Mt. Albion Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Mount Albion Cemetery is located on New York State Route 31
in the Town of Albion
, New York, United States, east of the village of Albion, which owns and operates it. It is a rural cemetery
established in the 1840s on a glacial drumlin
.
From its original 25 acres (10.1 ha), it has almost tripled in size. Graves are on terraces
in the rolling terrain. Tall trees, including some locally rare species, maintain a parklike atmosphere. Its notable monuments include a local Civil War
memorial, a chapel and entrance arch. The dead buried there include Rufus Bullock
, the first Republican
Governor of Georgia and nine congressmen from two other states beside New York.
In 1976 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as a historic district
. It was the first property in Orleans County
listed on the Register, and is so far the only one in the Town of Albion.
office and barn located opposite its main entrance, near another smaller cemetery across the street. Immediately west of the lot is a small business. On all other sides the cemetery is surrounded by open lots and worked fields.
The northern three-quarters of the property has tall mature deciduous trees sheltering most of the graves; the southern quarter is open. Among the trees are a rare yucca
and one of the few butternuts in the area. Rows of evergreens are located north and south of the hilltop; on the south the land is still wooded and not yet used for burials.
A network of paved roads, many named after trees and shrubs, runs through the cemetery. The rises in the terrain are terraced
to allow for level gravesites. There are three entrances from Route 31; the central one across from the cemetery offices is the main entrance. It is framed by a carved Medina
sandstone
arch with a slate roof and iron gates. A short distance south is a small parking lot and sandstone chapel, a Gothic building with steep gable
d roof shingled in slate.
Atop the hill in the southeast quadrant is the cylindrical 58 feet (17.7 m) Soldier's and Sailor's Monument, also of red sandstone. A pointed-arched door on the north side opens to a spiral staircase climbing to the overlook at the top, which offers 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside.
In the northwest corner of the cemetery is a small square pond fed by a natural spring. It is trimmed with sandstone and granite
. On its south side is a domed sandstone spring house
with "1908" carved into it.
, where graves were located in a parklike setting outside an urban area. Two local citizens urged the village's trustees to buy 25 acres (10.1 ha) including Mount Albion, a high drumlin
that overlooked the village area from the southeast. Years later local historians agreed that they could not have found a more ideal location anywhere else in the area.
A former engineer on the nearby Erie Canal
, Marvin Porter, has been credited with the design
of the landscape in the eastern, oldest portion of the cemetery. Other sources suggest that there was little formal organization and plot owners largely took care of their areas themseves.
The sandstone buildings reflect the prosperous output of local quarries at that time. After another 13.5 acres (5.5 ha) was added on the west of the original cemetery in 1872, sandstone was used for the monument to local war dead on the cemetery's highest point two years later. Local architect William V.N. Barlow, whose house
in the village of Albion is also on the Register, designed the chapel and entrance gate in the early 1880s.
By 1894 the cemetery had reached its present size. As it expanded, the parklike atmosphere was maintained. The rises were terraced with the dells between them kept flat. Trees and shrubs similar to those in the eastern half were planted, some in an orchard. Further park amenities, such as the 1908 pond and the Ingersoll Memorial Fountain in front of the chapel in 1914, were added.
New York State Route 31
New York State Route 31 is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 104 in the city of Niagara Falls. Its eastern terminus is at a traffic circle with NY 26 in Vernon...
in the Town of Albion
Albion (town), Orleans County, New York
----Albion is a town in Orleans County, New York, USA. The population was 8,042 at the 2000 census. The town was named after a village in the town....
, New York, United States, east of the village of Albion, which owns and operates it. It is a rural cemetery
Rural cemetery
The rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of burial ground that uses landscaping in a park-like setting.As early as 1711 the architect Sir Christopher Wren had advocated the creation of burial grounds on the outskirts of town, "inclosed with a strong Brick Wall, and having a walk round, and...
established in the 1840s on a glacial drumlin
Drumlin
A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín , first recorded in 1833, is an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.-Drumlin formation:...
.
