Email: mooerscemetery@mooersny.com
Show me your Cemeteries and I will tell you what kind of people you have.
- Benjamin Franklin
Upcoming Events for Cemeteries;
The Misfit Paranormal Crew is coming to the Historical Cemetery (Old Riverside) on September 27, 2024. They will be investigating evidence of spirit activity. This is for "The World's Largest Ghost Hunt" gathers teams from around the world to investigate any Historical place to find evidence of spirits. They do this to help historical places with fundraising and bring awareness to their value. The fundraising aspect is a great way to help with the restoration of these Historical places. The Misfits have been investigating as a group for 14 years. This will be their third World largest ghost hunt. They are a local group and want to help preserve local history. This hunt will not be open to the public but will be available to watch on YouTube. For more information join "Misfits Paranormal Crew" on Facebook where you will be able to see the big reveal, ways to watch the video of the hunt, Q and A session, "Kats Krafts" gear for Mooers Riverside Cemetery for fundraising, and updates on how you can help our Cemetery.
Clinton County Historical Association is sponsoring a Cemetery Tour October 12, 2024, from 10 AM until approximately noon at Old Riverside Cemetery. Anyone is welcome to join.
Union Cemetery on Route 11 in Mooers Forks near Big Hill Road
This cemetery is about 3.5 acres in size with a capacity for 11 more acres to develop that was donated by William T. Soden around 1969. There are two entrances to the cemetery from Rt. 11, one side bordered by a cedar hedge the other bordered by Big Hill Road. A large sign stands in the front of the cemetery with a tribute to the late Frank Goodrich Jr. for his dedication in caring for and operating this cemetery for many years. There are approximately 1400 burials in this cemetery with minimal burials since 2015 when the Town took it over. The first pioneers of Mooers Forks are buried here. Many names and supporters of Mooers Camp can be found in this cemetery as well. Once the location of the Red Brick School House where burials took place before the cemetery was founded.
The First Burial was William Farr in 1831. This cemetery has been referred to as the sister cemetery to the Old Riverside as it has the Mooers Forks pioneers interred here. There are 56 Civil War, 3 Mexican War, 3 War of 1812, 15 WWI, 28 WWII, and 2 Vietnam Veterans buried here.
To use a plot for burial, a Deed for that plot needs to be presented to the Town Clerk or a letter with a phone number from the owner must be presented to the clerk giving permission by the owner to use the plot. We have asked in the past that if you do have a deed for burial, please bring it to the Town Clerk to be copied. One plot is 5' x 10' allowing two cremation burials.
The Mooers Old Riverside Cemetery takes up 3.3 acres of land north of Route 11, on the east of Mills Street with the Great Chazy River running along the back. There are groves of deciduous trees throughout the cemetery. Maple trees border the west and back of the cemetery.
This cemetery was established in 1804 with the last burial in 2000. Sales for plots and lots ceased around 1940 when the entirety of the land became exhausted of burial spaces. Many early pioneers are interred here and collectively played an important role in the development of our town in Mooers. These pioneers came from New England, specifically Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Gravestones within the cemetery give us bits of the history of these early settlers. Individuals such as Ichabod T. Bosworth whose stone reads “He was one of the first white men that winter’d this Town”. Or John Shedden whose stone reads “a native from Scotland”. The people at rest here were part of the foundation of this town. The first burial was Mary Bosworth 1788-1802 and the wife of Joshua Bosworth who was the first pioneer of Mooers.
The entrance to the cemetery has been updated with a new gate designed and built by Jeffrey Laduc, a local steel craftsman. Jeff constructed in the fashion of the gate’s original aesthetic and reused remnants of the old gate; artistically adding the cemetery name along the curvy top of the 10 ft gate. This entry allowed access for horse and buggy in the past, the old roads are now grassy pathways for walking.
This cemetery was also historically selected for its funerary art, which exhibits the first years of the nineteenth century to the twentieth century. The cemetery was admitted onto the National Register for the area of Settlement/Exploration and Funerary Art. The stones found in the Riverside Cemetery reflect the periods and customs in contemporary funerary art; spanning from crude style to tablet type, mostly made from marble. Some stones within the cemetery were crafted from Chazy limestone with durability for carving, which led this stone to be referred to as Champlain Marble.
In 2022 the open square of land in front of this cemetery was selected for a Veterans Park by the Mooers Beautification Committee and work began in May of 2023. The Beautification group met and exchanged many ideas and created fundraising goals to bring this park to reality. Collectively we created a long-term fundraising program and received community donations throughout the process of building this park. A large fundraiser consisting of a Michigan dinner, basket raffle, and Bike Rally took place on June 15, 2024, and gave us the final funds for the completed Veteran’s Park with a dedication celebration on July 27, 2024.
There are 7 Revolutionary, 31 Civil War, 1 Spanish American, 2 WWI, and 1 WWII veterans buried here, the Veterans Park pairs perfectly with this location across the front of this Historical cemetery.
We have made this Cemetery the focus of restoration as the cemetery has gone through neglect in the 1920s and then again from the late 1990s to 2021.
Mooers New Riverside on LaValley Rd. and Park Lane has 4 acres of land with 2 of those acres filled with burials. This cemetery is a continuation of Old Riverside once Old Riverside stopped selling plots and lots. The same rule applies to this cemetery as the Union Cemetery; you must present a deed or written permission from the Deed owner to have a burial in an already purchased family lot. A plot is 5' x 10' and cost $500. Two cremations can be buried in one plot.
There are approximately 950 burials here with enough land for 950 more. After 2 years of designing a map of burials in this cemetery and designing the remaining open lots and plots, the map is complete and sales for plots for burials can be made.
The first burial in New Riverside was Eliza Farr in 1848. Many community members buried here helped build and maintain our churches, schools, and fire dept. This cemetery had an increase in burials about 1940 when the old riverside cemetery no longer had sales for plots. There are 9 Civil War, 11 WWI, 15 WWII, 4 Korean, and one Vietnam Veteran.
This cemetery along with Old Riverside was donated by Minnie H. Knapp, Edith and Charles White, and Charles E. Sample, collectively.
Walker Cemetery on Blackman Road just before the Eddy Rd. This cemetery is about 1 acre in size, square in shape, and surrounded by Antique fencing with a fence gate, The first burial was noted in 1821 and the name is Fanny Walker 1802-1821. Of the 239 graves, there are 31 graves with the given name Walker and their spouses. Although, the cemetery is on Blackman Rd. Only 6 Blackmans and spouses lay to rest here. There are 9 Civil War veterans laid to rest here.
Cemeteries under the care of the Town since 2015 are: