a recognized world authority on the treatment of nervous disorders.
Thomas Hun, M.D.
(1808-1896); lot 1, sec 17
Dean of the Faculty of Albany Medical College and President of the staff of Albany Hospital. In 1861 he served on a commission with Dr. Mason F. Cogswell and Dr. Alden March examining applicants for the position of surgeon and assistant surgeon to serve in the volunteer units from New York during the Civil War. They interviewed 468 applicants and approved 228.
F. Arthur Hunsdorfer
(1891-1965); lot 51, sec 118
Regional Sales Manager for Carnegie Steel, founded Albany Steel and Iron Supply Company, purchased Claussen Iron (fabricated and erected structural steel for the D&H Plaza and Albany Evening Journal Buildings) and Hannibal Green's Sons of Troy (distributor of Burdens' Iron).
Elisha P. Hurlbut
(1807-1889); lot 44, sec 27
New York Supreme Court Judge, Court of Appeals Judge, large property owner in the southwest section of Albany. His headstone is carved as a replica of the headboard of his bed. (Hurlbut Street).
(1796-1851); lot 5, sec 54
Died when he fell from the railroad bridge over Patroon's Creek on 5/3/1851.
Elias H. Ireland
(c1807-1871); lot 11, sec 24
He bought a large farm from the Van Rensselaer family at the intersection of Osborne Road and Loudon Road (Rt. 9) in Watervliet (now Colonie) in 1832. A post office was established near this intersection in 1850 with Elias H. Ireland as postmaster. The area served by the post office became known as Ireland's Corners. In 1871, the area served by this post office was expanded and the name changed to Loudonville.
Henry Lovett Jackson
(c1831-1840); lot 14; sec 49
Headstone inscription: “Drowned, June 11, 1840, 9 years.” Re-interred from the African Methodist Episcopal Church burial ground.
(?); lot 1, sec 61
Early Dutch settler related to the Bleeckers, he laid the cornerstone for the Old Dutch Church in 1656. He was originally buried in the “Old Dutch Church” then moved to the “Middle Dutch Church” on Hudson Avenue and finally to Albany Rural by his descendents the Dudley family.
(1771-1832); lot 1, sec 16
Wealthiest Albany merchant; grandfather of renowned authors William and Henry James. Pioneered the salt industry in the U.S. He owned large land holdings in Syracuse and New York City. Townsend Furnace manufactured large kettles that James used to boil down salt mined in the great salt flats under what is now Syracuse, New York. He was a founder and member of the first board of Albany Savings Bank, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church and Albany Orphan Asylum. He was also one of the founders of Union College and a member of the Erie Canal Commission. When he died in 1832, he left an estate valued at $3 million making him the second wealthiest man in America trailing only John Jacob Astor. (James Street in Albany and in Syracuse)
(1789-1862); lot 27, sec 12
Congressman from New York (1823-1825), first District Attorney of Sullivan County (1818), lawyer. Practiced law in Bloomingburg, New York and later in Albany.
James Barclay Jermain
(1809-1897); lot 31, sec 65
Lawyer, merchant, philanthropist, he donated the buildings for the first YMCA in downtown Albany (site of the first “away” basketball game when the team from the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts came to play Albany), Home for Aged Men (Menands Manor), Jermain Presbyterian Church, and The Fairview Home for Friendless Children. He incorporated the Mohawk-Hudson River Humane Society as a continuation of the Fairview Home for Friendless Children Orphanage. The orphanage was later merged with the Parson's Home for Children and the Humane Society changed their mission to protecting animals. His daughters were very active with the orphanage, humane society and the church where they taught Sunday School. He was a trustee and Vice-President of Albany Rural Cemetery.
His aunt and her daughter returned to live with him after the aunt's husband died. Her daughter, Margaret Olivia Slocum, married Russell Sage and upon his death she became, according to the New York Times, “the richest woman in America.” She endowed Russell Sage College in Troy, the John Jermain Library in Sag Harbor and the Russell Sage Memorial window in the First Presbyterian Church in Far Rockaway, Long Island – one of Tiffany's largest and finest commissions. (Jermain Street)
(1784-1869); lot 31, sec 65
Albany's most successful commission merchant, buying and selling merchandise, grain and animals that traveled along the Erie Canal. He acted as a buyers' agent, accumulating orders for goods, and then purchasing and reshipping material arriving at Albany. He was one of the founders and first Secretary of Albany Savings Bank. Father of James Jermain.
(?-1795): Church Ground
Oneida Sachem (Chief). He was the principal orator and public speaker of the Oneida Nation. A deputation of chiefs and sachems of the Oneidas attended the funeral in Albany and performed the solemnities according to the custom of their Nation. He was originally interred in the Presbyterian cemetery. In 1866, all four Presbyterian cemeteries were moved to Albany Rural Cemetery.
Andrew B. Jones
(c1840-1909); lot 115, sec 107
In 1862, during the Civil War, he enlisted in Co. G., 24th Regiment, New York National Guard. He served as quartermaster-sergeant and quartermaster of the regiment. He later became a partner in Hudson Valley Paper Company, wholesale paper dealers.
(1830-1890); lot 13, sec 35
Mayor of Albany (1874), President of the Young Men's Association, Grand Master of New York Masons. Running as a Republican, he was elected initially in 1874, the election was contested by Democrat George Thacher and the contest dragged through the courts for two years during which time Thacher was allowed to continue serving as Mayor. Judson was declared the winner only weeks before the re-election that he won in 1874.
During his term as Mayor, the steamboats JB Schuyler and GE Wynants collided at night and the steamboat Dean Richmond ran aground near Van Wie's Point; Albany Medical College was opened; William Cullen Bryant was given a reception by Governor Tilden in Albany; the Albany Railway started operating horse-drawn trolleys on Hamilton, Grand and Beaver Streets; the Washington Park bridge and Lake House was built; the West Albany stockyard reported that 24,937 cattle, 3,507 sheep, 8,455 hogs and 945 horses and 37,844 rail cars had been unloaded during the year, for an average of 103 cars per day; Broadway and Western Avenue were repaved with granite stones. (Judson Street)
William Henry Keeler
(1841-1918); lot 41, sec 108
In 1863, he opened Keeler's Oyster House at State and Green Streets which soon became the most popular and famous oyster house in upstate New York. He sold the oyster house to his brother in 1870. In 1886, he opened a restaurant at 26 Maiden Lane. In 1890, he purchased the property from his restaurant through to Broadway and built Keeler's Hotel
(1755-1824); Church Grounds
Judge of the Surrogate Court of the Niagara District, Northern Canada. He also served as surgeon and staff member to British forces. Re-interred from St. Peter's Episcopal Church burial ground.
(1808-1879); lot 4 sec 12
First President of the Albany Railway (horse drawn streetcars), Postmaster, publisher of the New York State Register, strong supporter of Millard Fillmore's faction of the Republican Party which competed with the Thurlow Weed-William Seward segment of the party. He donated the property used for the site of the Albany “Home for the Friendless” (Albany Orphanage). He lived at 7 Elk St.
(1795-1867); lot 26, sec 32
Dry goods merchant with his three brothers-in-law, President of Albany Savings Bank, National Savings Bank, and Albany Insurance Company. The “Moses” monument and fountain in Albany's Washington Park is dedicated to him. His father, Rufus King, was one of the first two U.S. Senators from New York after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution (Philip Schuyler was the other).
Rufus H. King
(1835-1903); lot 26, sec 32
Son of Rufus King, Paymaster General of the State of New York during the Civil War. With his brothers, J. Howard King (President Of New York State National Bank, Albany Savings Bank, State Bank of Albany, Albany Insurance Company), and Colonel Henry L. King (9th New York, Director of Albany Insurance Co and Watervliet Horse Railroad and Turnpike Co.) and sister, Mrs. Franklin Townsend, were primarily responsible for the execution and installation of the King (Moses) Memorial and fountain in Albany's Washington Park in memory of their father with donations of $30,000. Lived at 2 Elk Street.
(1826-1913); lot 16, sec 113
Owner of Kinnear Foundry and Machining Co. manufacturer of many soft metal valves, fittings and pipes for the brewing and steam engine businesses. He later purchased the Hyatt Manufacturing Company which he named the Albany Billiard Ball Company, the first manufacturer of celluloid billiard balls (a preliminary step toward developing plastic) replacing ivory billiard balls; President of the Scottish “St. Andrew's Society.” Originally a Whig party member he was an early convert to the Republican Party.
(c1775-1839); lot 96, sec 62
An immigrant from Scotland, he was a hatter, part owner of Watervliet Mills (3 mills employing 700 people with $800,000 per year in sales), owner of Roy & Co. manufacturer of woolen shawls, New York State Treasurer, President of Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank, father-in-law of Governor William L. Marcy. He owned much of the land (78 acres) on which the middle ridge of Albany Rural Cemetery is situated. His farm was almost sold to the state to create the Albany Lunatic Asylum before being purchased by the cemetery. Medallion executed by Erastus Dow Palmer.
(1835-1899); lot 2, sec 55
He was the first Reporter of the Supreme Court in 1869 and published the first seven volumes of Supreme Court decisions. In 1874, he was appointed by Governor John Dix as Acting State Treasurer. He was Corporation Counsel of Albany (1876) and State Senator (1882). In the State Senate, he sponsored the measure that created the state park at Niagara Falls. He was a trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. He served on the boards of the National Commercial Bank, Albany Savings Bank, Albany Park Commissioners, Albany Boys' Academy, Albany Hospital, Albany Medical College, Dudley Observatory and the Fort Orange Club. His father was attorney Christopher Yates Lansing and his grandfather was Abraham G. Lansing (below).
Abraham G. Lansing
(1757-1834); lot 6, sec 34
State Treasurer. He was the brother of Chancellor John Lansing, Jr.
Gerrit Yates Lansing
(1783-1862); lot 14, sec 30
State Supreme Court Judge, Congressman (1831), Clerk of the Assembly (1807), Chancellor of the Board of Regents of the State University (1842), third President of Albany Savings Bank (1854), and President of Albany Insurance Company (1859). Father-in-law to Robert H. Pruyn.
John Lansing, Jr.
(1754-1829); lot 5, sec 77
Delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention (1787), Member of the Continental Congress (1785), New York State Constitutional Convention (1788) to ratify the U.S. Constitution, Secretary to General Schuyler (1775-1776), Speaker of the Assembly (1786), Mayor (1786), Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court (1790-1798), Chancellor of the State of New York, Regent of the University of the State of New York. While Chancellor, he personally financed a topographic and geologic study of the Helderberg and Catskill Mountains by Amos Eaton.
During his term as Mayor, the New York Convention ratified the U.S. Constitution by a vote of 30 to 27 with 7 not voting causing a huge celebration to be held at Albany; Albany's royalty streets were changed: King to Washington, Queen to Elk, Duke to Eagle, and Prince to Deer (later State).
He disappeared on Dec. 12, 1829 in New York City. He was last seen by the doorman at City Hotel departing to New York Harbor to post a letter to Albany. He had an appointment for dinner that night and never appeared. He is not buried at Albany Rural although his family placed his monument (cenotaph) there and his immediate family members, his wife Cornelia Ray Lansing and his daughter, are buried in lot 5, section 77.
Cyrus Clark Lathrop
(1862-1931); lot 46, sec 27
He owned a laundry business in Albany and was a Sunday school teacher. He also volunteered to work at the Albany City Mission where he was placed in charge of the boy's department in 1890. As an outgrowth of his work at the City Mission, on April 30, 1892, he organized the Albany Boy's Club, one of the most successful institutions of its kind in the country. He served as its secretary and superintendent. Under his guidance the Albany Boy's Club ran a reading room, library, gymnasium, an evening school of industrial training, and a savings bank. It was formally incorporated in November 1896. Cyrus Clark Lathrop was the father of artists Dorothy and Gertrude Lathrop (below).
Daniel S. Lathrop
(1825-1883); lot 11, sec 29
Partner of Thacher Carwheel Company, trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. He was a son of Dyer Lathrop, and brother of Jane Lathrop, wife of Leland Stanford.
Dorothy Pulis Lathrop
(1891-1980); lot 46, sec 27
Renowned illustrator of children's books. Her illustrations for Animals of the Bible won the first Caldecott Medal (1938) for excellence in illustration. She illustrated The Little Mermaid for Hans Christian Anderson in 1939. In addition to Animals of the Bible, Dorothy authored The Fairy Circus (1931), The Dog in the Tapestry Garden (1942), Let them Live (1951), Puppies for Keeps (1891), Who Goes There? (1891), The Colt from Moon Mountain (1941), Angel in the Woods (1947), Bouncing Betsy (1936), Little Mouse (1955), Puffy and Seven Leaf Clover (1954), Skittle-Skattle Monkey (1945), Follow the Brook (1960). She also illustrated Hitty, Her First Hundred Years (1929), The Three MullaMulgars (1919), Hide and Go Seek (1938), Little Lost Boy (1920), Mopsa the Fairy (1927), The Light Princess (1926), The Princess and Curdie (1927), Mr. Bumps and His Monkey (1942), Tales from the Enchanted Isles (1926), Down-A-Down Derry - A Book of Fairy Poems (1922), Crossings (1923), Bells and Grass (1942) and others. Dorothy had been a teacher of art at Albany High School.
(c1787-1855); lot 21, sec 11
Albany Merchant, Treasurer of the Albany Orphan Asylum, his daughter Jane married Albanian Leland Stanford (Stanford University, Governor of California, President of the Central Pacific Railroad). His daughter, Jane, and Leland Stanford erected the monument on this site, the largest monument in the cemetery.
Gertrude Kathryn Lathrop
(1896-1986); lot 46, sec 27
Accomplished sculptor who sculpted figures of small animals. She created the commemorative Albany half dollar in 1936 on the 250th anniversary of the Charter of Albany granted by Governor Dongan in 1686. She also executed the commemorative coin for the city of Hudson the next year. She was the sister of Dorothy Pulis Lathrop.
(1761-?); Church Ground
Burial records for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the church burial grounds moved to Albany Rural from the State Street Burial Ground (today's Washington Park) mentions Benjamin Lattimore and his wife and then after Benjamin's name the notation "A Black Revolutionary Soldier.”
(1870-1939); lot 89, sec 108
State Supreme Court Judge appointed by Governor Charles Evans Hughes, he had previously been a partner in Hughes' law firm. He drew the incorporation papers forming the city of Rensselaer.
(1839-1917); lot 43, sec 28
Partner and son-in-law of J. G. Cottrell (furrier). Cottrell & Leonard revolutionized the graduation cap and gown industry in the U.S. by becoming the first firm to rent graduation apparel. He was also President of Albany Safe Deposit and Storage Company, Vice President of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company and a Trustee of Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings Bank.
Mary Shu-Fan Lin
(1915-2002); lot 111, sec 123
Member of Congress in the Republic of China, Taiwan. Born in Heil Lung Chung Province, China, she fled the Japanese invasion in WWII and escaped Communist occupation fleeing to Taiwan where she was elected to Congress. She served as a member of the Women's League of National Defense University and a principal of a non-profit kindergarten.
(1796-1840); lot 48, sec 3
Clerk of the New York State Assembly (1822-24); Albany County District Attorney, (1825-1838) [he was succeeded by Rufus Peckham, Sr.]; Member of the N.Y. Assembly, (1832, 1835, 1837); Speaker of Assembly (1837). He was the Albany County District Attorney who prosecuted Jesse Strang and Elsie Whipple for the murder of John Whipple at “Cherry Hill Mansion” in 1827. Jesse Strang was the last public hanging in Albany. Edward Livingston was married to one of John Lansing's daughters.
(1663-1725); Church Grounds
Also known as “The Nephew” or “Robert Livingston the Younger,” he was the son of Robert Livingston's (1654-1728 - “The Lord of the Manor”) older brother James. He served as a member of the Colonial Assembly, Mayor (1710), City Clerk, alderman and Indian Commissioner. He negotiated with the six Nations of Iroquois. He was cousin to Philip Livingston, the second “Lord of the Manor” and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was born in Scotland but emigrated first to Rotterdam in the Netherlands and later to America. He was a merchant and managed many of his uncle's Albany affairs. He married Margarita, the daughter of Peter Schuyler, first Mayor of Albany. He was re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground. (Livingston Avenue as named in honor of his family.)
