The Jerusalem Friends Cemetery is located on Wantagh Avenue, north of Jerusalem Avenue behind the Baptist Church.

The Society of Friends was established in England in the mid- seventeenth century. The faith quickly spread through the British Isles and to America. Because of their unorthodox Protestant views, their trust in the "Inward Light", lack of a formal ministry, and re- fusal to bow to authority, the Quakers, as they were called, were often savagely persecuted, particularly in the New England colonies.

Friends meetings were held in Jerusalem very early in its history. It is recorded that Captain John Seaman scandalized his neighbors by permitting such gatherings to be held in his home, "Cherrywood."

The visits of prominent English Quakers to Long Island brought many new converts. In 1697 Friends decided meetings, should be kept every five weeks on the First Day, to be held on successive First Days at Jericho, Bethpage , Jerusalem, and Hempstead. Gradually the Jerusalem Friends meetings came under the care of Bethpage ,which, in turn, was supervised by the Jericho meeting.

Jerusalem Friends continued under this arrangement until 1820 when a separate meeting was established at Jerusalem. For several years the group met in the houses of members. A committee appointed by the Jericho meeting to supervise the new meeting reported regularly that "the order and solemnity prevalent was satisfactory."  

By March, 1828, it was clear that the congregation was solidly established and was desirous of building its own Meeting House. A committee was appointed "to confer with friends then as to a suitable spot and the plan and size of a House, to wit. John Ketcham, Samuel Jones, Willet Robbins, Samuel Willis and Jesse Merritt." One hundred twenty rods of land needed for the building and its grounds was purchased from Arden Seaman and his wife Elizabeth for $60.

Several extracts from the minutes of the Jericho Monthly Meeting tell the story of the construction of the small wooden frame building:
At Westbury Quarterly Meeting held at Westbury the 26 of 4th Mo. 1827.
By a minute from Jericho Monthly Meeting it appears they propose to build a meeting house at Jerusalem the size 34 by 28 feet with 14 feet posts. Estimate costs 965 that 200 Dollars had been subscribed by that meeting leaving a balance of 765 Dollars wanting. On consideration the proposed size of the house with the estimate of the cost was agreed to by this meeting & our Monthly Meetings are requested to raise their respective proportions of 765 Dollars the balance wanting - pay the money to the trustees of the building and report.
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At Jericho Monthly Meeting held the 18th of 10th Mo.1827.
The Committee appointed in third Mo. last to superintend the building a Meeting House at Jerusalem. Report it completed and that the money raised have been all expended.

On March 2, 1861 the Monthly Meeting of Jericho purchased an additional plot "for burial purposes" lying eastward from the Friends Meeting House, and containing 134 2/3 rods. It was surveyed by Robert B. Jackson. "Each subscriber of the sum of eight Dollars to be entitled to burial privileges in one lot eighteen feet wide said lots running north and south from the walk, and being about forty four feet long."

The Deed was recorded April 13, 1861 from William S. Hicks and Letitia (Seaman) Hicks, his wife, to the Trustees of the Monthly Meeting of Friends in Jericho. No individual deeds were issued to the subscribers.

The care of the grounds, the conducting of funerals and all other matters appertaining thereto were to be subject to a committee appointed by the Jericho Meeting.

There were 21 plots each side of the middle path - a total of 42. Lists of the subscribers have survived as a record of those who paid $8 for a full plot privilege - or $4 for a half plot privilege.

It is believed that a Seaman burial plot was adjacent to the land that was sold to the Friends, and the new burial ground extended beyond the old one. This belief is borne out by the fact that the earliest headstone, that of Ann SEAMAN, age d 11 years 8 mos. 12 dy., is dated July 10, 1819.

Among those buried behind the Meeting House during the next half century were three Civil War veterans:
Lieut. H. R. Jackson, Adjet 5th NYBA
Gilbert SEAMAN, Company G. 139th Regiment NY Volunteers - died October 5, 1901 age 63 years
Charles Wilson - Co. H. 119th Reg. NY Volunteers - died 1872 age 32 years. He had been wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg.

As the older Friends died, the once-flourishing Meeting became smaller, and finally, on November 11, 1908, the regular First Day Meetings were discontinued. However, until 1949 so-called appointed Meetings were held at intervals during the summer months.

Burials in the old cemetery became less frequent. Many of the old family members were interred in Greenfield, the Town of Hempstead Ceme- tery, which was established in 1856. Interest in preserving and main- taining the meeting house and grounds declined. The vulnerable posi- tion of the property on a main artery made it a prey for vandals.

In 1952 the Wantagh Baptist Church, a new congregation, which had been meeting at the Sunrise Park School, purchased the property from the Jericho Monthly Meeting for the sum of $2,500. The burying grounds were specifically excluded from the sale. But, according to the terms of the deed, "Grantee covenants to maintain the cemetery premises, now owned by grantors, and immediately adjacent on the east to the extent of at least two grass mowings and cleaning up of debris and cuttings annually."

As a Bicentennial project the Jerusalem Chapter of the NSDAR hopes to restore and fence in the burial plot, in coordination with the Town of Hempstead Department of Cemeteries.

Source:
Cemeteries of Old Wantagh
Editorial Committee
Wantagh American Revolution Bicentennial Committee
Wantagh, NY
May, 1976
Larry Engel, Wantagh Boy Scouts, District 12
Sherwin Kaplan, Voice of Wantagh
Karl Pfeiffer, Wantagh American Legion
Donna Rigali, Wantagh Public Library