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Talk and tour focuses on upkeep, finances of Red Rock Rural Cemetery
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| From left, Damaris Botwick, Marcia Cary, Prescott Haley and Dr. Ward Stone contemplate the grave of Lydia Dulcher, who died on April 9, 1863. Fran Heaney/for Chatham Courier |
By Fran Heaney
RED ROCK — On Saturday, Nov. 14 at the Red Rock Firehouse, Dr. Ward Stone, president of the Red Rock Cemetery Board, NYS Wildlife pathologist and WAMC “In Our Backyard” radio show host, addressed the current conditions of the Red Rock Rural Cemetery. He spoke to a large group of interested neighbors and plot owners who are concerned about the cemetery.
In his introduction, Stone reminisced about visiting the cemetery as a boy in 1947, looking for his ancestor’s monuments. Jonathan Ford, one of the first settlers, was given 2,000 acres in Red Rock for his service in the French and Indian War. He has a large obelisk to mark is grave. Stone, who is his descendent, feels that the Red Rock Rural Cemetery is a lasting memorial to the town’s heritage and needs preserving.
“The cemetery needs work,” commented Stone. Graves are overturned and tipped, the site has drainage problems and needs an engineering study and the property needs a new fence, he said, and John Helliwell, who has maintained the cemetery in the past, is retiring.
Thanks to the generosity of the Columbia Land Conservancy, Prescott Haley recently mowed the grounds, enabling families to place holiday wreaths on their loved ones graves.
Stone reported that there is only $135 in the cemetery fund and that the endowment for perpetual care is being rapidly depleted. The cost for mowing and insurance runs the board approximately $5,000 a year.
There was talk of deeding the cemetery to the town of Canaan, but Stone would rather reorganize the cemetery trustees with the addition of new members and create a Friends of the Red Rock Cemetery Board. He believes that the group can raise money to preserve this historic part of Canaan. And because it is a private cemetery, the families of the deceased can still decorate the graves with flowers and memorabilia.
Before taking a tour of the cemetery, a meeting was scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9 at the Red Rock Firehouse. Topics to be discussed will be the appointment of new trustees, fundraising ideas and establishing a list of interned family heirs. Those who own a plot in the cemetery or have ancestors buried there are encouraged to attend.
In his introduction, Stone reminisced about visiting the cemetery as a boy in 1947, looking for his ancestor’s monuments. Jonathan Ford, one of the first settlers, was given 2,000 acres in Red Rock for his service in the French and Indian War. He has a large obelisk to mark is grave. Stone, who is his descendent, feels that the Red Rock Rural Cemetery is a lasting memorial to the town’s heritage and needs preserving.
“The cemetery needs work,” commented Stone. Graves are overturned and tipped, the site has drainage problems and needs an engineering study and the property needs a new fence, he said, and John Helliwell, who has maintained the cemetery in the past, is retiring.
Thanks to the generosity of the Columbia Land Conservancy, Prescott Haley recently mowed the grounds, enabling families to place holiday wreaths on their loved ones graves.
Stone reported that there is only $135 in the cemetery fund and that the endowment for perpetual care is being rapidly depleted. The cost for mowing and insurance runs the board approximately $5,000 a year.
There was talk of deeding the cemetery to the town of Canaan, but Stone would rather reorganize the cemetery trustees with the addition of new members and create a Friends of the Red Rock Cemetery Board. He believes that the group can raise money to preserve this historic part of Canaan. And because it is a private cemetery, the families of the deceased can still decorate the graves with flowers and memorabilia.
Before taking a tour of the cemetery, a meeting was scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9 at the Red Rock Firehouse. Topics to be discussed will be the appointment of new trustees, fundraising ideas and establishing a list of interned family heirs. Those who own a plot in the cemetery or have ancestors buried there are encouraged to attend.
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