Thomas Spencer Lloyd
(c1831-1883); lot 3, sec 39
Composer of religious hymns. His music was sung by hundreds of churches in the 1800s.
(c1830-1899); lot 52, sec 40
He came to Albany from Dublin, Ireland in 1852 and went to work in the dry goods shop of Sheldon & Co. In 1861, he formed a partnership selling dry goods with Henry B. Gregory under the name of Lodge, Gregory & Co., which later became Lodge, Wilkins & Co. (1882), and still later B. Lodge & Co. (1887). He also published several poems. (Lodge Street)
Will Hicock Low
(1853-1932); lot 45, sec 56
Artist, painter, author, partner in Low, Hastings & Co. of New York City. He studied at the Ecole des Beau-Arts in Paris, France where he met Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1877 and helped him complete an altarpiece for a New York church. He painted a famous oil of Saint Gaudens. After returning to America, he established himself as an innovative illustrator, decorative painter and eventually as one of America's foremost muralists.
Low worked for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing during the 1890s and created numerous designs for currency including the beautiful engraved Chicago Columbian Exposition Certificate. He executed a 26' by 34' ceiling mural and 20 panels for the great ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. He also painted a famous version of Madonna, Christmas Morn, which is located in the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art. Other works of his are displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Historical Society, Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Quebec.
Low created decorative works for architects John La Farge and H.H. Richardson. Low executed thirty-two murals in the New York State Education Building (1913-1918) and the Legislative Library in Albany. His painting Narcissus is in the Louvre in Paris, France. He was a close friend of author Robert Lewis Stevenson.
John A. Luby
(1843-1885); lot 381, sec 56
Albany Fireman of Steamer Co. No. 2, lost his life fighting a fire at Boardman and Gray Piano Company on North Pearl Street, July 12, 1885, along with Frederick J. Wallen and Daniel Wheeler.
(c1822-1900); lot 25, sec 40
Born in Ireland, he came to America when he was four. He was fourteen when his mother died and he took a job as a farmhand just north of Albany. He went to California during the gold rush and accumulated “the nucleus of his present fortune.” He invested his money buying land including the extensive fairgrounds situated opposite his home on the Troy Road (now Broadway) in Menands where he engaged in extensive “market gardening.”
Mary Arthur McElroy
(1841-1917); lot 5, sec 19
Sister of U.S. President Chester Allan Arthur, she served as First Lady during his administration since his wife, Ellen Herndon, had died. She also helped raise President Arthur's two children.
(1831-1887); lot 5, sec 27
Publisher of Albany's Argus newspaper - voice of the Democratic Party, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1885-1887), President of National Commercial Bank and Western National Bank of New York City, New York State Democratic Chairman (1881-1884) and chairman of the National Democratic Party in 1880 when Grover Cleveland was nominated for the Presidency. His portrait appeared on the $20 U.S. silver certificate from 1890 to about 1919. (Manning Blvd.)
James Hilton Manning
(1854-1925); lot 16, sec 109
Mayor of Albany (1890), President of Weed-Parsons Printing Company, President of Hudson River Telephone Company, President of National Savings Bank, Major in the 3rd Brigade of the New York National Guard. Noted numismatic and autograph collector; son of Daniel Manning.
During his term as Mayor: the Albany Railway Company, operator of most of Albany's trolley's, converted to electric power necessitating the sale of 200 horses at their Central Avenue stables; the Hawk Street Viaduct was constructed by the Hilton Bridge Company; President Benjamin Harrison visited Albany and met with Mayor Manning; Albany's 10th Battalion was sent to Buffalo to put down the railroad riots; the New York Central's famed “Engine 999” pulling the “Empire State Express” hit the world record speed of 112 ½ miles per hour between Albany and New York; Duke De Varuga, reported to be a lineal descendent of Christopher Columbus, was given a public reception by Mrs. James Kidd at 7 Elk Street; the King Fountain with statue of Moses in Washington Park was dedicated as was the new Dudley Observatory and the Robert H. Pruyn telescope and Albany Female Academy. The Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society, combining the society of the same name for the care of maltreated children and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed. The population of Albany was 97,120 and the Albany Rural Cemetery reported 78,081 total interments.
(1827-1887); lot 31, sec 16
Partner of John Dixon, later sole owner of Architectural Stone Works, erected the monuments of Col. Mills, Thomas Olcott and William Appleton and many other monuments in the cemetery. He sculpted mantels and wainscoting in the Capitol and Court of Appeals. His business was located at 32 Howard Street at the corner of Lodge and also at the entrance to Albany Rural Cemetery.
Dr. Alden March
(1795-1869); lot 1, sec 52
With Dr. James Armsby, he founded Albany Medical College. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War; Professor of Surgery at Albany Medical College, Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. Medallion by Erastus Dow Palmer.
William Learned Marcy
(1786-1857); lot 94, sec 62
Governor of New York (1833-1838), U.S. Senator; U.S. Secretary of State under President Pierce; U.S. Secretary of War under President Polk during the Mexican War. He appointed the first State Geologists and Paleontologists in New York. Mt. Marcy is named after him. With Martin Van Buren and others, he created the dominant Democratic political machine known as the “Albany Regency.” He later split with Van Buren and headed the “Hunker” faction of the Democratic Party while Van Buren headed the “Barn Burner” faction.
He was a Justice of the New York Supreme Court and New York State Comptroller. He was one of the original founders and Trustees of Albany Rural Cemetery. His funeral procession was over 2 miles long and included 27 military and 17 fire companies. His portrait appeared on some U.S. currency. His monument was designed by Erastus Dow Palmer.
John Vernon Marshall
(c1826-1888); lot 13, sec 73
Founded the Marshall & Wendell Piano Forte Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in 1853, one of America's largest piano manufacturers. The piano company was located at 911 to 923 Broadway.
Gen. Selden E. Marvin
(1835-1899); lot 9, sec 29
During the Civil War, he served as adjutant of the 112th NY Vols. and with Foster's Brigade of the Army of Southern Virginia through the Peninsular and Charleston campaigns when he was appointed paymaster of U.S. Volunteers with the Army of the Potomac. He served until December 27, 1864 when he was appointed paymaster general of the State of New York and later adjutant general of the State of New York. He was a representative of Erastus Corning and merged the John A. Griswold & Co. and the Albany Ironworks into a new corporation called the Albany & Rensselaer Iron & Steel Works, where he was elected the secretary-treasurer. He held many directorships and volunteer positions. He was married to the daughter of Judge Amasa Parker.
Captain Joseph Mather
(1800-1884); lot 6, sec 28
Descendant of the colonial Cotton Mathers, he ran a barge towing business on the Hudson River. He also managed the New York Central's West Albany Shops.
(c1766-1806); lot 12, sec 49
Headstone inscription: “Late of South Carolina. Died in Albany while on a journey for benefit of his health.” Re-interred from St. Peter's Episcopal Church burial ground.
(1866-1937); lot 73, sec 15
World lightweight champion boxer from 1886 to 1894. He retired undefeated in 1894. His record was 32-0 with 9 draws and 10 KO's. One of his fights, against British champion Jem Carney, was declared a draw after 74 rounds. In another fight, against Billy Myer, “McAuliffe, essaying the pivot punch, permissible in those days, broke his arm on his rival's head” but fought on to a draw in 64 rounds. He was the first officially recognized lightweight champion.
(1807-1872), lot 11, sec 35
Manufacturer and seller of “Drugs, Medicines, Paint and Chemicals.” His large paint and drug store at 74-76 State Street was consumed by fire on July 23rd, 1852. His successor, William J. Walker was thrown from his horse in Washington Park on May 9, 1904 and died instantly.
(1809-1892); lot 18, sec 40
An orphan at a young age, he was apprenticed to a carpenter but at the age of 30, he immigrated to America. He made friends with Peter Ballantine (Ballantine Beer) and became involved in the brewing business. He worked for Robert Dunlop who had breweries in Albany and Troy and eventually married Dunlop's daughter. He inherited the Dunlop Malt-House on Clinton Avenue in Albany and eventually operated four large malt houses in Albany and a fifth in Boston, Massachusetts. Native of Glasgow, Scotland, he donated the monument on the first St. Andrew's Society plot.
(c1843-1917); lot 154, sec 112
Born in Kilkenny, Ireland; his father was a bookseller in Liverpool, England. Headstone inscription: “Ye olde Booke Man. Here lies McDonough, the great bibliopole, shall he be forgot, oh no. He no promise broke, served no private end, unblamed through life, lamented in the end. A wise old sage was he, but not severe, his manly sense checked no decent joy. A graceful looseness he could put on. Enjoying life's enchanted cup unto the brim” – Duggan. His Albany bookstore was at 53 and 55 State Street.
James B. McEwan
(1856-1915); lot 5, sec 113
Mayor of Albany (1900), Assemblyman, New York Senator, Postmaster. During his term, the famous aerialist Glen Curtis flew non-stop from Albany to New York City following the Hudson River, the longest recorded flight at the time. This story was the headline story in the May 29, 1910 New York Times.
(1940-2004); lot NE 1/4-149, sec 127
Irish entertainer and pub owner. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland and taught mathematics before becoming a full-time Irish entertainer. He recorded four Irish songs that made the Irish charts before immigrating to the United States with his wife and daughter around 1980. He owned Eamonn's Pub on Menand Road. He regularly entertained on the annual Cerebral Palsy Telethon and, in 1996, set a Guinness Book of World Records mark for endurance singing continuing for 11 days 20 minutes. Later that same year, a bar stool crumpled beneath him causing him to suffer severe spinal cord injuries that eventually led to his death.
(1773-1858); lot 5, sec 9
Merchant, State Comptroller (1806-1821), Assemblyman (1799-1804), Deputy Secretary of State (1801-1806), State Senator (1821-1826), Presidential Elector in 1828 and 1840, for many years he was in charge of the State Lottery; one of the first Trustees of Albany Rural Cemetery. Together with his son-in-law, David Henderson, he ran iron ore mines in and around North Elba, New York (North Elba Ironworks, McIntyre Mine, Adirondac (no “k”) Iron Company). The McIntyre Range of mountains in the Adirondacks is named after him. He was also involved in the early development of Jersey City, N.J. His marble sarcophagus was designed and executed by R.E. Launitz.
(1825-1907); lot 49, sec 44
He established Albany's first architectural iron business on Lumber Street. In 1863, he built a new plant on DeWitt Street and in 1872 built the plant at 925-933 Broadway. McKinney fabricated the large structural beams and columns for many of Albany's most well-known structures including the “Old Federal Post Office” at the foot of State Street, the Dudley Observatory, the New York State Capitol and the north wing of the D&H Building. James McKinney & Son also cast many ornamental stairs, gates, railings, elevator enclosures and other decorative wrought iron work.
(c1804-1886); lot 26, sec 15
Left a provision in her will to execute and erect the statue to poet Robert Burns in Albany's Washington Park. The statue was executed by Charles Calverly.
Frank W. Meacham
(c1856-1909); lot 26, sec 3
Composer, wrote American Patrol, copyrighted in 1885. This tune was very popular before WWI. The first recording was a 2-minute Edison cylinder in 1903. A version by Glenn Miller was very popular during WWII. Meacham usually worked as arranger rather than composer for Victor Herbert musicals and Stephen Foster songs. Joseph Burke and Edgar Leslie wrote lyrics for American Patrol and used it as We Must Be Vigilant in the 1942 musical When Johnny Comes Marching Home.
(1807-1900); lot 19, sec 108
Horticulturist. He was said to be “a commanding figure in horticultural circles for a number of years. He has been named ‘The Grand Old Man' of the gardener's craft in this country.” He owned large greenhouses north of Albany that were so popular that a train station was constructed in the mid 1800s to accommodate all of his customers. The municipality that later grew up around this train station was named the Village of Menands.
(1802-1851); lot 12, sec 58
Founder of the famous Meneely Bell Foundry, also known as Meneely & Co., West Troy (Watervliet). Their bells were known worldwide for their quality and tone. They cast many carillons including those for the University of Connecticut and Trinity College, Hartford. The “Cornell Chimes” at Cornell University are Meneely bells donated by Miss Jennie McGraw in 1868. His two older sons Edwin and George ran the foundry after his death. A third son served in the Civil War and later became the principal in the Clinton H. Meneely Foundry also known as the Meneely Bell Co. They are all buried in this section at Albany Rural.
Dr. William E. Milbank
(1841-1928); lot 1, sec 115
Owned Albany's first “horseless carriage” used for business purposes, July, 1902. He was Chief of Staff of Albany Homeopathic Hospital and City Hospital. He was appointed by Governor Hill as Commissioner of the State Board of Health where he served from 1885 to 1895.
Congressman (1813), lawyer, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Reported to be buried at Albany Rural but we have no record.
William James Milne, Ph.D., LL.D.
(1843-1914); lot 24, sec 114
In 1889, he succeeded Dr. Waterbury as President of the State Normal School at Albany. The next year the institute chartered as a college to train teachers. He authored a series of textbooks on mathematics and was an expert on ancient languages. He was born in Scotland. (Milne School)
(c1837-1896); lot 14, sec 7
National President of the Women's Relief Corps in 1893-1894. The Women's Relief Corps directed their substantial efforts to caring for veterans of the Civil War and their dependents. When she was President, she initiated a program calling for educators and legislators to institute a program of patriotic instruction in public schools. She stressed the importance of displaying an American Flag in every classroom.
(1883-1902); lot 36, sec 100A
She was a 19-year-old girl who was murdered on 11/12/1902 on her way home on Loudonville Road not far from the cemetery.
Maj. Lewis N. Morris
(c1800-1846); lot 12, sec 54
Died on September 21, 1846 while leading the 3rd regiment, U.S. Army (Albany Republican Artillery) under General Zachary Taylor at Monterrey, Mexico. He previously had fought in the Black Hawk War in 1832 and the Seminole Indian War in Florida in 1840-1842. His funeral was probably the largest ever held at Albany Rural Cemetery, the procession was 3 miles long. His beautiful monument was paid for by donations from the residents of Albany.
(1829-1890); lot 36, sec 40
Physician, lover of books and flowers, headstone inscription: “Green be the turf above thee.”
Dr. Jacob S. Mosher
(1834-1883); lot 14, sec 37
Surgeon General of the State of New York, deputy health and executive officer of the Port of New York.
(1808-1880); lot 47, sec 4
Printer, antiquarian, author, recorded the history of Albany.
Samuel Lyman Munson
(1844-1930); lot 30, sec 28
Manufacturer of linen collars, later shirts and cuffs, in Albany with sales branches in New York City, Boston, and San Francisco and manufacturing branches in Cobleskill and Richmondville, New York. His company was the first to use an automatic button hole machine on cloth garments. He employed over 1,000 people. His products were on sale in every state in the Union. He graduated from Williston Seminary and Bryant & Stratton Commercial College in Albany. He had been a passenger on the steamship Maidiana that was wrecked in the West Indies on a coral reef at night, 16 miles from shore, because of an inoperative lighthouse (2/10/1903). He served as President of the Madison Avenue Dutch Reformed Church, Home Savings Bank, and Massasoit Wadding Company of Cohoes. He was a Director of National Exchange Bank, Albany Chamber of Commerce and a Trustee of Memorial Hospital. He was also a life member of Masters Lodge of Masons.
John G. Myers
(1831-1901); lot 16, sec 30
Owner of a popular department store on Pearl Street in Albany. Once a partner of William M. Whitney in 1866, Myers split off and eventually established a competing dry goods store. He served on the boards of National Savings Bank, Merchants National Bank, Albany Trust Company and the Commerce Insurance Company. He was also a Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery.
After his death, his 6-story store at 39-41 North Pearl Street collapsed (August, 1905) while under renovation, killing 13 clerks. The store moved temporarily to 69 North Pearl where it completely burned down three months later and it was again relocated to the SE corner of North Pearl and Steuben, the site of the home of Governor DeWitt Clinton, and immediately adjacent to W.M. Whitney's store. One of Myers' daughters married Charles Porter Hilton (Hilton Bridge Co.) and another daughter married Walter Launt Palmer (landscape painter). He lived at 240 State St. at the SE corner of State and Swan Streets.
(1800-1870); lot 2, sec 98
He was the primary leader of the Vigilance Committee of the Underground Railroad in Albany in the 1850s. He assisted Black people fleeing slavery from the early 1830s to the Civil War. He was also a temperance crusader, newspaper publisher, and labor leader. He pushed for quality education for minorities.
John M. Newton
(1798-1867); lot 68, sec 18
Founder of a brickyard that manufactured firebrick for use in stoves at the junction of Loudon Road and Maxwell Roads, genesis for the hamlet of “Newtonville.”
(1835-1890); lot 15, sec 19
Albany County Court Judge, Police Court Judge, grandson of Reverend Eliphalet Nott (President of Union College for 62 years), nephew of General John Taylor Cooper.
(1838-1919); lot 11, sec 53
Followed his father Thomas as President of Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank, one of the founders and first Treasurer of the Home for Aged Men in Menands (Menands Manor), Park Commissioner on the Board that established Washington Park. President and Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery.
(1843-1925); lot 41, sec 85
Builder, built homes for Robert C. Pruyn, Charles E. Pruyn and John Keeler and many others. He was a Republican national and local committeeman 1864 – 1884.
Brig. Gen. Robert Shaw Oliver
(1847-1935); lot 34, sec 60
Appointed U.S. Secretary of War by President Theodore Roosevelt, he continued under President William Taft, serving for ten years. Although only 17 years old, he received a commission as a second lieutenant and saw action in the Civil War only two weeks after entering the service. He served with the 26th Infantry in Texas and the 8th U.S. Cavalry in California, Oregon and Arizona fighting in various Indian Wars. After leaving the Army he returned to Albany and served in the N.Y. State Militia where he was promoted to brigadier general and inspector general of New York State forces. He was employed by Rathbone & Sard Stove Manufacturers.
Capt. Niels H. Olsen
(1905-1967); Lot 1, sec 47
Commander of the military transport USS General Greeley, he located the sinking SS Flying Enterprise in a hurricane on Dec. 29, 1951, 300 miles south of the English Channel. Although his first attempt to launch a lifeboat met with disaster when it was swamped by 25' waves and sank, he was able to launch lifeboats and retrieve 37 crewmen from the Flying Enterprise who had jumped from the sinking ship and were in the water. He stood by the Flying Enterprise in hurricane winds, rain and waves for three hours retrieving all but the Captain who refused to abandon ship. Captain Olsen also received many decorations during WWII, including the Purple Heart, for injuries received when a Japanese Kamikaze plane crashed into his ammunition ship, USS Mayfield Victory, at Okinawa.
Erastus Dow Palmer
(1817-1904); lot 15, sec 34
World-renowned sculptor, his statue of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston is in the Capitol in Washington DC. Angel of the Sepulchre and others in Albany Rural Cemetery; White Captive is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (gift of Hamilton Fish). His pieces are displayed at the Boston Athenaeum, New York Historical Society, The Chrysler Museum of Art and the Walters Art Gallery. He was a Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. His studio was at 3 Columbia St. Monument by Marcus T. Reynolds.
Gen. John Palmer
(1842-1905); lot 38, sec 103
New York Secretary of State and Commander-in-Chief of the New York National Guard (Adjutant General of the State of New York).
Rev. Ray Palmer
(1808-1887); lot 11, sec 56
Pastor of the Congregational Church and hymn writer. His hymn “My faith looks up to Thee” was translated into more than 20 languages. He authored at least 37 other popular hymns. He authored many articles, poems and books.
Walter Launt Palmer
(1854-1932); lot 15, sec 34
Noted landscape painter, studied with Frederick Church (noted Hudson River Artist). Palmer was noted for his winter scenes; son of Erastus Dow Palmer.
John G. Parkhurst
(c1840-1887); lot 42, sec 107
Professor Parkhurst was the Director of the Albany Musical Association from 1879 to 1887. His large choral group (possibly over 300 members) sang at many public functions and events.
Martha Parratt (Parrott)
(1861-1905); lot 68, sec 30
Secretary to the New York State Board of Regents. He was appointed Consul-General to Mexico by President Theodore Roosevelt and was killed in a collision between his vehicle and a train in Mexico City. Theodore Roosevelt was a childhood friend of Parson's wife, Frances, and corresponded with them frequently. Twenty-four letters from Roosevelt to James and more to his wife are preserved at the library at Harvard University. The Parsons lived at 22 Elk Street
(1815-1900); lot 3, sec 80
President of Weed, Parsons & Co., printers.
Benjamin F. Payn
(c1821-1881); lot 46, sec 7
Owned and operated a tobacco factory and sales store in Albany. One of his products, “Peter Schuyler Cigars,” were named after Albany's first Mayor. He mounted a large campaign among farmers outside Albany to donate fresh fruits and vegetables for the Union troops during the Civil War.
(1809-1873); lot 19, sec 11
Rufus Wheeler Peckham, Jr.
(1838-1909); lot 19, sec 11
Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court appointed by President Grover Cleveland. He had previously been a State Court Judge and Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Son of Rufus Wheeler Peckham
Wheeler Hazard Peckham
(1833-1905); lot 18, sec 11
Attorney, prosecuted William Marcy “Boss” Tweed when Tweed was convicted. He was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court but the Senate refused to confirm him when New York's Senators opposed his appointment because he had prosecuted Tweed. Appointed District Attorney by Governor Grover Cleveland; President of the New York Bar Association. He was son of Rufus Wheeler Peckham and brother of Rufus Wheeler Peckham, Jr.
(1799-1881); lot 49, sec 5
Congressman (1871), New York Assemblyman (1851), Mayor of Albany five times (1850), cousin of Commodore Perry, ran a tavern, raised cattle and sold meat. Democratic leader, Vice-President of Albany Savings Bank, Director of Mutual Insurance Company and Albany Gas Company, Inspector of the city penitentiary.
While he was Mayor: Albany Law School was organized; Patroon's Creek was dammed to form Tivoli Lakes, laborers on the city waterworks went on strike and got an increase to $1 for 10 hours work; With great fanfare and a large celebration, the first Hudson River Railroad train reached Albany from New York in 3 hours 24 minutes eclipsing the steamboat record of 12 hours; on 1/28/1852 an “enormous procession of temperance societies [led by Susan B. Anthony] marched on the Capitol;” a posse of 22 policemen visited the scene in the Helderbergs where Mr. Fish, the rent collector had been tarred and feathered; the first meeting of the Trustees of the Dudley Observatory was held; the remains of Senator Henry Clay arrived in Albany on the steamship Santa Claus and were escorted to City Hall, where he laid-in-state.
On 10/16/1852, General Winfield Scott arrived for a meeting; the steamboat Hendrick Hudson became frozen in the ice at Coeyman's; the New York Central Railroad and Hudson River Railroad merged at Albany; a woman weighing 764 pounds was exhibited at Bleecker Hall; on 3/23/1857, the Albany YMCA was organized; in 1862, Albany's 113th and 10th regiments and the Company A, Zouave Cadets departed for the Civil War; Col. Franklin Townsend's 3rd regiment returned having suffered 358 casualties out of 780 volunteers; on 6/15/1863, a mob of striking dock laborers and New York Central employees with clubs shut down businesses in Albany requiring the call out of the 25th Regiment; on June 23rd horse-drawn trolleys began operating on Broadway running between the Lumber District (Clinton Ave.) and the south ferry (Ferry Street); the city Sanitary Fair to aid families of soldiers was held; the printers went on strike because Joel Munsell hired 2 female printers due to the lack of men during the war; and in 1865, Lincoln's body was laid-in-state in the Capitol.
John S. Perry
(1816-1889); lot 8, sec 29
Cast iron stove manufacturer in Albany, New York City and Chicago Illinois. Produced 90,000 stoves annually.
Nathan B. Perry
(c1830-1903); lot 7, sec 29
Came to Albany in 1864 and became President of the Perry Stove Company, Vice President of National Savings Bank and Director of Commerce Insurance Company. His son, Edward Rodman Perry was a Trustee of Perry Stove Company and later in 1893 he was secretary and treasurer of the Hilton Bridge Company.
(1805-1873); lot 1, sec 36
Keeper of the Albany Penitentiary.
Louis D. Pilsbury
(1832-1906); lot 1, sec 36
He was the first Superintendent of New York State Prisons.
Wolcott H. Pitkin
(1839-1917); lot 1, sec 107
He grew up on a farm until his mother died and his father divided up the farm into building lots and sold them, incorporating the village of Woodhaven, N.Y. in the process. He worked part time in a shoe factory while attending school. With other family members, he started the East New York Boot, Shoe and Leather Manufacturing Company. In about 1860, he contracted with the Albany County Penitentiary to employ all 250 inmates manufacturing shoes and set up a manufacturing establishment inside the penitentiary. His payments to the penitentiary covered most of the costs of running the penitentiary and he also paid the prisoners a small stipend. He subsequently set up similar establishments in the Providence Rhode Island Reform School and the Rhode Island State Prison. In 1865, Albany County offered Pitkin 300 more prisoners if he were to move his entire operation to Albany. Pitkin closed his Rhode Island facilities and set up ten manufacturing work shops in the Albany prison. He later expanded, building plants on South Broadway and on Hamilton Street, employing about 1,000 people. Problems arose in the late 1880s when union organizers became unhappy that they could not organize his prison workers and successfully lobbied New York legislators to pass a law prohibiting prisoners from working. The new law passed in 1889. Continuing efforts to organize Pitkin's laborers forced the business to close in 1894 and Albany lost 1,000 jobs.
Daniel J. Pratt
(1827-1884); lot 27, sec 77
Assistant Secretary of the Board of Regents and the University of the State of New York from 1864 until his death in 1884. He was the founder and developer of the system of regent's examinations and was the author of Annals of Public Education in the State of New York and Boundaries of the State of New York. He was Secretary of the New York State Boundary Commission, the New Capitol Commission and the New York State Survey.
George Watson Pratt
(c1830-1862); lot 3, sec 44
New York State Senator; Colonel during the Civil War. Died of wounds suffered at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
Ezra Parmelee Prentice
(c1798-1876); lot 16, sec 38
With his two brothers John H. and Parker Prentice engaged in the wholesale fur business eventually selling out to George C. Treadwell. He was involved in organizing the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad. President of National Commercial Bank.
Charles Lansing Pruyn
(1852-1906); lot 1, sec 118
President of Albany Embossing Company, Albany Forge Company, and many civic organizations. Albany Embossing Company made many board games using technology developed by John Wesley Hyatt to make cellulose (plastic) billiard balls. Albany Embossing Company made Dominoes, Checkers and Scrabble. He was the son of Robert Hewson Pruyn. He lived at 1 Park Place.
John V. L. Pruyn
(1811-1877); lot 1; sec 53
Congressman (in 1863, he replaced his retiring brother-in-law Erastus Corning), Assemblyman, Chancellor (1868) and Regent of the State University (1844), State Senator (1861), he provided considerable legal expertise and drafted the Consolidation Agreement in combining ten small railroads to form the New York Central (1853). This agreement was considered the largest asset value agreement drafted at the time that did not involve a government. The New York Central Railroad was incorporated with a capital value of $23,000,000 making it the largest corporation in America at that time. He served as general counsel to the railroad until 1866 when control was purchased by Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Pruyn also represented the Hudson River Bridge Company, which had been chartered by the New York Legislature in 1856 to build a bridge from Albany to Troy. Troy had always opposed such a bridge thinking that the short span stone bridges of the time would block or hinder water navigation north on the Hudson River to Troy. Pruyn argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court and won a successful decision for the bridge company. The stone and steel Upper Bridge at Livingston Avenue, with revolving center section to allow ships to pass, was constructed. It was this bridge that later allowed railroad traffic and facilitated the merger of the New York Central with the New York and Harlem River Railroad, which ran north and south along the east bank of the Hudson River.
As a State Senator (1861), he donated his salary to the poor of Albany. He was a Trustee of the State Normal School at Albany, President of the State Board of Charities and the State Survey, Commissioner for the construction of the Capitol Building, laid the cornerstone (1869), and more than a dozen smaller societies. His son-in-law was William Gorham Rice.
Mary Putnam Pruyn
(1820-1885); lot 3, sec 24
Second wife of Samuel Pruyn, following his death, she chose to become a missionary to Japan and in 1871 founded a girls' school, Yokohama Kyoritsu Gakuen, in a culture that had believed that only men warranted an education. The school celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2001 and is still in operation. In 1882, she was sent to China where she founded a similar school in Shanghai. Authored Grandmother's Tales of Japan.
Robert Hewson Pruyn
(1815-1882); lot 14, sec 30
He was the second U.S. Minister to Japan (appointed by Abraham Lincoln), Speaker of the New York Assembly, Adjutant-General of the State of New York, President of the New York State Constitutional Convention. Unsuccessful Democratic Party candidate for New York Lieutenant Governor in 1866.
His family owned Albany Iron and Saw Works that he inherited and he may have served as President. He was vice-President of Albany Savings Bank, President of National Commercial Bank and Dudley Observatory, a Trustee of Union University, Albany Medical College, the State Normal School, Metropolitan Trust Company and Rutgers College. His family originally came to Albany in 1665. His monument is by H. H. Richardson, one of the architects of the Capitol Building and Albany City Hall, and is the only known cemetery monument done by Richardson.
Robert C. Pruyn
(1847-1934); lot 1, sec 119
He served as Secretary to the Minister when his father was Minister to Japan. He was President and Chairman of National Commercial Bank, Chairman of Municipal Gas Company, Director of Mechanics and Metals Bank of New York, Air Reduction Co., Delaware and Hudson Railroad, Consolidated Car Heating Co., Helderberg Cement Co., and Albany Savings Bank. He owned Santanoni a Great Camp in the Adirondacks. He was also a Regent of the State University, son of Robert H. Pruyn.
(1794-1882); lot 104, sec 18
He was a dealer in lumber, cattle and land, President of Albany Gaslight Company, Albany Savings Bank, National Savings Bank and Albany Insurance Company.
(1751-1817); lot 66, sec 29
Owner of a tavern and boardinghouse that was the location of “The Pye Robbery.” The tavern was located just south of the entrance to the Albany Rural Cemetery on the Watervliet Turnpike (later Troy Road and still later Broadway in Menands). His wife Elizabeth and their bartender, William Nutt are also buried here. The Pye Hotel, later known as Gil Crane's Hotel, became the favorite hotel and restaurant of race horse owners when the Troy Road from the juncture of Pearl Street to First Street in West Troy (Watervliet) was used as a racetrack.
(c1737-1813); lot 15, sec 9
Chairman of Albany's Committee of Safety during the French and Indian War. He “was with Lord Amherst at Ticonderoga [French and Indian War] and with General Horatio Gates at [the Revolutionary War Battle of] Saratoga, in the days that tried men's souls” (Inscription on his monument). In addition to other family members, “his servant and faithful slave, Nancy” is also interred here.
Samuel H. Ransom
(1818-1889); lot 14, sec 15
Started with Rathbone, Sard & Co. and started his own company that became one of the largest stove manufacturers in the U.S.
(c1792-1845); lot 27, sec 3
A merchant, he was senior partner in Rathbone and Chapin, Director of State Bank, Albany Insurance Company, and a member of the Albany Common Council. First Mayor of Albany elected by popular vote (1838), President of Albany Medical College. His son, Major Henry Reed Rathbone and Clara Harris were in the box with Lincoln when Lincoln was shot.
During his term as Mayor, General Steven Van Rensselaer died and Express Messenger Dimmick was dispatched to bring the news to New York City. Dimmick reached the Carlton House in New York in 14 hours and 31 minutes having been forced to swim the Redhook and Fishkill Rivers where the bridges had been swept away by floods. Rathbone's memorial at Albany Rural is considered to be “a counterpart to the tomb of Scipio.”
Jared Lawrence Rathbone
(1844- ?); lot 16, sec 3
Son of Jared Rathbone (above). He served in the 12th infantry during the Civil War and was appointed Consul General to Paris in 5/18/1887. He was Major Henry Reed Rathbone's brother.
(c1806-1863); lot 16, sec 3
Founder of Rathbone, Sard & Co. stove manufacturers, which became the largest stove manufacturer in the world. Bronze medallion by Erastus Dow Palmer.
