PICKETT CEMETERY
PICKETT CEMETERY
History
CHARLOTTE, NY (Sinclairville-Cassadaga Road)
THE PICKETT BURYING GROUND
The Pickett Burying Ground was the first to be dedicated as
a resting-place for the dead in the town of Charlotte. In the year 1812, about
one-fourth of an acre, on Lot 60, was set apart
from the farm of John Pickett for that purpose. It is situated at the southeast
corner of the four corners in School District No. 1, and opposite the school
house, in the "Pickett Neighborhood." It has now been in use
for over seventy-seven years. Samuel, the father of John Pickett, and the
ancestor of the Pickett and Cleland families of Charlotte, came to the town in 1811. He died
December 19, 1812, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and he is believed to
have been the first person buried there.*
The oldest head-stone erected in the town is here, at the grave
of Polly Anderson. She died December 23, 1813, in the forty-seventh year of her
age. The grave-stone is the work of no mean artist, though made of rough
material, quarried from the natural ledges of the county. The following lines
are inscribed upon it:
"Withdraw my friends,
Dry up your tears,
For here I lie,
Till Christ appears."
Here lies buried Clarinda Atkins, who died December 20, 1815.
She was the wife of Amos Atkins. He and Stephen Jones were the first settlers
in the town of Gerry.
Two soldiers of the Revolution are interred in this ground—John Cleland, Sr.,
who died February 16, 1827, and Caleb Clark, who died May 17, 1837. They were
the ancestors of the Cleland and Clark families of Charlotte. John Pickett and John Cleland, Jr.,
well-known pioneers of the town, are also buried here. In all, about fifty-five
persons are interred in this burial place. February 26, 1867, John Pickett,
nearly fifty-five years after he dedicated it to the public, first executed a
deed to "The community of School District Number One, in the Town of Charlotte, and all others
living in the surrounding towns wishing to use the same for burying
purposes." It is designated in this deed as the "Pickett
Burying Ground." Before the execution of the deed, at a town meeting held
March 7, 1848, Eliakim Barnum, John Pickett, and Robert P. Robertson had been
elected trustees by the inhabitants of the town, to have charge of the ground.
*So says Darius Cleland, the oldest resident of that part of
the town of Charlotte.
Source: HISTORY OF EVERGREEN CEMETERY,
SINCLAIRVILLE, CHAUT. CO., N. Y. And Other
Burial Grounds in its Vicinity, with its—LAWS, RULES, REGULATIONS, NAMES
OF LOT-OWNERS, AND MAP.
Prepared by Obed Edson, under the direction of the Trustees
of Evergreen Cemetery Association; Sinclairville, N. Y.: Press of The
Commercial; 1890.
Page 8-9
Provided by Deb Haines, ILGenWeb ASC, cc of Grundy & Will Counties