Palentown Cemetery is located in Ulster County, New York.  When I visited with my mother and my aunt in May of 2002, it was heavy overcast with intermittent misting and occasional light drizzle.  This is one reason why the recent photos below are not very well lit, although I have been at some of them with Paint Shop Pro to try to improve the contrast a bit.  Several stones also have water stains on them from the wet weather which also makes the inscriptions hard to read.

Click here for Google map.  The cemetery is not labeled on the map, but is located on the south side of Palentown road.  The unlabeled white road that comes off the south side of Palentown Road and appears to turn east into the woods toward Solveig Lane is the cemetery road.

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

•  The cemetery sign on the road that runs past the cemetery.

•    I believe that both of these photos were taken in October of 1990.  They clearly show the wonderful view of the mountains you can get in good weather.

•  A May 2002 view showing some Van Kleecks, Barringers, and a couple other names.

This is NOT a complete listing of all the stones in the cemetery, just the ones that I happen to have photographs of.  Most of the photos on this page were taken in May of 2002.

1.  BARRINGER monument.  Arthur Barringer's father was a first cousin of my great great grandfather, Freeman Swartout Barringer.  Roena (Van Kleeck) Barringer was the half-sister of my great grandfather Abram Van Kleeck.
   1. BARRINGER, Arthur, 1874 - 1950
      
   2. Van KLEECK, Roena, his wife, 1878 - 1955
      
   3. Earl, 1900 - 1906

   
   (Stones of Asa Barringer and his wife Rachel generously contributed by a correspondent)

2.  BARRINGER, Asa, 1874 - 1946

3.  BEESMER, Rachel, his wife, 1878 - 1966

   
   

4.    BARRINGER monument.  Irving Barringer was the second cousin of my great grandmother Bertha (Barringer) Van Kleeck (daughter of Freeman Swartout Barringer).
   1. Irving, 1883 - 1974
      
   2. Sylvia, his wife, 1894 - (death date obscured by flowers, but I have 1986 from other sources)
      
   3. Ralph, 1919 - 1922
      
   4. Earl, 1924 - 1934

   
    Irving and Sylvia's son Frank and his family are on the other side of the same stone.
   1. Frank G., 1926 - 1987
      
   2. his wife (she may still be living as there is no death date, so I blurred her name)
      
   3. Jean B., 1949 - 1956
      
   4. Susan A., 1952 - 1952

   
   
5.  BARRINGER stone.  Lorin was the son of Otis Barringer and his wife Wilma Beesmer (below).
   1.  Lorin O., 1923 - 1989
      
   2. Lola F., his wife, 1926 - 1975

   
   
6.  BARRINGER monument.  Otis Barringer was the brother of Irving Barringer (above) and the son of Zadock Barringer (on the other side of the same stone).
   1. Otis, 1892 - 1960
      
   2. Wilma, his wife, 1900 - 1986

   
   
7.  Otis' parents Zadock and Samantha are buried on the other side of this stone.  The grave marker of Zadock's son Arthur Barringer and his wife Roena Van Kleeck is visible in the background.  Zadock was the nephew of my great great great grandfather, Frederick William Barringer.
   1. Zadock, 1849 - 1933
      
   2. Samantha, his wife, 1855 - 1919

   
   
8. BARRINGER obelisk.  Peter H. Barringer was the brother of Zadock Barringer (above) and William E. Barringer (below).  Eroded carving near the top of side one appears to be an image of some kind of building with a verse below.  The only words I can make out are "... father's house ...".  UPDATE:  I found a very similar carving in better condition on a web page for Hill Cemetery in Bell County, Texas.  It has a stylized image of a fancy building with many towers and the Bible verse "In my father's house are many mansions".

        Side 1

   1. BARRINGER, Peter H., 1841 - 1899.
      
   2. BEESMER, Rachel E., "His wife", 1847 - 1895.
      
   3. BARRINGER, Noah, 1866 - (no death date).
      
   4. PALEN, Kate, "His wife", 1865 - (no death date).

    Side 2
   1. BARRINGER, Herman, 1874 - (no death date).
      