John Finley Rathbone
(1819-1901); lot 34, sec 60
Owned Rathbone, Sard & Co stove manufacturers. At the time, the largest stove manufacturer in the world. Brigadier General of the 9th Brigade in the Civil War, commanded the Albany Depot where he sent 35 regiments to the front, one of the founders and President of the Albany Orphan Asylum, President of the Albany Rural Cemetery, the Mutual Fire Insurance Company and the Albany Academy. Governor John A. Dix appointed him a Major General and Adjutant General of the State of New York. He was also a Trustee of the University of Rochester where he contributed $40,000 to establish the Rathbone Library. He was one of the founders and President of the Albany Orphanage and Dudley Observatory and Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He was a Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany Academy, and an Albany Park Commissioner. His wife, killed in an automobile accident in Cannes, France on January 27, 1904, is also buried here. They lived at 119 Washington Ave.
(1827-1901); lot 28, sec 28
“Lumber Baron,” owned extensive hemlock mills at Bradford, Pennsylvania. He became one of the predominant hardwood dealers in the country. He lived at 28 Willett Street.
Harmon Pumpelly Read
(1860-1925); lot 104, sec 18
Son of Gen. John Meridith Read, U.S. Consul-General to France and Algeria and first resident U.S. Minister to Greece. (It is suspected that Gen. John Meridith Reed is also buried in this family crypt.) In 1893, he was appointed Vice-Chairman of an Albany committee to receive the Duke of Veragua, a reported direct descendent of Christopher Columbus. He hosted the reception and took the Duke on a tour of the “North Woods” (Adirondacks). President of the Young Men's Association, regent of the Philip Schuyler Chapter of the Sons of the Revolution.
(c1804-1883); lot 51, sec 5
Flour and grain trader throughout New England, he owned a line of schooners. He was President of the Board of Trade of the city of Albany; banker.
(c1795-1878); lot 22, sec 22
Noted architect and builder. Constructed many buildings in Albany including the first Capitol Building that was destroyed by fire.
William Cox Redfield
(1858-1932); lot 62, sec 18
Secretary of Commerce (1913) in Woodrow Wilson's Cabinet during WWI, Congressman (1911), Commissioner of Public Works for the borough of Brooklyn in 1902, unsuccessful candidate for nomination for Vice President of the U.S. in 1912, machinery manufacturer, banker and insurance executive.
(1886-1934); lot 1, sec 17
Historian, Albany City Historian, author, conducted a study of the frequency of use of each letter of the alphabet and assisted in the design of the keyboard for setting type that was later modeled for the typewriter. He was a grandson of Marcus Tullius Reynolds.
(1829-1906); lot 1, sec 17
Attorney, inventor, held over 20 patents in the printing trade including the patent for the automatic positioning of type, he also held patents in the manufacture of steel and iron. He was a son of Marcus Tullius Reynolds.
Marcus Tullius Reynolds
(1789-1864); lot 1, sec 17
Congressman, Supreme Court Justice, founder and President of three railroad lines. Albany and Northern became part of the Delaware and Hudson (its tracks still intersect Cemetery Avenue today), Albany and West Stockbridge became part of the New York Central and Utica and Schenectady became part of the Boston and Albany.
Marcus T. Reynolds
(1869-1937); lot 1, sec 17
Architect, produced some of the most beautiful buildings in the Northeast, including Albany's D&H Plaza, Albany Trust Company Bank, Henry Manning Sage Estate and many monuments in the cemetery. He was a grandson of Marcus Tullius Reynolds. He was also a Board member of Albany Rural Cemetery.
William Gorham Rice
(1856-1945); lot 1, sec 53
Father of the Albany City carillon in Albany City Hall, he raised the funds, bought the carillon and hired the contractors to install it.
Rev. Evan Roberts
(c1790-1836); Church Grounds
Headstone inscription “of Steuben, Oneida County, New York, who departed this life (his death having been caused, as is supposed, by the hand of an assassin).” Re-interred from St. Peter's Episcopal Church burial ground.
Josiah Goodrich Root
(1801-1883); lot 10, sec 29
Manager of the Patroon's Tivoli Woolen Mills in 1836, he purchased the mill in 1839 when Patroon Steven Van Rensselaer died. In about 1855, the city of Albany purchased the water rights to Partoon's Creek for drinking water for city residents and Root was forced to move his mills. He moved to Cohoes operating his Tivoli Woolen Mills as J. G. Root & Sons, employing 350 people. He also founded the National Bank of Cohoes. Mausoleum by James Gazeley.
Theophilus G. Roessle
(1811-1890); lot 23, sec 41
A very prosperous vegetable farmer in the hamlet of Roessleville (named after him), a section of the Town of Colonie. He specialized in celery and in the 1840s sold over a thousand bunches of celery a day. He purchased the Delavan House, Albany's most prestigious hotel, in 1849. He hosted the Lincoln family at the Delevan in February 1861. He also founded the Fort William Henry Hotel at Caldwell at the head of Lake George and owned the Arlington Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Rudolf Ruedemann
(1864-1956); lot 108, sec 116
Internationally famous geologist and paleontologist. He was born in Georgenthal, Germany and came to the United States in 1892. He became New York State Paleontologist in 1926. He was president of the Paleontological Society of America in 1926 and vice president of the Geological Society of America. He retired from state service in 1937 at 73 but continued working in the same building until he was 92.
(1841-1902); lot 67, sec 30
“Lumber Baron.” Wealthy lumber merchant of Albany's “Lumber District,” an author of books on angling in America, owner of a valuable Charles Lamb collection of rare editions. His residence was “Hillside” in Menands. He died at his camp at Restigouche, Canada.
Henry M. Sage
(1868-1933); lot 67, sec 30
New York State Senator, President of the Hudson River Regulating Board, his home was the Sage Estate in Menands. He was the son of Dean Sage.
(1809-1860); lot 6, sec 14
The Handbook of Albany Rural Cemetery by Edward Fitzgerald, written in the late 1800s says of Sague: “(He) was an oracle among horsemen, a wit of the first water and a person as extensively known, perhaps, in his day as any similar character.”
Rollin Brewster Sanford
(1874-1957); lot 20, sec 114
Congressman (1915), Prosecuting Attorney (DA) for Albany County in 1908, member of the New York State Board of Law Examiners.
John Lawrence Schoolcraft
(1804-1860); lot 57, sec 5
Congressman (1849), produce merchant, President of the Commercial Bank. He was involved in the glass business, also a delegate to the Republican National Convention nominating Abraham Lincoln. Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery.
Caterina Van Rensselaer Schuyler
(1734-1803); lot 2, sec 29
She was the wife of Revolutionary War General Philip J. Schuyler. She hosted British General John Burgoyne and his executive staff after Burgoyne's defeat by Colonial troops at Saratoga until they were shipped back to England.
(1668-1747); Church Grounds
Member of the Colonial Assembly (1710), Mayor (1741), brother of Peter Schuyler, Indian Commissioner, Captain attached to General Winthrop's army, trader. He operated river transports. Monument by William Gray. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
David Davidse Schuyler
(1669-1715); sec 29
Mayor (1706), Alderman, Delegate to the Council of the Onondagas, Sheriff, Indian Commissioner. While he was Mayor, “fyre-masters” were ordered to inspect chimneys. Re-interred from Schuyler Flatts.
Johannes Schuyler, Jr.
(1697-1746); sec 29
Mayor (1703), Indian Commissioner, Alderman, son of Mayor Johannes Schuyler, father of Major Gen. Philip Schuyler. While he was Mayor a law was enacted mandating that each house had to build an 8-foot sidewalk. Re-interred from Schuyler Flatts.
John Cayler Schuyler
(c1801-1882); lot 10, sec 60
Born and lived most of his life at the old Schuyler home at Schuyler Flatts. He was one of the founders and a 30 year Trustee of the South Park Reformed Church. He married his cousin Anna Maria Schuyler and they had ten children. He represented the town of Watervliet on the Albany County Board of Supervisors from 1833 to 1837 and again in 1853. In 1836 he was elected to the N.Y. State Assembly.
(1672-1755); Church Grounds
Member of the Colonial Assembly (1702), Mayor (1723), Church Master, Indian Commissioner, Captain of the Militia, Alderman, merchant. While he was Mayor, the city constructed houses outside the city walls to house the Indians that came to trade. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
Colonel Peter Schuyler
(1657-1724); sec 29
Acting Colonial Governor of New York (1701, 1709, 1719) under English rule. Known as “Quider” to he neighboring Iroquois Tribes (this was the closest they could come to “Peter”), Colonel Peter (also Pieter) took the five Iroquois Sachems to London (one Sachem died en route) in 1709 in an effort to impress them with the wealth and power of England. They all met with Queen Anne who had them sit for portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneeler, the court painter. Peter Schuyler was the first Mayor of Albany after Albany became a city under the Dongan Charter in 1686. His portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneeler hung over the fireplace at Schuyler Flatts for many years. Re-interred from Schuyler Flatts.
Col. Philip J. Schuyler
(c1696-1758): lot 66, sec 29
Colonel in the Albany Militia in the early 1700s.
Maj. Gen. Philip John Schuyler
(1733-1804); lot 2, sec 29
First of two U.S. Senators from New York (1789-91) (Rufus King was the other); founded the Federalist Party with his son-in-law Alexander Hamilton; Major General in the Revolutionary War (one of the first 4), Colonel in the French-Indian War, Member of the Continental Congress (1775, 1777, 1779-80); New York Assembly (1768); New York State Senator (1780-4, 1786-90). He ran a lumber and timber operation from his Schuylerville home, where he harvested timber and ran a sawmill. He built the first flax-mill in the United States. His family also ran a farm at the Schuyler Heights section of Colonie and at his residence in downtown Albany. Originally interred in a private crypt near the Schuyler Mansion in downtown Albany, he was later moved to the crypt behind the Ten Broeck Mansion and then later moved to Albany Rural.
He was widely considered the “Father” of New York's canal system serving as the first President of the Northern Inland Lock and Navigation Company, the precursor to the Erie Canal Commission (his other son-in-law, Steven Van Rensselaer, Albany's Patroon was the largest stockholder). His residence was the Schuyler Mansion where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Gen. John Burgoyne and the Marquis de Lafayette were guests. (Philip Street, Schuyler Street and Catherine Street - named after his wife.) His son Philip Jeremiah Schuyler served in the U.S. Congress (1817-1819); his grandson, William Stephen Hamilton (son of Alexander Hamilton) was a colonel in the U.S. Army during the Black Hawk War. William Stephen Hamilton served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature and went to California during the Gold Rush where he died in 1850.
Col. Philip P. Schuyler
(1736-1808); Lot 66, sec 29
Served in the Albany Militia during the French & Indian War. During the Revolutionary War he commanded troops reporting to Lake George on April 30, 1777 as Burgoyne invaded.
(1781-1841); lot 66, sec 59
Ship Captain, one of Albany's wealthiest and most prominent Black residents in the mid-1800s. He and his wife, Mary Martin-Morin (listed in the City Directory as a mulatto woman) lived at 204 South Pearl Street. He owned and operated Samuel Schuyler & Company a shipping company on the Hudson River. Monument by William Belden.
(1812-1894); lot 33, sec 32
Son of Captain Samuel Schuyler (above). He was also known as Captain Samuel Schuyler and operated a steamboat towing company called the Schuyler Steam Towboat Company operating on the Hudson River. From 1848-1894, he lived at 2 Ashgrove Place, one of Albany's most picturesque residences crowned by a large belvedere that provided a 180-degree view of the city and river.
Col. Stephen J. Schuyler
(1737-1820); lot 70, sec 92
Son of Johannes Schuyler Jr. (Albany Mayor), brother of Major General Phillip Schuyler. Stephen was a 1st Lieutenant in the Albany Militia (1755), Captain in the Provincial Army (1756), Colonel in the 6th Regiment Albany County Militia during the American Revolution. He is buried next to his wife Helena Ten Broeck
Maj. Stephen Schuyler
(?-1798); lot 66, sec 29
Officer in the Albany Militia. He attended a German Flatts Congress of Indians to explain the situation between America and England. Fought at Saratoga.
John A. Scott
(1876-1939): lot 85, sec 130
First Mayor of the Village of Menands, dentist. His Citizens' Party dominated Menands for his entire term of office. He was elected nine times to one-year terms and had been nominated for a tenth at the time he died. Also served as Assemblyman in 1933.
James Bentley (“Cy”) Seymour
(1878-1919); lot 46, sec 15
Professional baseball player. In 1905, he led the National League, and all of professional baseball, in batting with a .377 average, hits with 219 and runs-batted-in with 121 with the Cincinnati Reds. He also played for the Baltimore Orioles and New York Giants.
(1940-2004); Crypt C-47, sec O
Retired Police Commissioner for the State of Pennsylvania.
William S. Shepard
(c1797-1876); lot 79, sec 121
Assemblyman in 1850.
Horace B. Silliman
(1825-1910); lot 1, sec 34
He was a graduate of Union College and very successful businessman in Cohoes. He owned a drug store, later made axes and stoves and still later started a newspaper in Cohoes. He was also a stockholder in several mills in Cohoes.
He participated in the establishment of a school district in Cohoes and worked to provide relief to the poor by constructing a soup kitchen. He was very active in soldiers' relief during the Civil War. He helped to purchase a fire engine, start the Cohoes Waterworks, and run the church Sunday school. Church services were held in the Silliman home until he built and donated the huge sprawling Romanesque Revival Silliman Memorial Church at Remsen and Factory Streets (demolished 1998).
In 1857 he donated a $20,000 YMCA building to Hamilton College together with a check for $1,000 to maintain the building. The building was named Silliman Hall.
He also gave the American Presbyterian Board a grant to found a small boys' school in the Philippines. Silliman University in Dumaguete City, province of Negros Oriental, Philippines, started by missionary couple Dr. and Mrs. David S Hibbard in 1901 is today one of the country's foremost engineering schools.
Noel E. Sisson
(1821-1904); lot 11, sec 13
In 1845, Sisson entered into the infant business of taking photographs in a studio at the corner of Maiden Lane and Broadway in Albany. In 1859, he financed a partnership with Donald MacDonald manufacturing gas meters in a large factory employing over 200 people located on a complete city block between Lancaster and Chestnut streets in Albany. He was a Director of First National Bank and Commerce Insurance Company of Albany and President of the Gas Light Company of Bath, Steuben County.
(1773-1825); lot 34, sec 62
Law partner of Martin Van Buren. In 1811, he was appointed a member of a 5-man commission to study and make recommendations for a common (public) school system in New York. He is interred in a plot purchased and owned by President Van Buren.
Henry H. Slingerland
(1808-1899); lot 6, sec 22
His great, great, great grandfather was Teunis Cornelise Slingerland who came to Beverwyck (Albany) in about 1650 and purchased about 10,000 acres from the Indians southwest of Beverwyck. Henry H. owned a large wholesale and retail grocery located at 86 and 88 Washington Avenue and 73 South Swan Street. He was later succeeded by his sons John B. and DeWitt Chester Slingerland.
(c1780-1829); lot 203, sec 92
Tombstone engraving: “The GRAVE of Alexander Smith of the city of Hudson, who was drowned in the Albany Basin on the night of the 4th day of April A.D. 1829, aged 49 Years.”
B. F. Smith
(1828-1900): lot 11, sec 59
He was said to be a “celebrated architect of Albany. Furnished designs for many of the large and costly monuments here.”
Charles H. Smith, M.D.
(!830-1914); lot 33, sec 65
Graduated from Albany Medical College in 1854 and immediately was pressed into service to treat the cholera patients in Albany's Alms House. The last reported case of cholera at the Alms House was his, but he survived. He served as assistant surgeon at Albany's Ira Harris General Hospital during the Civil War. After the war he owned a drug store at 246 Washington Avenue.
John F. Smyth
(1827-1887); lot 21, sec 27
State Superintendent of Insurance in 1875.
Henry F. Snyder
(1850-1921); lot 237, sec 121
Mayor of Albany (1909), grocer and real estate agent, Postmaster of Albany.
lot 7, sec 75
On June 17, 1862, the Board of Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery set aside a large plot to inter remains of Union Soldiers; 149 are interred in this plot; 648 residents of Albany who died in action are named on the monument; many of them are buried throughout the cemetery. The tablets on the monument were cast from a melted-down Civil War cannon obtained by Congressman Eli Perry.
George Newell Southwick
(1863-1912); lot 23, sec 39
Congressman (1895), Managing Editor of the Albany Evening Journal and Albany Morning Express (1889). He was Chairman of the Republican State Convention (1896).
(1773-1839); lot 72, sec 14
Journalist, he moved from Rhode Island and published the Democratic Albany Register from 1808 to 1818. He founded a circulating library, organized the New York Senate and Assembly Libraries. He was the State Printer, Regent of State University, and first President of Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank. He became involved in a dispute between Ambrose Spencer and Martin Van Buren and lost favor within the Democratic Party. He was a candidate for Governor in 1822 and 1828 for the Anti-Masonic Party.
Gilbert R. “Doc” Spalding
(1812-1880); lot 98, sec 62
Circus owner. He owned a drug store in Albany when he took over the Sam H. Nichols Circus and the bankrupt Albany Museum and went into show business. Starting in the 1840s as a wagon show, he built the Floating Palace, a deluxe riverboat designed as a floating arena in which circus performances were given on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in the 1850s. In the 1850s, he was the first to move a circus show on a railroad. Strangely, the Floating Palace caught fire and burned to the water line in 1865 at New Albany (Indiana). At times he had as many as four full circuses and floating showboats operating.
(1765-1848); lot 1, sec 45
Attorney, New York Attorney General (1802), Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court (1819), New York Assemblyman (1794), New York State Senate (1795-1804), Mayor (1824), Member of the New York State Constitutional Convention (1821). His wife was the sister of Governor DeWitt Clinton (she is also buried on this site.). Also New York State Chairman of the Democratic Party.
While he was Mayor, General Lafayette visited Albany; the first meetings were held discussing the construction of a railroad to Schenectady; the new Albany pier with room for 1000 canal boats and 50 larger vessels was constructed; 21 steamboats were now running daily between Albany and New York. Also, while Mayor, he rode the canal boat Seneca Chief on the first ride down the Erie Canal in 1824. Monument by William Gray.
John Canfield Spencer
(1788-1855); lot 1; sec 45
U.S. Secretary of War (1841) and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1843) under President Tyler, Secretary of State of New York (1839) and Superintendent of Schools, Congressman (1817-1819), New York Senator (1824), New York Assemblyman (1819-1821, 1831, 1833), Speaker of the Assembly (1819-1820). Special Prosecutor in the trial of the murderer of William Morgan an ex-Mason who authored a book criticizing the group. He was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Tyler but rejected by the Senate, due to the Senate's displeasure with Tyler. He was the son of Ambrose Spencer.
Brig. Gen. John Titcomb Sprague
(1810-1878); lot 25, sec 13
Adjutant General of the State of New York during the Civil War, Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and later Colonel in the U.S. Army; served in the war against Seminole Indians (1836-1846); served in Texas and Florida; served in the 7th U.S. Infantry during the Civil War; Military Governor of Florida and head of the Freedman's Bureau during Reconstruction (1866-1868).
Dr. William B. Sprague DD
(1795-1876); lot 24, sec 3
Pastor of the 2nd Presbyterian Church in Albany for 40 years. Author of a nine-volume work entitled “The Annals of the American Pulpit.” He authored more than 100 published sermons, memoirs, addresses, books, etc. He was a very popular speaker and was invited to give addresses and sermons all over the Northeast including addresses at Harvard, Yale and Princeton. He delivered and published a series of lectures for young adults. In one of his addresses to seminarians he warned of the temptations of a big city telling them the story of a seminarian who spent too much time in the city and “forfeited his calling to serve God to pursue a career as a common tumbler in a circus.” He collected nearly 100,000 autographs, probably the largest private collection in the world, which he donated to the New York State Library.
Barent Philip Staats
(1796-1871); lot 42, sec 33
Mayor of Albany, Assemblyman, Physician. During his term as Mayor, a dispute apparently occurred between the Common Council and the members of Fire Engine Company Number 9. The minutes show that “Engine Company Number 9, which at a recent fire dragged its engine up the hill and left it standing in front of City Hall because of certain remarks by the previous Common Council.” The Common Council subsequently created the office of Fire Chief at $600 per year. Also, the Patroon's Century Plant said to bloom only once each 100 years, flowered at his estate in Albany and was sent to New York City to be put on exhibit for benefit of the Albany Orphanage.
Ellis J. Staley
(1877-1943); lot 25, sec 109
New York Supreme Court Justice and close associate of William Barnes (noted Republican leader and grandson of Thurlow Weed). He served two terms in the New York State Assembly and served as New York State Conservation Commissioner in 1921-1922. He was an Albany County Surrogate Court Judge (1918-1922) when he became a Supreme Court Judge. He was also a principal sponsor of the creation of the John Boyd Thacher State Park.
Ellis J. Staley, Jr.
(1914-1987); lot 25, sec 109
New York Supreme Court Judge. He served on the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, appointed by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. He also served as Albany County Republican Party Chairman. He served on the boards of Albany Felt Company, Consolidated Car Heating Company, Albany Exchange Savings Bank, Albany Law School, Albany Medical College, Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany Academy, First Presbyterian Church and St. Agnes School. He also served as a professor at Albany Law School. Son of Judge Ellis J. Staley, above.
Josiah (1795-1862), and Elizabeth (1791-1873),
lot 105, sec 18
Parents of Leland Stanford, Governor of California, President of the Central Pacific Railroad. He drove the golden spike to join the Central Pacific Railroad to the Union Pacific Railroad and unite the East Coast with the West Coast. Leland and his wife, Jane Lathrop, founded Stanford University in honor of their son.
Josiah Stanford was a farmer and road and railroad builder. He participated in the construction of the Albany-Schenectady Turnpike. He was one of the contractors who built the Mohawk and Hudson River Railroad between Albany and Schenectady, the first passenger railroad in the United States. He probably participated as a contractor in the construction of the Erie Canal. He owned a farm and tavern on the west end of the Albany–Schenectady Turnpike (State Road and later Central Avenue) in the Lisha Kill section of the Town of Colonie and later a tavern at the east end of the same road near today's Vatrano Road.
(1818-1885); lot 105, sec 18
New York State Senator, publisher, road builder and farmer. He contracted with the city of Albany to fill in the Rutten Kill ravine. He employed 60 teams of oxen with carts from 1844 to 1847 to complete this project. Hudson Avenue is constructed over this ravine. He departed for California during the 1849 Gold Rush and became very wealthy as a merchant in California. He returned to Albany in 1859 and became the purchasing agent for his brothers' hardware stores and publisher of the Schenectady Union newspaper. He also owned a 300-acre farm and home (“Locust Grove”) on the west end of the Albany-Schenectady Turnpike near the tollbooth that was near Ballltown Road. Brother of Leland Stanford.
George W. Stedman
(1864-1954); lot 4, sec 118
Attorney. He graduated from Albany Academy, Rochester University and Albany Law School. He practiced law in a firm with his father George L. Stedman. George L. Stedman drafted the law that established the Town of Colonie and separated it from the city of Watervliet. When drafting the law, the committee in charge left the choice of a name for the new municipality to George L. and he picked the name “Colonie” after the Colony of Rensselaerwyck, of which it had been part. His son, George W. became the town's first Justice of the Peace and a member of the first Town Board on June 7, 1895.
(1787-1853); lot 61, sec 5
Chief Engineer for the Albany Fire Department, Democratic committeeman, Director of Mechanics and Farmers Bank.
(1788-1852); lot 31, sec 56
Mayor of Albany (1826), Governor of Albany City Hospital, Trustee of Albany Academy, lawyer. While Mayor, construction was started on the first passenger train in the U.S. to run from the intersection of Madison and Western Avenues in Albany into downtown Schenectady; the city purchased land adjacent to Steamboat Square from the Dutch Church to allow cattle to be watered before being loaded on boats for New York; the Common Council also purchased a steam driven ferry to replace the ferry operated by a horse drawn treadle; a large celebration was held in Albany on the effective date of the emancipation of slaves in New York (7/4/1827).
Joseph W. Stevens
(1846-1930); lot 138, sec 108
Mayor of Albany (1914), served in 43rd Regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War; tobacco merchant.
(c1816-1883); lot 11, sec 25
Dealer in coffee and spices with Samuel Bacon in Bacon, Stickney & Co.
Dr. William Olin Stillman
(1856-1924); lot 107, sec 109
Physician; surgeon, philanthropist. A successful medical doctor practicing with Drs. James H. Armsby and Samuel B. Ward. He proposed the establishment of a loan exhibition in 1886 to mark the bi-centennial of Albany's city charter. From that exhibition he conceived the idea of a permanent museum and, mainly owing to his initiative, the Albany Historical and Art Association was incorporated. He purchased the home of General William Goram Rice and converted it into the first home of the American Humane Association. He was one of the founders and President of the Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society for 36 years and later President of the American Humane Association for 20 years. Under his leadership the American Humane Association grew from one employee to 35. He founded the Albany School for Nurses. He was Director of the Fairview Home for Friendless Children, Trustee of the Albany Historical and Art Society, physician to the Open Door Mission, the Hospital for the Incurables, the Babies Nursery at the Lathrop Memorial at the Albany Orphanage and the Dominican Monastery. He was a member of several medical societies, the American Society for the Advancement of Science and the Albany Institute. He gave many lectures and published works on cholera and “The Mineral Springs of Saratoga.”
(1841-1925); lot 28, sec 56
Attorney, first female admitted to the Bar in New York State (5/22/1886), first female graduate of Albany Law School. Her first application for admittance to the Bar was rejected, necessitating a change in New York law. Upon her admission, the Albany Law Journal ran an article that included the following, “We humbly advise her to have just as few women clients as possible. They are troublesome.”
(1823-1844); lot 46, sec 76
First interment in Albany Rural Cemetery (May, 1845), age 21. He died of Consumption (Tuberculosis). Monument by John Dixon.
Alfred Billings Street
(1811-1881); lot 23, sec 37
He was a lawyer, New York State Poet, librarian and author. He edited a literary magazine Northern Light. Director of the New York State Library, he published The Burning of Schenectady, Frontenac, and others.
(1735-1817); lot 9, sec 40
Albany's most prominent physician in the 1700s. In 1775, he was appointed by Governor Shirley of Massachusetts to the medical unit of the British Army. He served at Ticonderoga in the Revolutionary War, appointed chief medical officer by Schuyler but his appointment was opposed by Gates. First Master of the Masons' Lodge in 1768. First interred in a vault on Swan Street near Washington Avenue in Albany and later moved to Albany Rural.
(1837-1903); lot 7, sec 107
State Engineer. He had extensive experience in the construction and renovation of railroads and the New York State canal system. He served as President and a Trustee of the Hilton Bridge Construction Company. He developed many improvements in the design of movable bridges and bridges of long spans. His most notable design was the combination of the arch and cantilever bridge used for the construction of the Hawk Street Viaduct running from the Capitol building to Arbor Hill in Albany. That design was extensively copied in both Europe and the United States.
(1820-1889); lot 11, sec 30
Physician, served in the Civil War, Medical Director of New York Harbor; Mayor (1883), Congressman, Albany's Almshouse Physician, Professor at Albany Medical College. He ran American Ambulance (trauma hospital) in Paris, France during the Franco-Prussian War (1870). Originally elected Mayor running as a Republican on May 2, 1882, his election was contested by the Democrats (as had 2 other mayoral elections previously) and he was not seated until the decision was rendered on June 25, 1883, near the end of his term. Founded the Swinburne Dispensary where medical treatment was provided for free with Swinburne financing the undertaking.
While Mayor, electric streetlights were installed in Albany; Lord Chief Justice Coleridge of England visited Albany and dined at the Fort Orange Club; 2-cent postage for first class mail was inaugurated; world record holding trotting horse Jay-Eye-See raced at Island Park in Menands and turned in a time only 3 seconds off his world record; new “Standard Time” was adopted. Also during his term the first bobsled racing began in Albany and was recorded on Madison Avenue in winter of 1885. This was the first record of bobsled racing anywhere in the world. (Swinburne Park)
(1742-1829); lot 15, sec 19
Governor of New York in 1817 when the previous Governor, Daniel D. Tompkins was elected Vice-President of the U.S. The fateful comments uttered by Alexander Hamilton that led to his duel with Aaron Burr were spoken at Tayler's home at a dinner attended by Hamilton and his father-in-law Philip Schuyler and Tayler's son-in-law, Dr. Charles D. Cooper. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York under DeWitt Clinton when the bill authorizing the Erie Canal was passed, Assemblyman (1777-1787), New York Senator (1801-1802), one of the first Trustees of the newly formed New York State Library in Albany in 1819 (the third public state library in the country after Pennsylvania in 1816 and Ohio in 1817).
In 1760, he opened a provision business at Lake George to supply the military during the French and Indian War. During the Revolutionary War he served as commanding officer of the 1st New York Regiment and was entrusted by General Philip Schuyler with an important mission to Canada. He served as a representative of “Saraghtoga” on Albany's Committee of Safety. He was a member of the Western Inland Lock and Navigation Company the precursor to the Erie Canal Commission. He served on Albany's Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War. He collected the Sir William Johnson papers and donated them to the New York State Library.
(1797-1863); lot 1, sec 57
Mayor of Albany (1846), born in Chester, England, ran a tallow chandler business, later ran a brewery, noted for his generosity to the poor.
While he was Mayor: two large fires, one at State and Green, and the other at Westerlo and Dallius, destroyed 40 buildings on April 24, 1848; David E. Frost's provision store on Madison and Swan burned to the ground while rival firemen engaged in a pitched battle at State and Pearl Streets; all windows of the neighborhood were broken by rocks; Thomas Mahar, 8 years old, drowned in the Foxenkill pond at the head of Canal Street (Sheridan Avenue), the 6th fatality there in two years; August 19th saw another firemen's riot, James Hanley, a fireman, was shot and killed; a train arrived from Buffalo in the record time of 17 hours breaking the previous record of 24 hours; on Nov. 27, the Common Council organized a professional fire department and the next day the previous firemen held an “indignation” meeting at the Capitol; on 1/13/1849 the Albany California Company, gold seekers, afterward known as the “Albany Forty-Niners,” sailed from New York.
(c1820-1885); Lot 1, sec 19
Born in Bedford, England, he came to America in 1852. He engaged in the undertaking business under the name of Tebbutt and Vail. He was a deacon of Emanuel Baptist Church, a 32nd degree Mason and Knight Templar, and a member of Cypress Temple and Mystic Shrine.
Mary “Minnie” Temple
(1846-1870); lot 1, sec 16
Buried in the James Family plot, this 24-year-old-girl, who died on March 8, 1870, is the famous Minnie Temple, a very out-going and independent young woman who was the model for the heroine in at least three major novels written by her cousin, Henry James. Minnie was the inspiration for Isabel Archer in Portrait of a Lady, Daisy Miller in Daisy Miller and Milly Theale in The Wings of the Dove. Originally interred in New Rochelle, N.Y., she was moved to Albany Rural in 1910. She died of tuberculosis. In the movie Portrait of a Lady, Isabel Archer was portrayed by Nicole Kidman. In the movie Daisy Miller, Daisy Miller was portrayed by Cybill Shepherd.
(1734-1810); lot 2, sec 29
As President-Chairman of the State Provincial Congress in 1777 during the Revolutionary War, he would have served as de facto Governor of New York. Member of the Colonial Assembly (1760-1775), Member of the Provincial Congress (1775-1777), Delegate to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia (1775), General in the Colonial Militia (1775-1781), Mayor (1779), State Senator (1780-1783), Justice of the Court of Common Pleas (1781-1794), President of the Bank of Albany (1792-1798), trustee of Union College (1795), merchant. Colonel of the Albany Militia during the French & Indian War. General in the Colonial Militia during the Revolutionary War (1775). He trained and led the Albany Militia (“all men between the ages of 16 and 60”) to Saratoga for the famous battle in 1777 one of the turning points of the war. The Albany Militia was at the point of attack at the second and decisive engagement. Appointed to a committee to prepare a speech for the German Flatts Congress of Indians to explain the situation between America and England.
