A Re-Visit to the Gregory Cemetery

posted by Brian Vangor
Town of Carmel Historian
The Gregory Cemetery is located in Carmel at the end of a peninsula that extends from West Shore Drive and Stebbins Road, east, out into the Croton Falls Reservoir. The associated settlement, Gregory’s Mills, located near Croton Falls Road and Horsepound Road, was displaced a century ago by the construction of the reservoir.

The peninsula is owned by New York City and, as reservoir land, its access is controlled by the NYC DEP. So, it requires permission from the DEP to make the trek to the cemetery. The journey begins at the bottom of Stebbins Road, at West Shore, where you can pick up the dirt portion of Stebbins Road. The trail is pretty obvious, although, the occasional downed tree necessitates a few detours. After about 15 minutes of eastward hiking, Stebbins ends at the north–south Horsepound Road. At the intersection, there is a long stone wall which curves to the left (north) onto Horsepound. Follow the wall around and continue north on Horsepound Road. After a few minutes, I turned right and walked up the gentle slope of the hill to find the cemetery. There is no obvious trail and it is not readily visible from Horsepound Road.

The cemetery is approximately 110ft by 100ft and surrounded by a short stone wall. The entrance is on the north wall. All visible graves are located in the east portion of the cemetery. There is a small collection of stones in both the northeast and southeast corners. The northeast corner includes Esther Williams, d. Aug 17, 1822. Daniel Gregory of the 7th Dutchess NY Militia (d. 1817) and his wife, Elizabeth, and son, Lewis, are in the southeast corner. Between the two small groups of stones are approximately 60 fieldstone shards which are not identifiable. Some of these may have been moved here from cemeteries now submerged.

Photo Index:

01 Map of the peninsula.
02 Entrance to the Gregory Cemetery looking south. All graves in left (east) side of cemetery.
03 Graves in NE corner of cemetery.
04 Grave of Daniel Gregory (SE corner).
05 Graves is SE corner of cemetery (Gregory Family).

All photos taken on Sept 3, 2009. References: Mike Troy - TCHS, Carmel Link History blog dated Aug. 3, 2007.

Book Club at The Reed Memorial Library in Carmel

From Jeanne Buck, Library Director:
Historic Preservation – It’s in
Everyone’s Backyard.

An old winding road…
rambling stone walls…the barn that’s been there 100 years…that last undisturbed vista that catches your eye and takes your breath away every time you pass it…

How do you preserve it? What can
you do about it? Should it be preserved? Why? What is the first step? How do you begin?

The Putnam County Libraries Association in cooperation with the Putnam County Historian’s Office can help you find answers to these and many more questions.

Beginning this fall and extending into next year, groups will be meeting in each library in the county to discuss the highly readable and up-to-date overview of the subject Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History, Principles, and Practices by Ligibel, Tyler, and Tyler.

The first discussion group will be meeting at the Reed Memorial Library in Carmel in October. Call the Library (845-225-2439) by September 24 to reserve and pick up your copy of Historic Preservation. Read the book then join a facilitated discussion led by Carmel Town Historian, Brian Vangor (with other local civic leaders in attendance), to be held at the Library on Thursday October 29 at 7 pm.

Read…learn…question…discuss…learn some more…

Book Club Choice

The book, Historic Preservation, is “a primer on historic preservation,” with interesting diagrams and explanations on preservation issues for an audience ranging from homeowners to local officials and historic district commissioners. Chapter titles include: “The Preservation Movement in the United States,” “Historic Districts and Ordinances,” and “Heritage Tourism, Cultural Landscapes, and Heritage Areas.”

Tech Talk

The potential for applying digital/internet strategies in everything from archival management to promotion of history tourism is exciting and maybe a little bit daunting. Who has the time to master every new technology? (I’m twittering to my friends as I write this.) The idea for this blog came out of the Roundtable discussion (June 30, Boscobel) about staying in better touch as a community of historians/researchers/hobbyists etc. Though it may not be the perfect solution, it is a beginning.

In the future this section of the blog can be used to feature your updates on uses of technology in presenting/storing/collecting history, your ideas, and things you have seen in your travels.
Some Examples:
In the city of Albany, N.Y., for instance, the State Parks Dept. has a history recording available –if you dial a certain number in your cell phone—as you drive around the City and pass historic buildings.

In some museums around the country, you can download a podcast in the week before a big exhibit opens and then use it for a self-guided tour. Could we do this for house tours?

In Putnam County, there are at least two Facebook sites with town archival photos. Go to “google” search and look for Putnam Valley or Carmel and Facebook. Lori Kemp added the “Carmel, N.Y.” page to her Facebook account and it has blossomed into a collection of wonderful photos and reminiscences.
P.Houser

Local Profile

A Tour Guide Who Has Done His Homework:
On Saturday morning September 26 Vincent Dacquino, local history educator, will lead a tour group along the route of Sybil Ludington’s legendary 1777 ride. Dacquino will offer a “dramatic rendition” of the Revolutionary War episode in which a 16-year-old farm girl rode forty miles on horseback in the dark of night (further than Paul Revere, as some point out) to help Colonel Henry Ludington (her father) summon the militia. The emergency that April night was a mission to rescue Danbury, under attack by British troops.
It is difficult to imagine a more qualified tour guide in this case. In addition to writing several other local histories and children’s books, Mr. Dacquino is the author of the definitive biography of Sybil Ludington (Sybil Ludington: The Call to Arms, 2000) in which he corrects previous errors about her life after the war and provides a scholarly guide for tracing the earliest telling of Sybil’s ride.
The Saturday tour is from 10 a.m. -12:30 p.m. and begins at the Mahopac Public Library. If space is available, a check for the tour fee of $20 per adult, $10 per child (including t-shirt) may be made payable to IHARE (the Institute of History, Archaeology and Education).
P.Houser

From the Patterson Historical Society

The Hudson River Valley Heritage (HRVH) has posted the 1854 O'Connor map in its full color format on their website at the following link:
http://www.hrvh.org/u?/pahs,0
Ron Taylor, President, Patterson Historical Society

News from Carmel

Right: New story boards at Red Mills Park. Alan Warnecke (former Putnam County Historian, Active local historian)
with Tom Casey.




Friday, August 28:
The Red Mills Park storyboards were completed on Friday morning by Tom Casey and Allan Warnecke. Also present were Dini Lobue, Kathleen Delamere, Greg Ellner and Marc Pekowsky (two Town Board candidates). The storyboards and their presentation are excellent. See attached photos. Posted by
Brian Vangor,
Town of Carmel Historian