   2. MILLER, Martha, "His wife", 1872 - (no death date).

      "Their children"

   3. Ur, 1894 -(no death date).
      
   4. Ruth, 1896 - (no death date).
      
   5. Luie, 1900 - (no death date).

   
   
9.  BARRINGER monument.  This stone is not easy to read.  Mom put some chalk on part of it, which helped make the lettering stand out better.  William E. Barringer was the brother of Zadock Barringer (see above).
   1. BARRINGER, William E., 1843 - 1912
      
   2. VAN LEUVAN, Amanda, his wife, 1849 - 1890
      
   3. BARRINGER, William, 1871 - (no death date on stone)
      
   4. KEATOR, Minnie, his wife, 187? - 1958 (birth date difficult to make out in this photo - could easily be either 1876 or 1879)
      
   5. Bessie, 1901 - (no death date on stone)
      
   6. Lorin, 1905 - 1905

   
   
10.      BEESMER family monument (generously provided by a correspondent).
    1. BEESMER, Joseph A., 1845 - 1900
    2. BARRINGER, Rebecca J., his wife, 1844 - 1876
    3.  WHIPPLE, Lorilda, his wife, 1853 - 1878.  (photo generously provided by a correspondent shows Lorilda with her first husband William Miller)
    4. WHIPPLE, Agness, his wife, 1839 - 1930.  (Agness was a sister of wife #2 Lorilda)

       "Their Children"
       

    5. Lucinda A., 1870 - 1873
    6. Biliche, 1874 - 1890
    7. Otis, 1880 - 1883

       The correspondent that submitted the photos of the above monument submitted the following story:

       "We believe that Lorilda (Joseph's second wife) was brought up in the same Whipple household, but may not have been an actual sister of Agness.  The story goes that Lorilda might have been an Indian child (or at least a child in the possession of an Indian family).  Apparently she was left with the Whipples as an infant, when the Indian family went on a hunting trip and never returned.  The families must have been good friends or maybe even related.  We are still trying to get info on the Whipple family that raised Agness and Lorilda.  So far, no luck."

    
     Alfred Collins and his second wife Mary Markle were the parents of Sylvia Collins, who married Irving Barringer (see above).  The gravestone photos on the left were submitted by a descendant of Alfred Collins and his first wife, Mary Jane Shufeldt.  The date these photos were taken is unknown.  The gravestone photos on the right were taken by me in May of 2002.

11.    COLLINS, Alfred, died Sept. 9, 1905, aged 72 yrs, 10 mos.

12.    MARKLE, Mary, wife of Alfred COLLINS, 1851 - 1919.

    A correspondent writes:

    "In the Palentown Cementery next to Mary Markle's head stone is an almost unreadable headstone for Martin Markle who I believe is her father.  Hannah C. Barringer is then buried in another plot with his headstone also next to it and I believe she is Mary Markle's mother.  The stones are so old you can hardly make them out."

    
    

13.  DAVIS monument.  This is enlarged from the background of another photo and the names are only partially legible here.  The husband's first name appears to start with "C" or "G" and the wife's first name is readable as "Zenia".  There appear to be flowers left on the other side of the stone - possibly more family members listed there.  I have no information on this family.

14.    DYMOND monument.  This is enlarged from the dark background of the photo of Ralph VAN KLEECK's marker (see below) and I am amazed anything is visible on it, much less readable.  Alice Barringer is probably a relative, but I have no further information on her.
    1. DYMOND, Frank F., 1876 - 1962
       
    2. BARRINGER, Alice, his wife, 1881 - 1926

    
    
15.  EVERY stone.  There are several AVERY / EVERY individuals on my family tree, but I don't know where William fits in if he is a relative.
    1. EVERY, William, 1829 - 1903.
       
    2. VANDERMARK, Lucinda, his wife, 1836 - 1915

    
    
16.  KROM monument.  This is enlarged from another photo.  I have no further information on these people.
    1. Chester, 1869 - 1911
       
    2. KEATOR, Ella, his wife, 1873 - 1948

       "sleeping sweetly sleeping"

    
    
17.  OSTERHOUDT plot.  Abraham Osterhoudt is marked both by the old marble slab and again on the newer granite monument with (I assume) his sons.  There are several Osterhouts on my mother's side of the family, but I don't know how or if these are related.
    1. OSTERHOUDT, Abraham M.,
       (older stone) died Jan. 10, 1885, aged 65 years
       (newer stone) 1820 - 1885

    2. OSTERHOUDT, Jacob M. (no dates)
       
    3. OSTERHOUDT, Unis (no dates).  I have seen this name used in old Dutch families elsewhere, but it usually starts with a "T" for Tunis or Teunis.

    
    
18.  PALEN stone.
    1. PALEN, Edgar, 1856 - 1932.
       
    2. KERR, Ellen, "His wife", 1856 - 1941.

    
     SHURTER plot.  Harry Shurter's wife, Reba Van Kleeck, was the daughter of Henry Van Kleeck (see below) and Julia Barringer (daughter of Zadock Barringer above).