From its original 25 acres (10.1 ha), it has almost tripled in size. Graves are on terraces
Terrace (agriculture)
Terraces are used in farming to cultivate sloped land. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice...
in the rolling terrain. Tall trees, including some locally rare species, maintain a parklike atmosphere. Its notable monuments include a local Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
memorial, a chapel and entrance arch. The dead buried there include Rufus Bullock
Rufus Bullock
Rufus Brown Bullock was an American politician.-Biography:He served as the 46th Governor of Georgia from 1868 to 1871 during Reconstruction and was the first Republican governor of Georgia. After various allegations of scandal, in 1871 he was obliged by the Ku Klux Klan to resign the governorship...
, the first Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Governor of Georgia and nine congressmen from two other states beside New York.
In 1976 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
. It was the first property in Orleans County
Orleans County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 44,171 people, 15,363 households, and 10,846 families residing in the county. The population density was 113 people per square mile . There were 17,347 housing units at an average density of 44 per square mile...
listed on the Register, and is so far the only one in the Town of Albion.
Grounds
The cemetery is a 70 acres (28.3 ha) rectangular parcel on the south side of Route 31 between the Butts and Keitel Road intersections, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the village of Albion. Its terrain is gently rolling, dominated by a 680 feet (207.3 m) hill in the southeast quadrant. The area is rural, with the cemetery's sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
office and barn located opposite its main entrance, near another smaller cemetery across the street. Immediately west of the lot is a small business. On all other sides the cemetery is surrounded by open lots and worked fields.
The northern three-quarters of the property has tall mature deciduous trees sheltering most of the graves; the southern quarter is open. Among the trees are a rare yucca
Yucca
Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North...
and one of the few butternuts in the area. Rows of evergreens are located north and south of the hilltop; on the south the land is still wooded and not yet used for burials.
A network of paved roads, many named after trees and shrubs, runs through the cemetery. The rises in the terrain are terraced
Terrace (agriculture)
Terraces are used in farming to cultivate sloped land. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice...
to allow for level gravesites. There are three entrances from Route 31; the central one across from the cemetery offices is the main entrance. It is framed by a carved Medina
Medina, New York
Medina is a village in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 6,415 at the 2000 census, making it the second most populous municipality in the county after Albion, the county seat. The village was named by its surveyor...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
arch with a slate roof and iron gates. A short distance south is a small parking lot and sandstone chapel, a Gothic building with steep gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof shingled in slate.
Atop the hill in the southeast quadrant is the cylindrical 58 feet (17.7 m) Soldier's and Sailor's Monument, also of red sandstone. A pointed-arched door on the north side opens to a spiral staircase climbing to the overlook at the top, which offers 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside.
In the northwest corner of the cemetery is a small square pond fed by a natural spring. It is trimmed with sandstone and granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. On its south side is a domed sandstone spring house
Spring house
A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building used for refrigeration once commonly found in rural areas before the advent of electric refrigeration. It is usually a one-room building constructed over the source of a spring. The water of the spring maintains a constant cool temperature...
with "1908" carved into it.
History
Mt. Albion was established 11 years after Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts popularized the rural cemeteryRural cemetery
The rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of burial ground that uses landscaping in a park-like setting.As early as 1711 the architect Sir Christopher Wren had advocated the creation of burial grounds on the outskirts of town, "inclosed with a strong Brick Wall, and having a walk round, and...
, where graves were located in a parklike setting outside an urban area. Two local citizens urged the village's trustees to buy 25 acres (10.1 ha) including Mount Albion, a high drumlin
Drumlin
A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín , first recorded in 1833, is an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.-Drumlin formation:...
that overlooked the village area from the southeast. Years later local historians agreed that they could not have found a more ideal location anywhere else in the area.
A former engineer on the nearby Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
, Marvin Porter, has been credited with the design
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
of the landscape in the eastern, oldest portion of the cemetery. Other sources suggest that there was little formal organization and plot owners largely took care of their areas themseves.