He was the son of Dirck Ten Broeck and Margarita Cuyler, uncle and appointed guardian of Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer after the death of Van Rensselaer's father. He built the Ten Broeck Mansion.
During his first term as Mayor, Elizabeth, the daughter of Philip Schuyler married Alexander Hamilton at the Schuyler Mansion [George Washington would be the godfather for their first child]; Aaron Burr opened a law practice on Norton Street near South Pearl; Tories and Indians attempted to kidnap Gen. Schuyler at his home in Albany, Albany was made the capital of New York and whipping posts were abolished in the city. Originally interred in a private vault in the rear of the Ten Broeck Mansion, he was moved to Albany Rural Cemetery. (Ten Broeck Street)
Dirck Ten Broeck
(1686-1751); Church Grounds
Mayor (appointed Mayor by George II, King of England in 1746), Inspector of Skins (furs), Deacon in the Dutch Church, Alderman, Indian Commissioner, City Recorder, Coroner. During his term as Mayor, the French and Indian War was starting and residents flooded into the fort. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
Dirck Ten Broeck
(1765-1832); Church Grounds
Served in the N.Y. Assembly from 1796 to 1802 and served as Speaker from 1798 to 1802. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground. Son of Abraham Ten Broeck.
(1705-1793); lot 11, sec 60
Mayor (1748), Indian Commissioner, silversmith, judge. He was a member of Albany's Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War.
(1833-1898); lot 15, sec 8
Dry goods merchant in Albany. President of the Great Western Turnpike Company, Director of the Albany Insurance Company, Albany City Homeopathic Hospital. President of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Albany and Director of Albany Savings Bank. He was elected alderman of the 7th Ward and was a founder of the Fort Orange Club. He was a member of Albany's volunteer fire department and the Albany Burgesses Corps. He also raised Company G of the 3rd New York Volunteers and served as its Captain (later promoted to Major) in the Civil War. He was a descendant of Coenraedt Ten Eyck, a tanner, who came from Amsterdam, Holland in 1650.
Jacob Lansing Ten Eyck
(1864-1942); lot 80, sec 122
Attorney, N.Y. Assemblyman (1895), Chairman of the Democratic City Committee (1900).
(1840-1910); lot 56, sec 76
After the death of Mr. Bacon, he was a partner in Bacon, Stickney & Co., dealer in spices. He was a renowned numismatist. Grand Master of the Masons, 80,000 members at the time. He erected the Masonic Temple at Maiden Lane and Lodge Street, the site of the first Masonic Temple in the United States, purchased in 1766 by Doctor Samuel Stringer. Ten Eyck officiated at the laying of the cornerstones of the State Armory, Harmanus Bleecker Hall, the Albany Masonic Burial Plot at Albany Rural Cemetery and the dedication of the Robert Burns Monument in Albany's Washington Park.
Peter Gansevoort Ten Eyck
(1873-1944); lot 16, sec 122
Congressman (1913), Graduate of Albany Academy and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he was a civil engineer and served as General Manager and Chief Engineer of the Federal Railway Signal Company (1903), Director of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway; National Commercial Bank, Albany City Savings Institution, Albany County Farm Bureau, Vice-President of Albany Homeopathic Hospital.
Edwin T. (Ebby) Thacher
(1896-1966); lot 24, sec 56
He was credited by Bill Wilson for being Wilson's sponsor in an alcohol remediation program. Wilson went on to become the Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.
George Hornell Thacher
(c1818-1887); lot 24, sec 56
Mayor of Albany for four non-consecutive terms beginning in 1860. He hosted the Lincoln family on their visit to Albany on the way to the White House (2/18/1861), hosted an abolitionist convention (2/4/1861) headed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglas, Lucretia Mott and others; owned Thacher Carwheel Co.
During his term as Mayor: the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) visited Albany; Albany's 25th Regiment including the Albany Republican Artillery and Albany Burgesses Corps left to defend Washington (4/22/1861) only days after the attack on Fort Sumter. Mayor Thacher presided over the Albany Army Relief Bazaar and many other humanitarian efforts during the Civil War, also during his term, the first Internal Revenue Service office was opened in Albany. A mastodon was found in a pit at Harmony Mills in Cohoes, the size of the city would be reduced from the 16 miles westward granted by the Dongan Charter to 4¼ miles, and the first train crossed the Maiden Lane Railroad Bridge to Rensselaer County. Following the war, Thacher called up troops to quell the “Anti-rent wars.” (Thacher Street)
John Boyd Thacher
(1847-1909); lot 33, sec 29
Owned Thacher Carwheel Co. founded by his father, Mayor of Albany (1886), New York State Senator, donated the land for Thacher State Park, noted collector; author. He was a recognized authority on Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America, the French Revolution and William Shakespeare. He had an extensive collection of autographs including the autographs of every signer of the Declaration of Independence.
He was nominated by the Democratic Party for New York State Governor in 1896 but a letter he had written that was critical of the Party's Free Silver platform was released and he was forced to step down.
While Mayor, bi-centennial festivities were celebrated on July 18, 1886 with Mayor Thacher accompanied by a band of visiting Caughnawaga Indians and the Jackson Corps, they all attended religious services at Saint Mary's Catholic Church, festivities were also held at St. Peter's Church and the Reformed Dutch Church; civic ceremonies were held the next day with a large parade and fireworks; Johnny Conway, a 5 year old, was kidnapped and held for $3,000 ransom by Joseph Hardy (an uncle) and H.G. Blake; Mayor Thacher offered a $500 reward; Conway was rescued by Albany police. Also, Jermain Hall, the home of the Albany YMCA built with a donation from James Jermain was dedicated. Son of George Thacher, Trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery. (Thacher Park)
John Boyd Thacher II
(1882-1957); lot 6, sec 125
Mayor of Albany for 14 years (1926), developed “Camp Thacher” for children. Attorney and banker, Judge of Children's Court, nephew of John Boyd Thacher (above). During his term he hosted Charles Lindberg at a large Albany reception (7/27/1927) celebrating Lindberg's flight across the Atlantic. He also led a contingent of Albanians to the New York City World's Fair in 1939 to help celebrate “Albany Day” at the fair. He and Mrs. Thacher visited the Bell Telephone Exhibit where he “listened in on a demonstration of long distance calls to various parts of the country.” (Camp Thacher)
Burton A. Thomas
(1809-1880) lot 24, sec 38
The engineer of the Albany Rural Cemetery for 32 years from 1848-1879. He built most of the dams, bridges, roads and ponds in the cemetery. Supervised interments.
(1813-1857); lot 25, sec 12
A Black tailor in Albany, he was a key member of Albany's Vigilance Committee of the Underground Railroad in the 1850's.
Robert H. Torrence
(1808-1841); Church Grounds
Headstone inscription: “born in Conn.; killed in Albany. Death is a debt by nature due, which I have paid and so must you.” Albany Evening Journal: “DROWNED - Hugh Torrence, a hackman, in attempting to jump from the dock to the steam-boat Troy as she was coming along side last evening, fell into the river and was drowned.” The steamboat Troy was a ship of Albany's Night Line (Peoples Line) to New York City. Re-interred from the Methodist Episcopal Church burial ground.
Mary Ann Torrey
(1814-1845); Church Grounds
Tombstone inscription: “a teacher in Cedar Hill Female Seminary; member of the Presbyterian Church in Mt. Joy, Pa; one of the victims of the wreck of the steamboat Swallow.” On April 7, 1845, the Albany Night Line steamship Swallow drifted off course and crashed into a rock island in the Hudson River opposite the city of Hudson. The boat broke into three parts and the rear most part, housing the ladies cabin and the rear section of the enclosed main deck, flooded and sank. Re-interred from St. Peter's Episcopal Church burial ground.
Gen. Franklin Townsend
(1821-1898); lot 3, sec 45
Mayor of Albany (1850), Adjutant General of the State of New York, Assemblyman, President of New York State National Bank, Vice-President of Albany Savings Bank, Townsend Furnace, son of Isaiah. While he was Mayor, the 10-year-old New York State Fair was held for the second time at the fair grounds on Broadway in the northern part of Albany (now Menands) with festivities held at the adjacent Bull's Head Tavern, 40,000 attended; Black residents met at City Hall to discuss the new Fugitive Slave Law passed as part of Senator Henry Clay's Compromise of 1850; Reuben Dunbar was convicted of the mysterious and brutal murder of the two Lester boys in the woods at Westerlo and was hung in the Albany jail; and the Anti-Renters convened at Beardsley's Hotel. (Townsend Park)
Gen. Frederick Townsend
(1825-1897); lot 3, sec 45
Civil War General, commanded the 3rd NYVI. He studied law in the firm of J.V.L. Pruyn and Henry Martin and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He left Albany in 1849 for the gold fields of California and then went to Europe before returning home in 1854 and returning to a new law firm. He studied military tactics and was made captain of Company B of the Albany Washington Continentals. He later organized and became colonel of the 76th regiment NYS vols. and later captain of Co. A, 10th Battalion, Albany Zouave Cadets. In 1857 he was appointed Adjutant General of the State of New York. During the Civil War, he served as Colonel of the 3rd NYVI, Major of the 8th U.S. Infantry, and subsequently Lieut. Colonel, Colonel and Brig. General. After the war he served in California and Arizona until 1867 when he returned to Albany. He served on the boards of New York State National Bank, Albany and Bethlehem Turnpike Company, Albany Orphan Asylum, Dudley Observatory, Albany Academy, Vassar College and Union College. In 1878 he was again appointed Adjutant General of the State of New York.
(1777-1838); lot 4, sec 45
Owned Townsend Furnace, his father, Peter Townsend founded Townsend Furnace as Sterling Iron Works. Sterling cast and fabricated the chain that was stretched across the Hudson River at West Point to prevent the British from proceeding up the river (4/30/1778). Links were 2 1/2” thick, 30” long. The chain was 1700 feet long. Townsend Furnace was located at the corner of Hawk and Elk in Albany. Townsend also cast plow blades, sleigh shoes and various tools. Brother of John Townsend, father of Franklin.
(1783-1854); lot 2, sec 45
Mayor of Albany (1829), partner with his brother Isaiah in the I & J Townsend Co (at Hawk and Elk Streets), organized the Albany Insurance Company, President of National Commercial Bank, President of the old Albany Exchange and Albany Exchange Bank, President of the Water Commission, the Albany Pier Company and Townsend Furnace. Second President of Albany Savings Bank after Stephen Van Rensselaer. He was one of the first Directors of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad when it made the first passenger trip in the U.S. He laid the cornerstone for Albany's Old City Hall in 1829 (destroyed by fire 1880). He was married to a daughter of Ambrose Spencer, Chief Justice of New York's Supreme Court.
During his term as Mayor, an ordinance was enacted that “hogs captured roaming the streets that were not ringed, be captured and taken to the alms-house.” The almshouse reported “420 inmates.” Also during his term, residents of Albany were called on to burn tar to ward off the cholera plague. This was unsuccessful as 1147 cases and 401 deaths were reported in two months. Monument by William Gray.
Captain Robert Townsend
(c1820-1866); lot 4, sec 45
Isaiah's son, he died in the U.S. Navy at Chin Kiang, China while in command of USS Wachusett (1866); he served in the Mexican War (1846) on the brig Porpoise and in the Civil War in command of the Miami (1861-1863) and the Essex (1863-1864).
(c1826-1905); lot 3, sec 45
Son of John Townsend, he ran Townsend Foundry with his cousins Franklin and Frederick Townsend before retiring and joining with Lewis Rathbone and Joseph P. Sanford manufacturing stoves. In 1862, he was appointed Albany's first Collector of Internal Revenue by President Abraham Lincoln. He collected and paid over $20,000,000 in revenue and another $500,000 in commutation money from drafted men not able or willing to serve. He was President of Albany Insurance Company, the second oldest insurance company in the state.
Janet G. Travell (Powell), MD
(1901-1997); lot 2, sec 113
First female and first civilian appointed Physician to the President. She served as physician to President John F. Kennedy from January 1961 until his death in 1963. She continued to serve as physician to President Lyndon B. Johnson until April 1965. Her professional activities concentrated on internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, neurology, pharmacology and muscular-skeletal pain. She also served as Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University. Authored several books.
Col. George Curtis Treadwell
(1872-1932); lot 33, sec 3
He was the founder of one of the largest fur houses in the United States.
(1819-1878); lot 12, sec 35
Congressman, State Court Judge, Assemblyman (1866), Speaker of the Assembly, New York Attorney General (1858), Superintendent of the town of Durham (1842), Greene County District Attorney and Judge. He and Wheeler Hazard Peckham were the chief prosecutors in the second trial of William Marcy “Boss” Tweed when Tweed was convicted. He was the unsuccessful Republican Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1862. His son was Lieutenant Colonel Frederick L. Tremain who served under General Philip Sheridan in the Civil War and was killed at Hatcher's Run, Virginia and is also buried at Albany Rural Cemetery.
Gilbert M. Tucker
(1880-1968); lot 9, sec 19
Survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, great grandson of Luther Tucker, publisher of the Country Gentleman Magazine and author.
(c1802-1873); lot 9, sec 19
Founder of the Rochester Advertiser (1826) that later became the Rochester Union and Advertiser newspaper, the first daily newspaper published west of Albany. He also published the Genesee Farmer (1831). In 1840, he purchased the Cultivator that had been formed in 1834 as a publication of the State Agricultural Society by Jesse Buel in Albany. The Genesee Farmer and Cultivator later became Albany's Country Gentleman magazine the first strictly agricultural periodical in the U.S. Farmers from mid-New York State to the furthest settlements of the Midwest relied on Albany's Country Gentleman to determine grain and livestock prices available in their major market at Albany. Luther Tucker was succeeded by his son Luther H. Tucker (1834-1897) and then his grandsons Luther H. Tucker, Jr. and then great grandsons Luther and Gilbert Tucker.
Willis G. Tucker, M.D.
(1849-1922); lot 11, sec 19
One of the principal founders of Albany College of Pharmacy in 1881. He taught chemistry and medicine at Albany Medical College, St. Agnes School, Albany Academy, Albany Female Academy and Albany High School. He was the Director of the laboratory of the State Board of Health. Son of Luther Tucker.
(c1798-1875); lot 52, sec 5
Blacksmith and wheelwright, he bought and operated a brewery, President of Merchants' Bank, donated the chimes to St. Peter's Church. Tweedle Hall and the Tweedle Building were owned by him. He was a Presidential elector in 1864 electing Abraham Lincoln to his second term.
Asa Weston Twitchell
(1820-1904); lot 54, sec 3
Portrait painter, he also painted landscapes. His studio was over Annesley & Co's art store at 57 North Pearl St.
C. Jordan Vail
(1926-2006); lot 108, sec 114
President of Albany Linoleum and Custom Carpeting, Co. He served on the Board of Trustees of Albany Rural Cemetery for 26 years.
Adam Van Allen
(1813-1884); lot 1, sec 18
President of First National Bank, manufactured fire brick and pottery, ran a lumber business, Director of the Schuyler Shipping Line and Albany Gaslight Company, President of Commerce Insurance Company, Assemblyman, Treasurer of Albany County.
Adam Van Allen
(1870-1927); lot 1, sec 18
Manufactured fire brick and stoneware, later a lumber merchant, banker, President of Albany Gaslight Co., Vice President of Commerce Insurance Company, grandson of Adam Van Allen (above).
Garret A. Van Allen
(1835-1909); lot 1, sec 122
President of Commerce Insurance Company, Member of the Executive Committee of the National Board of Fire Underwriters. Founder and President of the First National Bank, Treasurer of Capital City Malleable Iron Company. Oldest son of Adam Van Allen (1813-1884).
Thomas Jefferson Van Alstyne
(1827-1903); lot 11, sec 28
Congressman (1883), State Supreme Court Judge, Mayor (1898), Lawyer, Major in the Civil War. While he was Mayor, Albanians were shocked at the news of the blowing up of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor with Albany Captain Charles Dwight Singlesbee in command; the U.S. purchased the protected cruiser USS Albany built at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England; Albany Chemical Company on Broadway doubled its capacity and ran 24 hours a day producing ingredients for gunpowder; President McKinley delayed declaring war on Spain until gunpowder was procured; Companies A, B, C, and D of Albany's 10th Battalion joined the First Regiment at Long Island in preparation for the war with Spain but were discharged when the war ended quickly; and the first Albany water filtration plant was built in North Albany.