19.    SHURTER, Harry.  Marble military marker reads as follows:
    HARRY
    SHURTER
    -----
    NEW YORK
    -----
    PVT. 334 FIELD ARTY.
    87 DIV.
    AUGUST 8, 1895
    JUNE 19, 1944

20.  A newer granite stone for both Harry SHURTER and his wife Reba VAN KLEECK.
    1. SHURTER, Harry, 1895 - 1944, Veteran WWI
       
    2. VAN KLEECK, Reba, his wife, 1897 - 1987

    
    
21.  VAN KLEECK, Chency, son of Willis & Hannah Van Kleeck, died March 23, 1887, aged 1 mo. & 7 d's.  I can make out that there are a couple of lines of verse on the bottom of this stone, but I can't decipher what they say.  Chency was the son of Willis and Hannah Van Kleeck and the brother of Hardy Van Kleeck (see listing immediately below this one).

22.  VAN KLEEK, Hannah and Hardy.  This is an odd stone - apparently uncarved (unless it's on the other side).  The names and dates are painted on the stone.  I saw a few plain flat fieldstone grave markers in various cemeteries while I was in New York - were they perhaps also painted at one time?

    Hannah was the wife of Willis Van Kleeck, son of Barnard/Bernard and Hannah Van Kleeck who are buried in Bushkill Cemetery.

    1. Hannah, Feb. 1?, 1930 (the stone is broken in pieces with moss coming up through the cracks, so the second digit of the day is illegible)
       
    2. Hardy, Mar. 5, 1944

    
     VAN KLEECK plot.  I blurred Mom out of the photo to protect her privacy.

23. Monument for David VAN KLEEK and family.  David, his first wife Rachel OSTERHOUT (my great great grandparents), and some of their children who died young, were originally buried elsewhere.  They had to be moved to Palentown Cemetery when the Ashokan Reservoir was constructed and flooded several communities along the Esopus Valley.
     side of the monument with Rachel and children
    1. OSTERHOUT, Rachel E., wife of David VAN KLEEK (no dates)
       
    2. Sarah C. (no dates)
       
    3. Alonzo (no dates)
       
    4. Jesse (no dates)
       
    5. Lilly May (no dates).  Lilly May was actually the young daughter of David's second wife, Adeline Van Leuvan, from before she married David.

    
    
     side of the monument with David and Adaline
    1.  VAN KLEEK, David, Co. B., 120 Reg. N.Y. (V?), Feb. 21, 1839, July 23, 1902
       
    2. VANLEUVAN, Adaline, his wife, Aug. 22, 1851, May 8, 1928.

    
    
     side of the monument with David and Adaline's son George and his wife
    1. VAN KLEECK, George, 1887 - 1978
       
    2. DUBOIS, Clara, his wife, 1888 - 1980

    
    
24.  VAN KLEECK monument.  Henry Van Kleeck was the son of David Van Kleeck above and his first wife Rachel Osterhout.  Henry's brother Abram was my great grandfather.  Henry's wife Julia Barringer, was the cousin of Abram's wife Bertha Barringer.  Henry and Julia's daughter Reba married Harry SHURTER (see above).
    1. Henry F., 1869 - 1927
       
    2. Julia A., his wife, 1876 - 1963
       
    3. David, son, 1909 - 1955

     Henry and Julia's son Ralph and his wife Gladys Wells are on the other side of the same stone.
    1. Ralph, 1909 - 1972
       
    2. Gladys, wife, 1916 - 1993

    
    
25.    VAN KLEECK, Jeremiah, 1805 - 1885.  The older snapshot on the left was probably taken in the 1970s.  Jeremiah Van Kleeck and his wife Sally were the parents of David Van Kleek above.  Jeremiah and Sally were also originally buried elsewhere and had to be moved when the Ashokan Reservoir was constructed.

26.    EVERY, Sally, wife of Jeremiah VAN KLEECK, died May 15, 1872, aged 63 yrs, 5 mos, & 14 d's.  The older snapshot on the left was probably taken in the 1970s.

    
    

27.  VAN KLEECK monument.  Jeremiah David Van Kleeck was one of the sons of David Van Kleeck and Adaline Van Leuvan above.
    1. VAN KLEECK, Jerry D., 1876 - 1956
       
    2. DECKER, Lizzie, his wife, 1880 - 1966
       
    3. Leonard David, 1912 - 1922

    
    The stones of Daniel Van Luvan and his wife below are both enlarged from the photo of the Van Kleeck family plot above.  These are the parents of Adaline (Van Leuvan) Van Kleeck who married David Van Kleeck.

28.  VAN LUVAN, Daniel, died Mar. 7, 1870, aged 45 years, 3 mos, & 5 d's

29.  ALTHISER, Phoebe, wife of Daniel E? or P? VAN LUVEN, died Dec. 13, 18?7, aged 67 yrs, 6 mos, & ? d's.  "??? angels ??? her".

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