Oldest Stone:  WINEGAR, Ann B., wife of Uldrick, d. Oct. 7, 1735, ae. 38. This is the oldest stone in Amenia.

This old cemetery is still active, with modern graves close to the road.   It is located on the west side of Leedsville Road (CR2) just south of 343 between Amenia and Sharon Ct.  Leedsville Road runs parallel to the NY-CT border at this point.

This area is among the oldest in Dutchess County.   A historical marker just north of and adjacent to the cemetery states: Uldrick Winegar and his son Capt. Garrett Winegar, who came from the East Camp of the Palatines, Germantown NY settled here in 1724."  I would imagine that this cemetery was originally the Winegar's.   Almost all of the old graves have been labeled with a small bronze plate, visible as white in the first photograph.

The photo on the right shows the historical marker.  The cemetery is just past the end of the white fence.  Just to the right of the photographer is a mound of rubble, all that is left of the recently demolished Winegar home, built 1761.  It was in serious decay, but the destruction surprised the community.  From "Landmarks of Dutchess County, 1683-1867, Architecture Worth Saving in New York State" published 1969,
   "This substantial brick and stone house is Dutchess County's earliest surviving example of two-story masonry construction for which a construction date can be verified.  Although it is much deteriorated, the building is significant because two-story houses, masonry or frame, were seldom built in the county before the Revolution.  The disintegrating stucco on the exterior walls reveals the basic elements of  its original construction over two hundred years ago.  Today the Winegar House is used as a tenant house.
   " It is interesting to note that eighteenth century stone houses were rarely found in eastern Dutchess, as that region was mainly populated by people of British ancestry who built wooden houses.  The Winegar house, however, was the work of Hendrick Winegar, the son of a German Palatine, Garret Winegar.  Garret, along with his aged father, Uldrick, had fled the East Camp of the Palatines in Columbia County and settled locally in 1724.  The two Winegars were among the first people to live in the Town of Amenia."

I do not know who is responsible for the cemetery.   However, St. Thomas Episcopal church is just down the road.  The church itself is a historical fixture.  Built in 1849 with designs from John Upjohn, America's leading Gothic style churches.  It seats just 100.   The Reverend Homer Wheaton, one of the founders of Lithgow organized the parish of St. Thomas in Amenia Union.