Stories in Stone
Preserving History One Gravestone At A Time
Cemeteries are the "Great American Novel" and every gravestone represents a chapter in that novel. This site is our effort in writing a portion of that novel by documenting cemeteries and preserving the stories of those individuals buried in them.
Of the six counties (Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, and Essex) that comprise the "North Country" of New York, we concentrate on Jefferson and Lewis Counties. Additionally as we travel the migration routes into Jefferson County, we also visit cemeteries along the route that brought pioneers into the area. Consequently you will also find information on several cemeteries in Oswego County. Our goal is to help preserve the rich history of this portion of the North Country and to assist you in your family research.
Gravestone Photographs
We focus our efforts on documenting cemeteries by photographing every monument, headstone, footstone, and stone fragment in each of the cemeteries that we visit. This provides not only a "snap shot in time" of what the cemetery looks like, but also enables us to help you in documenting your family history. Towards that end, we will provide any gravestone photo that we have in our collection free of any charge. If you find our site and the photos we provide helpful in your research, please consider making a donation to a not-for-profit organization such as a historical society, cemetery association, museum, or similar organization. These organizations are at the forefront of preserving the history of our country and have provided an invaluable amount of support in our efforts of documenting cemeteries and telling the stories of those individuals buried in them.
The Graves of Veterans
One
aspect of our documenting cemeteries is to identify as many graves of veterans as possible. While organizations
such as the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Daughters of the War of 1812, various Civil War
organizations, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) have contributed enormously to the
identification, preservation, and honoring of the graves of veterans, there are too many veterans whose graves
are not marked or honored. Therefore, we dedicate a significant portion of our research effort on identifying
the graves of all veterans.
We need your help in identifying the graves of veterans. It's not always possible to determine if an individual was a veteran based on gravestones alone and historical records are woefully incomplete. If you know of a veteran buried in either Jefferson or Lewis County that we don't have listed, please let us know through the Contact page, so we can get them properly annotated.
Historical Collections and Studies
As part of our effort to document cemeteries, we make extensive use of historical records. The census, baptisms, deaths, marriages, family histories, tax rolls, directories, and studies are aides we use to better understand each of the stories represented by gravestones. Information in each of the collections is under continuous review to catch errors and refine information as we develop better methods of interpreting and presenting the data. Also you may want to return periodically as we are always on the search for new sources of information.
| Burials and Cemeteries | Census | Directories |
|---|---|---|
| Burials | Census Overview | 1840 Watertown Directory |
| Cemetery Descriptions | 1800 Census (Oneida) | 1863 Watertown Directory |
| Trinity Burial Ground | 1810 Census (Jefferson) | 1918 Farm Directory |
| Cemetery Preservation | 1820 Census (Jefferson) | Town Tax Rolls |
| Union Academy Rosters | ||
| Fort Drum Tax Rolls 1941 | ||
| Animal Markings | ||
| Individuals | Military | Studies |
| Baptisms | Medal of Honor | Fort Drum Expansion 1941 |
| Deaths | Boston Tea Party | Hounsfield Families |
| Family Members | Revolutionary War | Postcards (historical) |
| Marriages | War of 1812 | MAC-V SOG (Photos) |
| Patriot War (1837) | ||
| Civil War & GAR Posts | ||
| Buildings and Structures | ||
| Antwerp Churches | ||
| Cronkhite House | ||
| Kilborn House | ||
| Phelps Mansion | ||
| Wilna Churches | ||
| Collection Statistics and Status | ||
We sincerely hope you enjoy your stay and find the information beneficial. Requests for specific information. sources or to report errors encountered on the site, please contact us via the Contact page.
Suggestions / comments on how to make this site more usable are greatly appreciated and can be forwarded using the Contact page.