Obadiah R. Van Benthuysen
(1787-1845); lot 80, sec 5
Printer, book publisher. He invented the steam-powered printing press. Published and printed many books. Representatives of six generations of the family are buried at Albany Rural Cemetery including his son, Charles who was New York State and United States Printer. He also was Secretary and a member of the board of Albany Rural Cemetery.
Pieter Van Brugh
(1666-1740); Church Grounds
Mayor of Albany (1699), grandson of Anneke Jans Bogardus, Holland trader. During his term as Mayor, Governor Coote visited Albany and reported to the British Lord of Trade that one of the Indian women from Canada had been taught witchcraft by the Jesuits and his meeting with the Indian Sachems was the “greatest fatigue” of his life. He complained that the Indians were liberally covered with bear grease and continually smoked and drank but he thought he had won them over. Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
Ellen King James Van Buren
(1823-1849); lot 1, sec 16
She was the first wife of Smith Thompson Van Buren, youngest son of President Martin Van Buren. She was also the daughter of Albany's most successful merchant in the early 1800s, William James. Her nephews were the authors William and Henry James. Her son, Edward L. Van Buren (1848-1873) is buried next to her.
“Prince” John Van Buren
(1810-1866); lot 28, sec 62
Lawyer, New York Attorney General (1845-6), son of President Martin Van Buren; influential in organizing the “Barnburners” Democrat political group. Denounced Lincoln and supported McClellan. Died at sea two days before reaching New York on the steamer Scotia. He was returning from a tour in Scotland where he had been on a trip for the benefit of his health, which had been failing for a long time.
Albert Vander Veer, M.D.
(1841-1929); lot 22, sec 30
Dean of the faculty of Albany Medical College, Member of the Board of Regents of the State of New York, Vice President of the Holland Society. He was a student at Albany Medical College and practiced with Dr. John Swinburne when the Civil War broke out and he enlisted as a United States Medical cadet and served at Columbia College Hospital in Washington, DC. After December 1862, he was commissioned assistant surgeon with the 66th Regiment NYSV and treated wounded soldiers during the battle of Chancellorsville. He served with his regiment as a Colonel until the end of the war when he was mustered out in September 1865.
Machtilde Van Der Wart
(1866-1917); lot 235, sec 121
Headstone inscription: “First Director of Albany's Playgrounds.”
Henry H. Van Dyke
(1810-1888) lot 32, sec 40
New York State Superintendent of Public Instruction (1857-1861). He was born in Kinderhook and died in Brooklyn but is buried at Albany Rural with several other family members.
Walter H. Van Guysling
(1877-1927); lot 312, sec 26
Architect, designed a whimsical building for the Hudson River Day Line office on Broadway next to the D&H Plaza. Also designed the R. B. Wing Building, School 14, St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Rensselaer, the steeple for St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Albany and many other buildings in Schenectady, Glens Falls and Lake George. His cause of death was reported as “sleeping sickness” (probably cancer).
Dr. S. O. Vanderpoel
(c1824-1886); lot 1, sec 9
Surgeon General of the State of New York at the start of the Civil War. Inspector of hospitals for the sanitary commission and for eight years the Health Officer of the Port of New York.
Theodore V. Van Heusen
(1818-1893); lot 48, sec 4
One of the founders of the Van Heusen - Charles Co. retailers of fine china, silverware, lamps and other furnishings. In 1897, the Van Heusen - Charles Co. was already listed as the oldest enterprise of its kind in the Eastern United States. Founded in 1843, the firm lasted into the late 1900s.
Rev. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer
(1808-1860); lot 40, sec 41
Missionary to the slaves in Virginia and Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Education.
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer
(1738-1810); Church Ground
Member of the first U.S. Congress representing New York (1789) elected immediately after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, he voted to adopt the Bill of Rights, Lieutenant Governor of New York (1801-1804), New York Assemblyman (1788), member of the Albany Committee of Safety, Director and later President of the Bank of Albany (1798-1806). Graduate of Princeton; father of Solomon Van Rensselaer. Originally interred in the Dutch Church burial ground.
(1774-1852); lot 65, sec 56
Soldier, served under “Mad Anthony” Wayne in the “Miami” campaign, fought Indians at Maumee Rapids (1794), Adjutant General of the State of New York 1801,1810,1813, aide-de-camp to General Stephen Van Rensselaer during the invasion of Queenstown, Canada during the War of 1812. Federalist Congressman (1819-1821) and Albany Postmaster (1822-1839). Lived at Cherry Hill. (See “Military” section.) Re-interred from a private vault.
Philip Van Rensselaer
(c1748-1798); lot 65, sec 56
Revolutionary War officer and soldier.
General Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer
(1766-1824); lot 1, sec 14
Grandson of Philip Livingston (signer of the Declaration of Independence), brother of the “Patroon” Steven Van Rensselaer III, President of the Bank of Albany, Mayor of Albany for 19 years (1799), longest mayoral term until Erastus Corning 2nd (41 years). He fought at Sacketts Harbor in the War of 1812.
During his term as Mayor: the Capitol was ordered built; the Albany-Schenectady Turnpike Company was formed; the Albany Waterworks company was formed to install wooden pipes to conduct water; a bass weighing 55 pounds was caught in the Hudson opposite Albany; a stage line run was inaugurated to New York City for $8 per passenger; Robert Fulton's steamboat “Clermont” arrived in Albany on its first voyage; Schenectady County was created and broken off from Albany; and the War of 1812 created hardships for many Albanians as troops were again housed in Albany. The Pinksterfest was prohibited due to public drunkenness and rioting and the effort to build a bridge across the Hudson was opposed by Troy.
Stephen Van Rensselaer III
(1764-1839); lot 1, sec 14
Albany's last Dutch Patroon, U.S. Congressman (1822-29), Lieutenant Governor (1795-1801), New York Assemblyman (1789-1790, 1808-1820), New York State Senator (1790-1795). Unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1801 (lost to George Clinton) and 1813 (lost to Daniel Tompkins).
He was the largest investor in the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad; chairman of the first Erie Canal commission; he hired Amos Eaton to conduct the first area-wide geologic studies (Albany and Rensselaer Counties) and plot the path for the Erie Canal; he donated the land for the Dudley Observatory; he was one of the first passengers on the first passenger train ride in the U.S.; he founded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; he was the largest shareholder in the Albany Schenectady Turnpike Company; commanded New York Militia during War of 1812, invaded Canada; he cast the deciding vote for President John Quincy Adams in the New York caucus making Adams' election certain; founder and first President of Albany Savings Bank. His father-in-law was William Paterson. Monument by William Gray. (Van Rensselaer Blvd.)
William Bayard Van Rensselaer
(1856-1909); lot 1, sec 14
Great grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer III. He would have been the ninth Patroon if the right to the title had been continued. His father was Bayard Van Rensselaer, son of Stephen IV and his mother was Laura, daughter of Judge Marcus Tulius Reynolds. William Bayard Van Rensselaer was an attorney and replaced Charles Van Zandt as manager of the Van Rensselaer estate and manager of the Van Rensselaer Land Company upon Van Zandt's death. He was also President of the Watervliet Turnpike Co. and supervised its conversion from horse-drawn to electric in 1889.
Commodore Alfred Van Santvoord
(1819-1901); lot 15, sec 9
President of the Hudson River Day Line that ran daily paddle-wheel steamboat trips between Albany and New York City for many years. He died aboard his yacht Clermont that brought his body to Albany for interment in Albany Rural Cemetery.
(1736-1789); lot 5 sec 3
Served in the French & Indian War; commanded Fort Orange during the Revolutionary War. He supervised the Tory prison at the Albany fort and led a campaign against the Onondaga Indians when they fought beside the British. He sounded the Hudson River for the installation of the “Chain across the Hudson” near West Point during the Revolutionary War. (He was moved here from family burial grounds in Court Street.)
John W. Van Valkenburgh
(1826-1904); lot 5, sec 30
Member of the Assembly from Albany County (1878), member of the Assembly from Columbia County (1866), 1st lieut. 128th Regiment NYSV during the Civil War. He was also the Superintendent of the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad in 1868. His father, James Van Valkenburgh, also buried here, fought at Plattsburgh during the War of 1812.
Abraham Van Vechten
(1762-1837); lot 4, sec 36
Attorney, State Senator (1798), Assemblyman (1806), New York Attorney General (1810), Recorder of Albany (1797-1808), Member of the Constitutional Convention of 1821, Regent of the State University starting in 1797. He was primarily a practicing attorney and handled legal matters for many of Albany's most prestigious families including the will of Abraham Ten Broeck, matters for Martha Bradstreet who was known to have pursued land promised to her father Colonel John Bradstreet, a lawsuit between John R. Livingston and the North River Steamboat Company, issues involving the construction of the Erie Canal, the North Dutch Church and the Episcopal Church, and many legal matters for the Schuylers, Van Rensselaers, Abraham Staats, Union College, and others. He was the first lawyer admitted to practice after the adoption of the New York State Constitution. He declined an appointment to the New York Supreme Court offered by Governor John Jay. He was married to Catherina Schuyler, daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler, with whom he had 15 children. His son, Abraham Van Vechten, was a trustee of Albany Rural Cemetery.
Teunis Van Vechten
(c1786-1859); lot 3, sec 47
Attorney, Mayor of Albany (1837) for 4 terms, President of Albany Insurance Company. He represented the patroon (Van Rensselaer) on legal matters including some controversial matters involving the “rent strikes.” During his term as Mayor, the first Circus Parade in the United States was held as circus animals marched from Albany's train station to the circus grounds, the Bank of Albany recovered from a recent panic and was again issuing its own paper money printed from new plates, the first locomotive arrived from Boston in 32 hours but passengers had to deport in Greenbush (Rensselaer) and cross the Hudson by ferry since there was no bridge
The Albany Evening Journal and Albany Argus started their 50 year policy of exchanging an eagle-decorated masthead. If the Governor was a Whig, or later Republican, the Journal had the eagle on its masthead. If the Governor was a Democrat the Argus displayed the eagle. O.M. Coleman, a local engineer, displayed his invention of an automaton – a female figure playing a musical instrument; and the telegraph was invented by Samuel Morse using the intensity magnet (electro-magnet) invented by Professor Joseph Henry at Albany Academy. Monument by V. Casoni of New York City.
Charles Van Zandt
(1818-1881); lot 15, sec 73
Business Manager of Van Rensselaer Manor for the Van Rensselaers. After Stephen Van Rensselaer died, the Van Rensselaer Land Company was founded to manage and sell Van Rensselaer holdings. Upon his death, he was replaced as General Manager and Treasurer of the Van Rensselaer Land Company by William Bayard Van Rensselaer.
(1745-1845); Church Ground
A removal from the African Methodist Episcopal Church section of Albany's State Street Burial Ground (today's Washington Park) is that of “Violet” who was born in 1745 and died in 1845, 100 years old, undoubtedly a former slave.
Adolph von Steinwehr
(1822-1877); lot 13, sec 106
Adolph Wilhelm August Fredrich Garon von Steinwehr was born in Blankenburg in the Duchy of Brunswick (now Germany). He was a Civil War General commanding Union troops of German descent. He played a critical role in preparing defenses before the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, he was a geographer and cartographer, taught at Yale (see “Military” section). One of the main streets in Gettysburg PA, running in front of the Visitor's Center, is named Steinwehr Avenue in his honor.
(1779-1832), Church Ground
Member of the New York State Assembly from the County of Clinton.
John M. Walker
(1838-1919); lot 35, sec 30
He was educated at Springfield Academy and at the outbreak of the Civil War enlisted in Co. F., 2nd Conn. Vols. After the war, in 1865, he became a traveling salesman for Milton, Bradley & Co. Publishers. In 1875, he founded the Hudson Valley Paper Company with Andrew Jones as his partner.
Frederick J. Wallen
(1837-1885); lot 6, sec 107
Albany Fireman of Steamer No. 2. Lost his life fighting a fire at Boardman and Gray Piano Company on Pearl Street on July 12, 1885.
Dr. Samuel B. Ward
(1842-1915); lot 10, sec 28
Graduated from Columbia College in 1861 and joined the firm of Dr. Willard Parker and began training to become a medical doctor. His training was interrupted by the Civil War when he enlisted as a medical cadet and served at hospitals around Washington. In 1863 he was promoted to assistant surgeon. After the war he returned to Albany and served in Albany Hospital and St. Peter's Hospital and in 1872 served part time as a captain and assistant surgeon with the 7th Regiment NYS National Guard.
Walter E. Ward
(1853-1922); lot 252, sec 26
Lawyer and Assemblyman (1890), he specialized in patents, trademarks and copyrights.
Dr. Edward P. Waterbury
(1831-1889); lot 24, sec 70
President of the State Normal School (later New York State Teachers' College, later State University of New York at Albany).
James R. Watt
(1869-1941); lot 74, sec 109
Mayor of Albany (1918), President of the United Construction Company.
Charles R. Webster
(1762-1834); lot 2, sec 8
Founder of the publishing company that published the Albany Gazette from 1782 until 1817 when the Gazette merged with the Daily Advertiser. Charles and his twin brother, George, owned the three buildings on State Street just west of the intersection with Pearl (“Old Elm Corner”). These buildings were the office and two homes of the Webster brothers who also ran the first book printing company in Albany. This section of State above Pearl was called “Webster's Corner.” They also published and distributed cartloads of Noah Webster's spelling books all over the northeast.
(1872-1932); lot 52, sec 107
Coming from a bicycle manufacturing and repair family, Weeber built Albany's first gasoline engine automobile in 1898. In 1905, he opened Albany's first automobile service station and Ford dealership at 170 Central Avenue. He patented an early shock absorber and tire chains.
(1826-1851); lot 3, sec 16
Subject of Sarah and Her Babe (story appearing in an 1800s pocket-sized paperback novel). Monument by William Gray.
(1797-1882); lot 1, sec 109
One of the founders, and probably the principal founder, of the Republican Party; Editor of the Albany Evening Journal; Chairman of the Whig Party in New York, Chairman of the Republican Party, New York Assemblyman; Trent Affair – At the start of the Civil War, after the seizure of British mail ship Trent and removal of Confederate officials, he was sent to Britain and France by Abraham Lincoln to urge against their support of the Confederacy. He was a close associate of William Seward and they met daily when Seward was Governor of New York and communicated almost daily when Seward was Secretary of State. Weed was also a close associate of Abraham Lincoln and communicated with him almost daily during the Civil War. Weed retired from the Albany Evening Journal on January 27, 1863 and was replaced by George Dawson. (Thurlow Terrace)
Rev. Bartholomew T. Welch DD
(c1794-1870); lot 50, sec 3
Baptist minister, Pastor of Albany's First Baptist Church. Founder and first President of the Albany Cemetery Association, strong anti-slavery activist.
Dr. Peter Wendell
(1786-1849); lot 1, sec 9
Medical Doctor, Chancellor of the Board of Regents of the University of New York.
Seth Wheeler, Sr.
(1838-1925); lot 6, sec 11
He was President and founder of Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company. In 1877, he invented rolled, perforated toilet paper, as we know it today. The Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company (APW Paper Co.) had plants in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Canada, London, Berlin, Paris, Cologne and Switzerland. After succeeding his father as President of Wheeler, Melick & Co., Seth also formed the Wheeler Heat and Power Company of which he was President. He was Vice-President of the Cheney Piano Action Company of Castleton, President of Albany County Savings Bank and Director of the State Bank. Wheeler was issued, at home and abroad, nearly one hundred patents, covering machinery and paper products and other inventions.
(1793-1827), lot 22, sec 83
On 7/27/1827, Jesse Strang was found guilty of the murder of John Whipple at Cherry Hill Mansion in the southern part of Albany. Strang was publicly hanged (8/24/1827) at the Albany hanging ground in the Hudson Avenue ravine above Eagle Street. Thousands of people turned out to watch the hanging. An estimated 1,200 came from counties outside Albany. Whipple's wife, Elsie D. Lansing Whipple, sister-in-law of Philip Van Rensselaer, was also tried as it was felt that she had had an affair with Strang and had assisted him in the murder of Whipple. She was found “not guilty” following an apparent plea bargain. Attorney Abraham Van Vechten represented Mrs. Whipple. Edward Livingston (1796-1840) was the District Attorney. Whipple was re-interred from St. Peter's Church burial ground.
