A Hidden Cemetery
Genealogists love cemeteries. Some are huge, with thousands of grave stones; some are small churchyard cemeteries or family burial grounds. Some are just hidden and forgotten. Like the one I set out to find.
While researching my Rogers roots in Dutchess County, New York, I came across documentation of a Rogers family burial ground near Beekman, Dutchess County, east of Fishkill, New York. [1]
The Rogers Burial Ground was on the farm owned by my 5th Great Uncle, Hezekiah Rogers (1738-1814) (brother of my 4th g. grandfather, Zophar Rogers), sons of Hezekiah Rogers and Ruth Scudder of Huntington, Long Island, New York [2] Hezekiah and Zophar both married the Vincent sisters, Hannah Vincent and Jemima Vincent. Hezekiah Rogers and his family came to the Beekman Patent about 1760. [3]
The compilation, Old Gravestones of Dutchess County, New York (1924), has a photograph on the frontispiece of the book of the Rogers Burial Ground and the editors transcribed the nine gravestone inscriptions on 21 May 1912. Even in 1912, the burial ground was overgrown and difficult to see.
The transcription of the 9 grave stones in the Rogers Burial Ground from
Old Gravestones of Dutchess County, p. 9.
A Rogers researcher and distant relative, revealed a recent (1980s) photograph of some of the gravestones that showed they were overgrown and in decay. Apparently, nobody had been taking care of the grounds.
Find A Grave also recorded the burial ground and gave directions on how to find it. The Find A Grave site also has photos of each of the gravestones. https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2333697/rogers-burial-ground
While taking a genealogy road trip through upstate NY in 2018, I put the Rogers Burial Ground on my agenda as we were driving right past it. I researched the area, got as close as I can with Google Maps, and pinpointed where I thought the graveyard should be. It wasn’t visible on Google Maps, but there was an area next to a local park that looked like it could be there. Besides, it was quite close to “Rogers Avenue.” Probably no coincidence since this area was part of the original Rogers farm.
Google Map of Route 9, Beekman Road. The Rogers Burial Ground is just to the right of the DFoherty Park Field.
The road the Burial Ground was supposed to be on was Route 9 (Beekman Road), a fairly busy country road in Dutchess County. My wife and I located the local park and pulled in, just off the main road. Nothing was immediately visible. I walked along Route 9 a bit (avoiding traffic; there was not much of a shoulder!). After a few feet, I peered through the thickets and could just make out the edge of a stone wall. I found a break in the wall, which was obviously the original entrance and climbed in. And there it was! The graveyard was there. The grave stones were there, but many were toppled into the ground (some inscription side down, of course) and all were completely covered by overgrowth and woods. Some of the erect stones were not very readable as it was quite dark in there, even on a bright sunny day. Comparing with photos my relative had made years ago, and the photos from Find A Grave, it was obvious that the site had much degraded since then.
I took some photos and was fortunate that the compilers of Old Gravestones back in 1912 had transcribed the stones when they were visible. I doubt if anyone in the local area even knows these stones are here anymore as you would really have to try and look for them. Even though the graveyard was overgrown and hidden, it was exciting to actually find the stones myself and that my “cemetery gene” was working!
Rogers Burial Ground, Dutchess County, NY. Photo by Gene Major, 2018. The markers for John Rogers (on the left) and his wife, Mary Skidmore Rogers (on the right).
Rogers Burial Ground, Dutchess County, NY. Photo by Gene Major, 2018
[1] J. Wilson Poucher and Helen Wilkinson Reynolds, eds., Old Gravestones of Dutchess County, New York: Nineteen Thousand Inscriptions, Volume II, (Poughkeepsie, New York: Dutchess County Historical Society, 1924), 9. A copy of the book is available at Familysearch.org: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/279093
[2] Records of the First Church in Huntington, Long Island, 1723-1799. Being the Record Kept by the Rev. Ebenezer Prime, The Pastor During Those Years. (Huntington, New York: Moses L. Scudder, 1899), 33. Hezekiah Rogers, Baptized by E.P. May 28, 1738. A copy of the book is available at FamilySearch.org: https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/29310
[3] Frank J. Doherty, The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York: An Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent, Volume 10, (Pleasant Valley, New York: Frank J. Doherty, 1990, p. 925).