The sandstone buildings reflect the prosperous output of local quarries at that time. After another 13.5 acres (5.5 ha) was added on the west of the original cemetery in 1872, sandstone was used for the monument to local war dead on the cemetery's highest point two years later. Local architect William V.N. Barlow, whose house
William V. N. Barlow House
The William V. N. Barlow House is on South Clinton Street in Albion, New York, United States. It is a brick building erected in the 1870s in an eclectic mix of contemporary architectural styles, including Second Empire, Italianate, and Queen Anne...
in the village of Albion is also on the Register, designed the chapel and entrance gate in the early 1880s.
By 1894 the cemetery had reached its present size. As it expanded, the parklike atmosphere was maintained. The rises were terraced with the dells between them kept flat. Trees and shrubs similar to those in the eastern half were planted, some in an orchard. Further park amenities, such as the 1908 pond and the Ingersoll Memorial Fountain in front of the chapel in 1914, were added.
Notable burials
A number of politicians, from New York and other states, are buried at Mount Albion.- Rufus BullockRufus BullockRufus Brown Bullock was an American politician.-Biography:He served as the 46th Governor of Georgia from 1868 to 1871 during Reconstruction and was the first Republican governor of Georgia. After various allegations of scandal, in 1871 he was obliged by the Ku Klux Klan to resign the governorship...
(1834–1907), former lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army and the first RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Governor of Georgia during Reconstruction. - Lorenzo BurrowsLorenzo BurrowsLorenzo Burrows was an American merchant, banker and politician.-Life:...
, (1805–1885), served two terms in the U.S. HouseUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from New York. Later served as state comptrollerNew York State ComptrollerThe New York State Comptroller is a state cabinet officer of the U.S. state of New York. The duties of the comptroller include auditing government operations and operating the state's retirement system.-History:...
and ran for governor. - John Curtis Chapman, (1772–1834), Harvard graduate and lawyer who served in New Hampshire House of RepresentativesNew Hampshire House of RepresentativesThe New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 103 districts across the state, created from divisions of the state's counties. On average, each legislator represents about 3,300...
for one term in the early 19th century, then the U.S. House as a Federalist for a term. After another term in the New Hampshire House, moved to upstate New YorkUpstate New YorkUpstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
. - Sanford E. ChurchSanford E. ChurchSanford Elias Church was an American lawyer and Democratic politician...
(1815–1880), Lieutenant Governor of New YorkLieutenant Governor of New YorkThe Lieutenant Governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the government of New York State. It is the second highest ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four year term...
, also state comptroller and chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals. - Noah DavisNoah DavisNoah Davis was an American lawyer and politician from New York-Life:...
, (1818–1902), one-term U.S. Representative from New York. Later presided over Boss Tweed trials as U.S. Attorney for Southern New York. - Gilbert De La MatyrGilbert De La MatyrGilbert De La Matyr was an American cleric and politician from New York and Indiana.-Life:...
, (1825–1892), Methodist Episcopal ChurchMethodist Episcopal ChurchThe Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
elderElder (Christianity)An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...
who served a single term as U.S. Representative from Indiana after the Civil War. - Ben Field, (1816–1876), single term in State Senate.
- Gideon HardGideon HardGideon Hard was a U.S. Representative from New York.Born in Arlington, Vermont, Hard was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1822.He taught school.He studied law....
, (1797–1885), single-term U.S. Representative from New York who later served in state senateNew York State SenateThe New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
and as judge. - Elizur Kirke Hart, (1841–1893), U.S. Representative and state assemblymanNew York State AssemblyThe New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
. - Charles Horace Holmes, (1827–1874), U.S. Representative from New York.
- Edwin Ruthvin Reynolds, (1816–1908), U.S. Representative from New York and state judge.
- John Gilbert Sawyer, (1825–1898), U.S. Representative from New York.
External links
- Village of Albion, Cemetery website
- Mount Albion Cemetery at findagrave.com
- Mt. Albion Cemetery at The Political GraveyardThe Political GraveyardThe Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 224,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information.-History:...