Welch Family Cemetery - Near Button Falls, Madison Co., NY

Welch Family Cemetery - Button Falls Rd. , Madison County, NY

From the Bridgewater intersection at route 20 and 8
Drive south on route 8 about 5 miles, to Leondardsville
Just south of Leondardsville, on the right, you'll find Button Falls rd.
Turn right onto Button Falls rd., up the road a short distance, on your right
you will see a stone wall, the cemetery is behind it just a short walk up the knoll.
The turn for Button Falls Rd. is a bit hidden, if you pass the Edmenston Cemetery
on the hill to your right, you have gone past it.

We spent a bit of time in the fall 1999 exploring the country side with a book about early Madison and Oneida counties in hand. The book described where to find the oldest Welch grave site and farm. Of course we took all the back roads, some of them dirt, to locate it. When at last we found it, we were very surprised to find it in beautiful condition in a lovely wooded setting, with a stone wall below, near the road and graves on the knoll surrounded by an iron fence.
One of the old Welch homesteads still overlooks the little knoll where it sits. All the graves face the house. When you enter the yard, you are greeted with the backs of the stone markers.

A description of the family grave site from: History of Madison County - Hammond - Brookfield page 177

"Easterly from the falls is one of those ancient family burial grounds, which were once to be found on very many homesteads in our country, now only seen occasionally as relics of the past, their silent occupants having been removed to modern cemeteries. Among the hills of Brookfield, however, these places of home sepulture are more frequently to be met with than in any other town of Madison County. This one, belonging to the Welch family who settled here previous to 1800, is neatly kept, as they most generally are here, by the descendants. In some places, where no descendants remain to cherish and care for the spot sacred to the dust of their forefathers, may be seen the broken tombstone, and the sweet wild rose struggling for existence; emblems of the love which would fain mark the spot after the generations that planted them had utterly passed away, or were scattered abroad on the earth."

Not all the photos I took on this trip came out, I plan on getting some more pictures of this site on the next trip to NY. (Note: which I did in early summer 2001)

Images have links to 100 on 150 dpi jpgs, with very little compression. Most are abt. 640 wide or 480 high depending on orientation. They should print fine on most desktop color printers.

Fence on knoll	Yard Gate
Charles & Sally	Phebe L. Welch b. 1779, d. Dec. 6, 1872 aged 52 years. Daug. of Charles and Sally.
Charles Welch b. 1793 d. in Brookfield, July 8, 1873 aged 80 yrs., 10 months, 24 days.	Sally Welch b. 1794 d. May 1, 1872 in Brookfield, NY. Aged 78 years, 5 months and 29 days.
Charles Welch Jr. b. Oct. 17, 1763, in Groton New London, Conn. d. April 6, 1852 in Leonardsville, NY. He was the son of Charles Welch and Mary (Taylor) Welch.	Betsy (Button) Welch Wife of Chas. Jr. b. Nov.21, 1770, in RI. d. March 19, 1852 in Button Falls NY. Her father was John Button, he came early to the area and in 1792 owned lot #82. He build the first grist mill in the town at Button Falls His wife Anna died in 1840 aged 93 He in 1841 aged 92. He came to NY with his brother Elias, who is noted for reaching the age of 105 and teaching school for 60 of those years, and never married.
Hosea W. Welch and Julia M. White Hosea was b. Feb. 10, 1814 d. Jan, 27, 1893. He was the son Charles and Betsy (Button) Welch Julia was born July. 25, 1819, d. May 26, 1893.	Hosea W. Welch and Julia M. White stone standing in middle, Charles is fallen in foreground. Large tree on left in background has a number of old stones leaning against it.
Elrena I Welch d. June 16, 1863 at 9 years and 3 months She was the daug. of Hosea W. Welch and Julia M. White. Of interest on this stone, the mother is listed as Julia M. Weld.	Charles L. Welch and Addie E. Morse Charles was b. 1852 there is no date of death on his stone. Addie Morse was b.1865 , d. 1902 Charles L. was the son of Hosea W. Welch and Julia M. White.
Children of Charles L. Welch and Addie E. Morse. They have their own small stone beside their large granite one. But they are noted on the larger one as well. There is difference in how Charles H. (here) is represented on each. I assume his middle name, marked only as H here, stood for Hosea. The cemetery listing for this yard lists three children (who died young) for Charles and Addie. I think there were only two. It seems that if there was another child, all three names would have appeared on the new marker. Why add Bessie's name and not Charles' as well.	Children of Charles L. Welch and Addie E. Morse, listed on the granite marker a little differently. Both children died very young. He at 4 months 6 days, she only four weeks.
David Coon Welch - Broken Marker - his name b. in Brookfield March8, 1809 d. Feb. 8, 1891, Aged 82 years. He was the son of Charles Welch and Betsy Button.	Emmeranda White - wife of David Coon Welch
David Coon Welch -Broken Marker - his dates	David C & Emmeranda Welch graves as they appear from the back with Hosea W. Welch and Julia M. White in front of them and white group in the background.
White Family Group - in the Autumn Looking from the back of the yard to the gate.	White Family Group - in the Summer Charles L. Welch and Addie's newer stone in the background. Charles Sr. and Sally are just visible on the right in the row in front of Charles L.
Clark White d. April 7, 1866 aged 83 yrs, 11 mo., 21 days. Probably Lieut. in the 143 Reg. of militia, a Vet. of the war of 1812	Desire - wife of Clark White d. Oct. 1 1855, aged 64 yrs., 5 mo., 5 days.
Oliver P. White d. Sept. 30, 1870, aged 46 yrs, 6 mo., 13 days.	Charles L. White -son of Oliver d. feb. 22, 1886, aged 16 yrs., 10 mo.
Lorenzo D. Button - Co. A, 1st. NY Artillery. There is nothing on the face of this stone. Maybe there is something on the other side, but as you can see, it's up against the fence and it's view is blocked by shrubbery. There is an official marker with newly added flag, so I am assuming this is who lies there.	George W. Burton - d. Oct. 31, 1864 aged 88 years and 3 months. May have been member of Lenox Lodge F & A M in 1824.
George W. Grey d. Oct. 10, 1879 aged 55 years May have been an early Brookfield Lawyer.	Tree near gate with stones leaning up against it.
Corner view of yard once you reach the top of the knoll.	Home where Hosea lived near site of original mill.