Stories in Stone
Preserving History One Gravestone At A Time

Site News Updated May 4, 2013

Tylerville Cemetery

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

GAR War of 1812 MarkerOne 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.

Collections and Studies Index
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.