Courtesy Special Collections, Feinberg Library, State University of New York, College at Plattsburgh. Photo by Stephen Bartlett.
continued — “Human remains have been found in this field in the past,” Patrick said. “No one knows the original size of the cemetery or where people are buried as the earliest graves probably had wooden crosses placed here.
“In the mid to late 1800s, gravestones were placed here, but they were all knocked down in the 1930s.”
Today, they lay covered in sod.
Last year, Patrick drove around town and used the McLellan Cemetery Transcriptions to find many of the smaller plots. Some were taken care of, but others were abandoned, with stones buried and broken.
Patrick’s relative, Hugh McLellan, transcribed more than 8,000 stones in his lifetime during the 1930s and 1950s. Over the past 80 years, the conditions of the cemeteries has worsened and transcriptions are the only way to know who is buried where.
“I also list the soldiers that served in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War and where they are buried,” Patrick said. “This is important to know when we give tribute to these soldiers who fought 200 years ago.”
To Purchase a Calendar
Champlain: Kinney Drugs (Route 11), the Village of Champlain office, the Town of Champlain office, the Champlain Memorial Library, Chauvin Insurance,Samuel de Champlain History Center
Rouses Point: Cornerstone Drug and Gift (Route 11)
Beekmantown: Conroy’s Organics (Route 9)
Plattsburgh: Corner-Stone Bookshop (downtown on Margaret Street), Clinton County Historical Association (CCHA)
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