Great graves of Upstate New York

By Bob Cudmore 

       According to Oneonta author and radio host Chuck D’Imperio, Upstate New York is the final resting place for many American legends.

       D’Imperio’s new book, “Great Graves of Upstate New York,” describes his visits to burial sites of famous Americans such as Lucille Ball, interred in the Jamestown area, and President Chester Arthur, buried next to his wife in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands.

       D’Imperio traveled five thousand miles and visited 250 cemeteries for his book.  He has been researching Upstate New York graves for more than a decade.

WILLIAM McCONKEY

       D’Imperio said that the most intriguing burial site he visited is on Route 30A in Charleston in Montgomery County, the grave of William McConkey.

       McConkey owned a ferry and small boatyard on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania and it was on McConkey’s boat that General George Washington crossed the Delaware to strike at British forces in New Jersey the day after Christmas, 1776.

       D’Imperio wrote, “If (McConkey) did accompany the general on his trip across the Delaware, you can be assured that Emanuel Leutze, the painter who so famously captured Washington crossing the Delaware, would surely have put the Scotsman McConkey squarely at the rudder!”

       McConkey apparently was granted land after the Revolution in the Mohawk Valley, accounting for his presence in Charleston.  There is a state historic marker visible from the highway near McConkey’s grave.

       “McConkey’s ancient stone is weatherworn and in disrepair, but still easily identifiable,” D’Imperio wrote.

       McConkey’s inn and ferry are part of the Washington Crossing National Historical Park in Pennsylvania.

THREE SAINTS

       D’Imperio visited the final resting place of the Jesuit martyrs Rene Goupil, Isaac Jogues and John LaLande at the Roman Catholic Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville.  Auriesville was the site of the Mohawk village of Ossernenon.

       D’Imperio wrote that a ravine on the grounds of Auriesville holds the remains of the missionaries who were killed by the Mohawks in the 1600s.  The three men were canonized by the Church.

SIR WILLIAM

       Mohawk Valley colonist Sir William Johnson is buried on the grounds of St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Johnstown, the corner of Buffalo and Cayuga streets.

       Johnson’s gravestone has this inscription, “Grave of Sir William Johnson, baronet, 1715-1774, his Indian name Warraghyagey, he who does much business, founder of Johnstown, superintendent of Indian affairs, major general in British Army, colonel of the Six Nations, builder of a nation.”

TIM MURPHY

       Legendary sharpshooter and patriot Tim Murphy was buried in his native Schoharie Valley, where he bravely staved off attacks by the British and their Indian allies in the Revolutionary War.  Murphy also is credited with picking off two top British commanders, turning the tide of the pivotal battle of Bemis Heights, part of the overall battle of Saratoga in 1777.  After the war, Murphy lived until his death at age 67 in the Schoharie Valley.

       “To get to Tim Murphy’s imposing grave, take I-88 as your starting point, exit at Route 30, Schoharie,” wrote D’Imperio.  “Travel south exactly ten miles and you will come to Middleburgh Cemetery, off Hunters Land Road.  Take the cemetery road all the way to the top and you will find the Murphy plot (across from the large Foster monument).”

       A plaque with this inscription marks Murphy’s grave, “Tim Murphy—Patriot, Soldier, Scout, Citizen who served distinguishably in Morgan’s Rifle Corps, fought at Saratoga and Monmouth and whose bravery repelled the attack of the British and their Indian allies from Middlefort, October 17, 1780 and saved the lives of the colonists of his Schoharie Valley.  Here too, this warrior sire, with honor rests who braved in freedom’s cause his valiant breast.”

August schedule on The Historians with Bob Cudmore

Friday, August 4-Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on a submarine rescue, walking for sport, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.

Friday, August 11-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline author of Orphan Train from a 2015 podcast episode. Plus the debut of The History Mystery trivia question.

Friday, August 18-Episode 488-Kiersten Marcil from Rotterdam Junction New York, author of the Revolutionary War historical novel Witness to the Revolution.

Friday, August 25-Episode 489-A highlights edition with excerpts from recent podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle; Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow and more.

Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore  or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.  Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall. (November 3, 2023)

Thursday

Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Great graves of Upstate New York

Friday, August 4, 2023- Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on soda bottlers, walking for sport, a submarine rescue, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.

Mohawk Valley  Weather, Thursday, August 3, 2023

60 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:10AM

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