Smithtown Cemetery - Smithtown, New York.
Posted by: 
moelsla
N 40° 51.549 W 073° 11.101
18T E 652970 N 4524706
Smithtown Cemetery was established in 1886. Mr. Smith the owner of the land was the first one to be buried in the graveyard. There are 2,144 Memorials.
Waymark Code: WM18666
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 06/06/2023
Views: 3
A walk in the Smithtown Cemetery on North Country Road is far from scary. Surrounded by the headstones of Smiths, Blydenburghs and others who have contributed to Smithtown, a visit becomes a trip through the town’s past.
According to Smithtown Historian and Smithtown Cemetery Association president Brad Harris, began selling lots for burial on his property in 1880. Smith died only a year later and became the first one to be buried in the graveyard.
On the west side of the cemetery visitors will find the family plot of the Lawrence family slightly up a hill. Buried here are the sisters who were both married to the original owner. Smith married Anna Lawrence who died four years after their marriage, and then he married her sister Sarah Amelia who passed away seven years after their wedding day.
The Turrell family plot can be found on the east side of the property. The daughter Virginia Turrell was instrumental in preserving many structures in Smithtown.
According to the cemetery's brochure, James Henry Fouke was the first African-American to be buried in the cemetery in October of 1895. Fouke was a servant of and for 17 years, and James Clinch approached the board to ask if Fouke could be buried there. Five out of nine trustees agreed that a portion of the graveyard was to be used for the burial of African-Americans and 40 years later an additional section was added.
In the eastern part of the woods, scattered headstones hidden in the trees and bushes mark the graves of the first African-Americans, while north of the back entrance many plots are without headstones and only locust stakes mark the graves.
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Herman L. Platt Born: 1836 Death: 21 Nov 1854
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Anna Willis Lawrence Smith Born: 18 Apr 1825 Death: 3 Oct 1848(age 23) (
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