(1804-1888); lot 19, sec 41
Engineer, invented the iron truss bridge, Chief Engineer of the Erie Canal and later, the New York Central Railroad.
(1798-1870); lot 15, sec 35
Attorney, Congressman (1845), involved in building the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroads. He ran Rosendale Cement Works in Cohoes. He was a Congressman at a difficult time, as new territories were joining the U.S. as states and the slavery issue was coming to a head.
(1802-1821), Church Grounds
Headstone marker: “Erected by Captain James Gibbons in testimony of the respect he bore to William Whitesides, a member of his command. 19 years, 3 months, 22 days.”
William M. Whitney
(1827-1905); lot 93, sec 28
Owner of a popular department store that operated on Pearl Street in Albany for almost 100 years; the first building in Albany to have electricity. The original business was owned by Ubsdull & Pearson in 1859 at the same location. It was taken over by James T. Lenox in 1864 and then William M. Whitney and John G. Myers as Whitney & Myers in 1866 before Myers split off on his own. Whitney lived at 158 Washington Avenue at Dove St.
Sylvester D. Willard
(c1825-1865); lot 9, sec 4
Surgeon General of the State of New York, he died of Typhoid Fever.
James A. Wilson
(1808-1869); lot 3, sec 31
Prominent Albany merchant, first manufacturer of globes in the U.S. Monument by Launitz.
Oren Elbridge Wilson
(1844-1917); Lot 132, sec 107
Mayor of Albany (1894), President of the Board of Education, Chief Accountant for Whitney's Dry Goods Company. During his term as Mayor, Judge Herrick ruled against Sunday baseball at Riverside Park (in Menands); Mrs. J.V.L. Pruyn and Bishop Doan headed an organization opposed to women suffragist agitators, the Delavan House Hotel burned down with 7 dead; and golf was introduced into Albany.
Charles M. Winchester
(1867-1949); lot 16, sec 116
President and later Chairman of the Board of J.B. Lyons Printing Company (later Williams Press). Ran for Congress in 1921 but was defeated by Parker Corning.
Albert J. Wing
(1859-1887); lot 1, sec 27
Graduated from Cornell University and joined his father's Albany firm of Albert Wing, Sons & Co. Wholesale Grocers founded on Quay Street in 1841. During the Civil War, coins became so scarce in Albany that Albert Wing & Co. and P. V. Fort & Co., both wholesale grocers in Albany, began issuing their own pennies redeemable for one pound bags of flour. These pennies were widely distributed and accepted by many businesses as change and are collectable items today.
William B. Winne
(c1760-c1820); Church Grounds
Albany's “Penny Postman,” Chairman of Albany's Committee of Safety. Winne was born into a family of tanners living and working on Fox Creek in Albany (later Canal Street, Sheridan Avenue). Re-interred from the Dutch Church burial ground.
John Flack Winslow
(1810-1892); lot 1, sec 71
Managed Albany Ironworks for Erastus Corning, partner with Corning; met with President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells to convince them to build the first Union iron-clad ship, the Monitor. He bought the Bessemer patents to manufacture steel from England, becoming the first U.S. producer of structural steel.
Bradford Ripley Wood
(1800-1889); lot 92, sec 18
Minister to Denmark (1861), Congressman (1845), Chancellor of the Court of Chancery (1830), President of the Young Men's Temperance Society, Trustee of Williams College, Union College and Albany Law School, member of the Albany County Board of Supervisors, one of the founders of the Republican Party in New York, founder of the First Congregational Church in Albany, member of the first Board of Albany Medical College.
Darius S. Wood
(1822-1881); lot 20, sec 35
Locomotive engineer, he ran the first locomotive on the Albany and Boston RR, Superintendent of New York Central's West Albany Shops (appointed by Erastus Corning), owned Malleable Iron Works in Albany. He founded a brewery which eventually became Dobler Brewery.
Edwin Dean Worcester
(1828-1904); lot 57, sec 40
For 50 years he was an official of the New York Central Railroad. He assisted with the consolidation of the many small lines to form the New York Central under Erastus Corning. He stayed on with the railroad after its takeover by Cornelius Vanderbilt and consolidation with the Harlem & Hudson River Railroad. He served as Secretary of the Vanderbilt system.
Anna M. Edson Worden
(1848-1872); lot 16, sec 15
Wife of Army Lieut. John Lorimer Worden Jr. - son of Navy Rear Admiral John Lorimer Worden, first commander of the USS Monitor. On April 13, 1871, Lieut. John Lorimer Worden Jr. married Anna Edson at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Albany. They lived at 52 North Pearl Street, Albany. On February 5, 1872, Anna died in childbirth and she and the unborn child are buried on the Edson family plot. Her husband later committed suicide.
Goram A. Worth
(1782-1856); lot 33, sec 60
Cashier of the United States Bank in Cincinnati, President of New York City Bank, he was the first teller in Mechanics and Farmers Bank in Albany, author of Random Recollections of Albany from 1800 to 1808 (1866).
Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen Wyckoff
(c1820-1855); lot 16, sec 19
Died as a missionary in the West Indies in 1855, age 34.
Abraham Yates, Jr.
(1724-1796); lot 6, sec 34
As President-Chairman of the New York Provincial Congress in 1776, he served as de facto Governor of New York. He was a member of the Continental Congress (1787-1788). One of the signers of the April 19, 1775 Albany resolution opposing the “several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British Parliament” sent to the Committee at Boston to show Albany's support at the start of the Revolutionary War.
He was the first chairman of Albany's Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War. He was sent by the Committee of Safety to try to reconcile a hostile situation that occurred when a Tory sheriff of Tyron County tried to arrest a Colonial supporter. While a delegate to the Provincial Congress he, together with his nephew Robert Yates and Matthew Adgate, sent a letter dated 7/14/1776 to Albany, enclosing a copy of the Declaration of Independence that was ordered published and read at 11 am, 7/19/1776 from the steps of Albany's City Hall. He was also a New York Senator and Mayor of Albany (1790). He headed the convention that drafted New York State's first Constitution. He was an Anti-Federalist and opposed the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.
He was Albany's first Postmaster, Sheriff in 1755, founder and one of the first Trustees of Union College (1795). While he was Mayor, the counties of Saratoga and Rensselaer were carved from Albany; the Albany Bank, Albany Library and the Western Inland Lock and Navigation Company were founded, and oil street lamps installed. Also, 84-year-old Samuel Cook was hung for forgery and four slaves, three of them female, were hung for starting a fire that burned down an entire city block. Copies of the male slave's confession were sold for two cents at No. 2 North Pearl Street.
John Van Ness Yates
(1779-1839); lot 1, sec 8
Lawyer, New York Secretary of State. He edited William Smith's History of New York, son of Robert Yates.
(1738-1801); lot 1, sec 8
Revolutionary Patriot, Chief Judge of the New York State Supreme Court, Member of the New York Provincial Congress. As a member of the New York Provincial Congress, he received a copy of the Declaration of Independence and sent it on to Albany. He was a member of the committee that drafted New York State's first constitution and an Anti-Federalist supporter of the Clintons. Together with his uncle, Abraham, Jr., Philip Schuyler, Gerrit Lansing and Abraham Cuyler, composed Albany's Committee of Correspondence that adopted a resolution supporting the Boston Committee following the Battle at Lexington and also received a message from Ethan Allen on 5/12/1776 notifying them that he had captured Ticonderoga. He was the unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1789 (lost to George Clinton) and 1795 (lost to John Jay).
A delegate to the first U.S. Constitutional Convention with Alexander Hamilton and John Lansing, after the negotiations were nearly complete and the Constitution drafted, he withdrew on the grounds that the committee was exceeding its power. He was recognized as the leader of the Anti-Federalists and opposed the adoption of the Constitution. His Anti-Federalist paper #84 authored under the name “Brutus,” proposed that the Constitution not be adopted unless it contained a Bill of Rights. Attorney and surveyor, he prepared a 1770 map of Albany.
(c1623-1730); lot 3, sec 55
Headstone (cenotaph) inscription: “Here lyes interd the remains of John Young who was born in the isl of Bert near Londonderry in the Kingdom of Ireland. He departed this life June 20, 1730 age 107.” Nearby lies his son, David Young who died at 94.
(1815-1882); lot 225, sec 26
Speaker of the N.Y. Assembly in 1869. He was the official at Harmony Mills in Cohoes who was in charge of excavating for an addition to the mill and discovered a “great pothole” at the foot of Cohoes Falls and “a large jawbone of some unknown beast” leading to the discovery of the Cohoes Mastodon.
Names without lot and section numbers were persons who died in Albany and were buried in Albany cemeteries that were later moved to Albany Rural but no specific interment record can be found at Albany Rural. They are probably buried in the Church Ground Section.
Capt. Volkert Petrus Douw
(1720-1801); lot 19, sec 52
See Civilian Section.
Capt. Johannes DePeyster
(1694-1789); Church Grounds
See Civilian Section
(c1737-1813); lot 15, sec 9
See Civilian Section.
Col. Philip J. Schuyler
(c1696-1758): lot 66, sec 29
See Civilian Section.
Col. Philip P. Schuyler
(1736-1808); lot 66, sec 29
See Civilian Section.
Capt. Stephen Schuyler
(? – 1798); lot 66, sec 29
See Civilian Section
(1734-1810); lot 2, sec 29
See Civilian Section.
Abraham Ten Broeck, Jr.
(1736-1789); lot 5 sec 3
See Civilian Section.
(They were members of the Albany Militia unless otherwise indicated)
John J. Abbot
(1726-1810); lot 12, sec 49
Clockmaker. Ordered to “keep the town clock in proper repair” as Albany was threatened by the invading General Burgoyne.
(c1731-1811); lot 1, sec 49
Fur Trader. Member of the Committee of Safety. Directed along with his brother Henry, to meet with Mohawk Chief “Little Abram” to calm Indian concern, May 22, 1775.
John N. Bleecker
(1739-1825); lot 9, sec 32
Attended a German Flatts Congress of Indians to explain the situation between America and England.
(1745-1787), lot 1, sec 61
Member of the Committee of Safety, representative of Albany's Second Ward. He was a gunsmith and later Mayor of Albany. See Civilian Section.
Henry I. Bogert
(1729-1821); lot 6, sec 32
Representative of Albany's First Ward on the Committee of Safety. He sounded the Hudson River for the installation of the “Chain across the Hudson.”
(c1742-1804); lot 8, sec 32
Member of the Committee of Safety. Appointed to a committee to prepare a speech for the German Flatts Congress of Indians to explain the situation between America and England. Served on the Provincial Congress during the war.
Col. Jacob Lansing Jr.
(c1715-1791); lot 1, sec 49
Commanded troops reporting to Lake George on April 30, 1777 as Burgoyne invaded.
(1755-1810); lot 7, sec 38
Assistant Commissary General.
Col. Philip P. Schuyler
(1736-1808); Lot 66, sec 29
See Civilian Section.
Maj. Stephen Schuyler
(?-1798); lot 66, sec 29
See Civilian Section.
Dr. Samuel Stringer
(1735-1817); lot 9, sec 40
See Civilian Section.
(1742-1829); lot 15, sec 19
See Civilian Section.
(1734-1810); lot 2, sec 29
See Civilian Section.
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer
Served with the Albany Militia.
Nicholas B. Van Rensselaer
Fought at the storming of Quebec, Ticonderoga, Fort Miller, Fort Ann, and Bemis Heights (Saratoga). Brought news of Burgoyne's surrender to Albany.
Philip Van Rensselaer
(c1748-1798); lot 65, sec 56
(1736-1789); lot 5 sec 3
He sounded the Hudson River for the installation of the “Chain across the Hudson.” See Civilian Section.
Teunis Van Vechten
(c1740-1817); lot 3, sec 47
Attorney, officer in the Albany Militia.
“Widow” Eve Vernor
(1730-1776); lot 19, sec 74
Her home was the meeting place for the Committee of Safety just prior to the Revolutionary War when the meetings had to be kept secret.
Lt. Abraham Yates, Jr.
(c1724-1796); lot 6, sec 34
See Civilian Section. Officer of the Albany Militia. Ordered to take a party and apprehend John McComb “a Person highly inimical to the Cause.”
Col. Christopher Yates
(c1738-1809); lot 15, sec 77
Commanded Ft. George on Lake George when Burgoyne invaded. Conducted a “scorched earth” policy as he retreated toward Van Schaick Island. Later fought at Saratoga.
(1738-1801); lot 1, sec 8
See Civilian Section.
(1779-1848); lot 61, sec 3
See Civilian Section.
Lt. Peter Gansevoort
(1789-1876); lot 2, sec 55
Son of General Peter Gansevoort. See Civilian Section.
(1786-1857); lot 94, sec 62
See Civilian Section.
Col. John Mills
(1782-1813); lot 106, sec 73
Died while commanding the Albany Republican Artillery on May 29, 1813 while repulsing the British at Sacketts Harbor. He organized the Albany Republican Artillery (Gen. Philip Van Rensselaer's independent artillery unit) in 1809 (Albany's first artillery company was formed in 1798). Originally interred in Watertown, his remains were moved to Capitol Park and later to Albany Rural Cemetery. Colonel Mills' body was reportedly draped in the regimental flag, the earliest flag in the New York battle collection.
(1790-1862); lot 90, sec 76
Ambrose Spencer Jr.
(1765-1848); lot 1, sec 45
Son of Ambrose Spencer. See Civilian Section.
John Canfield Spencer
(1788-1855); lot 1; sec 45
Son of Ambrose Spencer. See Civilian Section.
Gen. Philip Van Rensselaer
(1766-1824); lot 1, sec 14
See “Civilian Section.”
Gen. Solomon Van Rensselaer
(1774-1852); lot 65, sec 56
See Civilian Section.
James Van Valkenburgh
( ); lot 5, sec 30
Fought at Plattsburgh.
(1797-1882); lot 1, sec 109
See Civilian Section.
Lt. Addison Farnsworth
(1825-1877); lot 110, sec 18
A company of Albanians, Co. H, 1st Regiment, Albany Republican Artillery, commanded by Captain Abraham Van Olinda and Lieutenant Addison Farnsworth [later Brevet Brigadier General in the Civil War] went through the Gulf of Mexico to participate in the landing at Vera Cruz under Major General Winfield Scott. See Civilian Section
(c1822-1850); lot 52, sec 65
Headstone inscription: “Died July 16, 1850 in his 29th year. As an officer in the Army denoted for his bravery in the defense of their country in the late war with Mexico. He distinguished himself ably for his humanity and courage in the faithful discharge of every duty.” (Griffin died by drowning.)
Maj. Lewis N. Morris
(c1800-1846); lot 12, sec 54
Died on September 21, 1846 while leading the 3rd regiment, U.S. Army (Albany Republican Artillery) under General Zachary Taylor at Monterrey, Mexico. He previously had fought in the Black Hawk War in 1832 and the Seminole Indian War in Florida in 1840-1842. His funeral was probably the largest ever held at Albany Rural Cemetery, the procession was 3 miles long. His beautiful monument was paid for by donations from the residents of Albany. See Civilian Section.
Col. Robert Emmet Temple
(1808-1854); lot 1, sec 16
He was a Colonel in the New York Tenth Regiment that was raised in Albany. He married a daughter of Albany's most successful merchant, William James. His daughter was the famous Mary “Minnie” Temple used as a model for several main characters in novels written by her cousin, Henry James. Temple's regiment joined General Zachary Taylor's forces. He was later a member of Albany's first Water Commission in 1850.
See separate Civil War List (approx. 850 entries) in the Civil War Book
Gen. John G. Farnsworth
(c1832-1895); lot 53, sec 30
Adjutant General of the United States under President Grover Cleveland later Trustee, Albany Rural Cemetery.
Capt. Robert Townsend
(c1820-1866); lot 4, sec 45
Died in the U.S. Navy at Chin Kiang, China while in command of the SS Wachusett. Also served in the Mexican War and the Civil War.