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Off to the Cemetery
Fairview Cemetery
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
It was built on a 110-acre parcel of land once owned by Revolutionary War surgeon Dr. David Shepard on a hill on the north side of the Mohawk River, partially in the city and partially in the town of Amsterdam.
Dr. Shepard and his family lived there until his death in 1818.
By the late 19th century, after changing hands several times, the land was purchased by Warren K. Nibble of Troy. Nibble wanted to build a resort there, but when many of his financial backers turned against that idea, they decided to use the land for a cemetery.
The Amsterdam Daily Democrat agreed, “The site had natural beauty with soil well adapted for a cemetery.”
The project was laid out by landscape engineer G. Douglas Baltimore. Many remains were moved to Fairview from other cemeteries, thus many stones pre-date 1899 in Fairview’s oldest section (Section 1).
Fairview Cemetery was eventually converted to a not-for-profit corporation owned by and operated for the benefit of lotholders. A volunteer board of trustees oversees the operation.
In 1901, the Daily Democrat reported, “The new chapel and mausoleum on the grounds of Fairview Cemetery has been completed and accepted by the association and is now ready for service.
The chapel’s Gothic architecture was built of granite and erected by contractor Dennis Madden of Amsterdam. The interior is marble and the ceiling is oak. There are stained glass windows throughout. The original cost of the building was $20,000.
The chapel was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Benjamin Button in 2017 and a replacement roof was completed this year.
A gateway of stone and iron was erected on Steadwell Avenue as the entrance to the cemetery in 1902.
Many of Amsterdam’s prominent citizens were buried at Fairview: the Shuttleworth family, who founded the factory that became Mohawk Carpet Mills; the Chalmers family, who operated knitting and button mills; and manufacturer John R. Blood, among others.
Now, in 2024, the placement of two historic roadside markers will enhance the front entrance. One marker is dedicated to Fairview Cemetery and the second is for the Admiral Dahlgren cannon, located in Veterans section 9.
Amsterdam city historian Rob von Hasseln said the Dahlgren cannon was forged for the U.S. Navy during the Civil War in 1864 in Providence, Rhode Island. After the war, the cannon was installed on the USS Monongahela, Pensacola and Essex. It was then stored at Washington Navy Yard before coming to Fairview.
Next to the cannon is a display of its cannonballs which are red, not black. This distinctive color was a way to match the correct balls to be fired with the cannon. In later years, the gun was retrofitted to use conical-shaped shells.
One of the first pieces of property in America purchased by the Cudmore family, immigrants from England, was a cemetery plot at Fairview. My grandmother, Elizabeth Copp Cudmore, was buried there in 1934. Her husband Harry lived another 22 years and also was buried at Fairview as were my parents and sister. When I was a child, we visited the cemetery in the summer and had picnics among the tombstones.
Bob Cudmore is a free lance writer.
518 346 6657
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By Bob CudmoreFairview Cemetery
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
It was built on a 110-acre parcel of land once owned by Revolutionary War surgeon Dr. David Shepard on a hill on the north side of the Mohawk River, partially in the city and partially in the town of Amsterdam.
Dr. Shepard and his family lived there until his death in 1818.
By the late 19th century, after changing hands several times, the land was purchased by Warren K. Nibble of Troy. Nibble wanted to build a resort there, but when many of his financial backers turned against that idea, they decided to use the land for a cemetery.
The Amsterdam Daily Democrat agreed, “The site had natural beauty with soil well adapted for a cemetery.”
The project was laid out by landscape engineer G. Douglas Baltimore. Many remains were moved to Fairview from other cemeteries, thus many stones pre-date 1899 in Fairview’s oldest section (Section 1).
Fairview Cemetery was eventually converted to a not-for-profit corporation owned by and operated for the benefit of lotholders. A volunteer board of trustees oversees the operation.
In 1901, the Daily Democrat reported, “The new chapel and mausoleum on the grounds of Fairview Cemetery has been completed and accepted by the association and is now ready for service.
The chapel’s Gothic architecture was built of granite and erected by contractor Dennis Madden of Amsterdam. The interior is marble and the ceiling is oak. There are stained glass windows throughout. The original cost of the building was $20,000.
The chapel was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Benjamin Button in 2017 and a replacement roof was completed this year.
A gateway of stone and iron was erected on Steadwell Avenue as the entrance to the cemetery in 1902.
Many of Amsterdam’s prominent citizens were buried at Fairview: the Shuttleworth family, who founded the factory that became Mohawk Carpet Mills; the Chalmers family, who operated knitting and button mills; and manufacturer John R. Blood, among others.
Now, in 2024, the placement of two historic roadside markers will enhance the front entrance. One marker is dedicated to Fairview Cemetery and the second is for the Admiral Dahlgren cannon, located in Veterans section 9.
Amsterdam city historian Rob von Hasseln said the Dahlgren cannon was forged for the U.S. Navy during the Civil War in 1864 in Providence, Rhode Island. After the war, the cannon was installed on the USS Monongahela, Pensacola and Essex. It was then stored at Washington Navy Yard before coming to Fairview.
Next to the cannon is a display of its cannonballs which are red, not black. This distinctive color was a way to match the correct balls to be fired with the cannon. In later years, the gun was retrofitted to use conical-shaped shells.
One of the first pieces of property in America purchased by the Cudmore family, immigrants from England, was a cemetery plot at Fairview. My grandmother, Elizabeth Copp Cudmore, was buried there in 1934. Her husband Harry lived another 22 years and also was buried at Fairview as were my parents and sister. When I was a child, we visited the cemetery in the summer and had picnics among the tombstones.
Bob Cudmore is a free lance writer.
518 346 6657