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 Old Batavia Cemetery - Batavia, NY Posted by:  Rayman
N 42° 59.604 W 078° 10.333
17T E 730519 N 4763962
The Old Batavia Cemetery is the final resting place of many of Batavia's earliest settlers, including Joseph Ellicott who laid out towns and roads in Western New York.
Waymark Code: WM3ARG
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 03/06/2008
Views: 63
An excerpt from New York: A Guide to the Empire State as part of Tour 11 (NY Route 5):
In OLD BATAVIA CEMETERY, Harvester Ave. between the Erie and New York Central Railroads, are the graves of Joseph Ellicott (see below) and a number of Batavia pioneers, and the MORGAN MONUMENT, erected in 1880 by the National Christian Association Opposed to All Secret Societies. When William Morgan (1775-1826) was denied membership in a Masonic lodge in Batavia, he threatened to reveal the secrets of the order. After a series of arrests he was secretly carried off to Fort Niagara, where all traces of him were lost. A hue and cry was raised through the countryside, and a movement was set on foot to break the power of Free Masonry; tinged with patriotic and religious sentiment, it took form as a political party. For several years the vote of the 'infected district,' as this part of the State was called, determined the results of State elections. In the presidential campaign of 1828 the Anti-Masonic party polled 33,000 votes. Some time before the election a man's body was washed up on the shore of Lake Ontario and was identified as Morgan; when informed that the identification was doubtful, Thurlow Weed is reported to have said that it was 'good enough Morgan till after the election.' Morgan's fate has never been definitely determined.
Batavia Cemetery is well maintained and still accepts burials. The Morgan monument is located in the extreme southwest corner of the cemetery and the Ellicott monument is about in the middle. There are many burials here dating back to the early 1800s, many of which were the founders of the city and area.
Book: New York
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 472
Year Originally Published: 1940
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