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Laurel Cemetery Survey


Transcription of Dorothy E. V.K. Smith and Vera V.K. Winne's 1972 or 1973 survey of Laurel Cemetery, West Shokan, Ulster County, New York.  I have also heard this cemetery referred to as Laurel Hill Cemetery.  Apologies for the sparseness of the directions - if I am able to visit that part of New York this year, I will try to provide better directions.

UPDATE - We visited the area again in May 2002 and my mother got some much better photos of most of the stones in this cemetery.  The creek was pretty full when we visited and between the high water, the very slippery algae-covered rocks, and my heavy camera bag, I was unable to make the crossing.  Mom braved the waters with her point-and-shoot camera and took most of the May 2002 photos on this page.  The last time I visited the area in the 1990s, the creek was low enough to jump across or go on stepping stones and I understand from others who have been to the area that this is normally the case.

Clicking a small photo will open a large photo.  Clicking a name will open a web page on that individual's family branch.

Conversion to HTML format 2001 by Roxy Triebel (treebz65@hotmail.com)
(any notes in parentheses signed "RT 2001" are mine - all others are from the original survey)

(Directions copied from the survey)

LAUREL CEMETERY

Located near Bushkill Cem - turn off road after crossing bridge - down lane by former Herbert Wells property - cross brook and up side of the Mt. - can see the wall of cemetery from brook - enclosed by stone wall - many large Pine trees - copied Oct 18, 197?
(can't make out what last digit was supposed to be - looks like either "2" or "3" - RT 2001)
by Dot Smith and Vera Winne

Laurel Cemetery
Overviews

The black and white photos date from the 1950s.  Some of the color ones in this section were taken in the 1990s.  My mother and I recently revisited the cemetery (May 2002) and my mother was able to get better photos of most of the stones.

Laurel Cemetery entrance October 1990  The beginning of the overgrown road leading to Laurel Cemetery.  It is the trail leading into the woods just to the right of the truck.  This can be very easy to miss.  The dirt road on the left is not a main road - mapquest.com shows it as Laurel Lane or Laurel Rd. - it's a driveway leading to a couple of houses back in the woods.

brook crossing the old road October 1990  old road crossing creek May 2002  This is the brook mentioned in the rather sparse directions above.  "Up the side of the mountain" is not as far or as hard as it may sound from the directions.  The gate in the old stone wall is barely visible just above the arrow in the newer photo on the right (one of the few I was able to take in the area of this cemetery).

cemetery gate in the 1950s  This is the gate in the stone wall as it looked in the 1950s.  The cemetery was apparently still kept fairly clear at that time.

Laurel Cemetery overview October 1990  Laurel Cemetery overview october 1990  Laurel Cemetery overview left side May 2002  Laurel Cemetery overview right side May 2002  The area around the cemetery has grown up in evergreen trees.  The density of the trees and the thick carpet of needles they shed block the light and keep other vegetation from taking over the cemetery.  There are also some neighbors living nearby who keep the cemetery clear of debris, fallen tree limbs, etc.  The two snapshots on the left were taken in October 1990 - I lightened all four of these considerably with the computer to get anything to show up.  The two photos on the right were taken by my mother in May 2002.

Laurel Cemetery
Grave Stones

Most of these entries are from the cemetery survey in the 1970s.  I have used the photos of the stones to correct a couple of mistakes in the dates and spellings.

  1. Peter Baringer stone  Peter Baringer stone May 2002  BARINGER, Peter, died May 9, 1860, age 78 yrs, ? mos, 25 dys
    (a list of re-interments from cemeteries on Ashokan Reservoir property shows that Peter and his wife Catherine were moved to Laurel Cemetery from Bloom and Brodhead Cemeteries - RT 2001, possibly most of the people in this cemetery were moved here from other locations when the reservoir went in - RT 2002)

  2. Catharine Hauver Baringer stone  Catharine Baringer stone May 2002  BARINGER, Catherine (wife of Peter) - d May 30 18?? age 69 yrs, 6 mos, 4 dys
    (photo of stone appears to show 1857, my notes show her maiden name was HAUVER - RT 2001)

  3. Alonzo BURGER grave stone  BURGER, Alonzo C., 1892 - 1916


  4. gravestone of Edward and Anna AVERY  AVERY stone, Edward and Anna

    1. AVERY, Edward, no dates
    2. AVERY, Anna, no dates


  5. USA Veteran's Flag  Jacob AVERY grave stone  AVERY, Jacob, 1845 - 1914, Flag and GAR Emblem (Grand Army Republic)

  6. USA Veteran's Flag  grave stone of Joseph and Margret BELL  Joseph BELL gravestone  BELL, Joseph, died Sept 10, 1877, aged 91 yrs, 11 mos (probably an 1812 veteran as, going by his death date and age, he would have been too old (76) to have been in the Civil War - RT 2002).  Joseph and his wife Margret had a granddaughter who married into the Barringer family.

  7. Margret BELL gravestone  BELL, Margret, his wife, died July 5, 1877


  8. BARRINGER monument.  This stone has names on three sides.  The fourth side is blank.

    gravestone for Michael BARRINGER, wife Sarah BULEY, infant daughter Lizzie  Side 1

    1. BARRINGER, Michael, 1820 - 1907 (son of Peter and Catherine per my notes).
    2. BULEY, Sarah, his wife, 1845 - 1935 (see above stone for Michael BARRINGER - RT 2002)
    3. BARRINGER, Lizzie 1872 - 1872 (appears to be infant daughter of Michael BARRINGER and his wife Sarah BULEY from placement on same stone - RT 2002)

    gravestone of Frank BARRINGER and his wife Helen HANSON  Side 2

    1. BARRINGER, Frank A., 1877 - ? (no death date)  (my information shows that Frank was the son of Michael and Sarah - RT 2002)
    2. HANSEN, Helen, wife of Frank Barringer 1877 - ? (no death date)

    gravestone of Willie BARRINGER and his wife Julia SIMMONS  Side 3

    1. BARRINGER, Willie L., 1863 - ? (no death date - son of Michael, brother of Frank - RT 2002)
    2. SIMMONS, Julia A., his wife, 1861 - ? (no death date)


  9. CURR monument.  (Family say it is misspelled - should be KERR)    (a list of re-interments from cemeteries on Ashokan Reservoir property shows that Richard and his wife Lucinda were moved to Laurel Cemetery from Ennist Cemetery - RT 2001)

    1. Richard KERR stone May 2002  CURR, Richard died Sept. 25, 1890, aged 69 yrs

    2. Kerr stone, Lucinda Shufelt side in the 1950s  Lucinda SHUFELT side of Kerr stone  SHUFELT, Lucinda, his wife, (died) May 3 1904, age 81 yrs


    I wonder if the following four stones in Grandma's survey might not be footstones for other graves on the list.

  10. small unreadable stone

  11. small unreadable stone

  12. small unreadable stone

  13. FATHER


  14. FREER monument

    1. Alonzo FREER grave marker  FREER, Alonzo, Dec. 25 1854, no death date.  (I tried to increase the contrast on this stone in an attempt to make it easier to see the inscription - RT 2002)
    2. BELL, Sarah E., his wife, Jan. 15, 1859, June 24, 1900


  15. HASBROUCK monument.  Relationship between Michael and Maria not stated (possibly mother and son?)

    1. Hasbrouck grave stone  HASBROUCK, Michael, 1869 - 1909
    2. HASBROUCK, Maria 1830 - 1902


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