For many, many decades, grounds in the Town of Lloyd thought to be very possibly a burial site for an unknown number of slaves received almost no attention, save for the placement of a now-missing marker at one time, mentions by local historians, and the listing on the town’s records of cemeteries. In essence, the grounds were forgotten, lying on a forested bluff high above the Hudson River.
This final resting place for a group of enslaved individuals is no longer forgotten and will be preserved, following significant efforts over the past two years by a group of local officials, professionals, students, and others.
A crucial point occurred in spring 2021, when Joseph Diamond, Associate Professor of Anthropology at SUNY New Paltz, used ground penetrating radar (GPR) to locate the slave burial ground on this bluff above the area once known as New Paltz Landing. In autumn 2021, Diamond took a group of his students and worked with Town of Lloyd Historian Joan Kelley and Lloyd Police Chief James Janso to conduct what Diamond called a “SWAT team dig” to excavate the site, determine the burial ground’s probable borders, and unearth objects uncovered there.
The Town of Lloyd owns the cemetery, which lies in the middle of private property. Now that the location has been confirmed, its care and tending of the site have begun. In June of last year, at the town’s request, the Rev. Frank Kumi, associate pastor of St. Augustine’s Church in Highland, consecrated the site as a sacred burial ground.
None of this would have happened in the past two-plus years were it not for the initiative and dedication of Police Chief Janso; Town Historian Kelley’s follow-through, commitment, and thorough research; and Professor Diamond’s expertise. After Kelley became town historian in early 2020, Janso came to her and asked her if she could find out more about the burial ground. According to Janso, who grew up in Highland and has always been keenly interested in history, he was especially motivated after participating in the Wreaths Across America program at the New Paltz Rural Cemetery. He examined a list of the Town of Lloyd’s cemeteries, came across a reference to a burial site of slaves, and wondered about this “part of our forgotten history.” As he recalls with a smile, “I put my bulldog detective on it,” referring to his request to Kelley.
Kelley followed through with research of town records, including a vertical file with old clippings on the burial grounds, and other documents and accounts, seeking anything she could find on a burial site of enslaved individuals in that area of Highland as well as the context of the area’s development.
As part of this undertaking, Kelley has delved into any possible connections to Anthony Yelverton, who launched commercial interests in what was known as New Paltz Landing, later Highland Landing. Yelverton, Long Island-raised, apparently was a skilled carpenter in his early days, according to Kelley. He moved to Poughkeepsie in the mid-18th century and established a grist mill on the eastern side of the Hudson River. He saw opportunities on both sides of the Hudson River, which, in effect, served as a main thoroughfare. About 1754, Yelverton constructed a wooden house on the western side of the Hudson, using it as a private residence, inn, and store to serve the settlers drawn to the landing. Yelverton’s house still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Yelverton also set up a grist mill, brickyard, and sawmill on this western side of the Hudson River.
The landing was well-located to transport products and goods from inland along the Hudson River. From the landing, butter, cheese, grains, furs, bricks, and other goods could be shipped to New York City and elsewhere. Yelverton established a ferry service from the landing to the eastern side of the river. Written accounts show that Yelverton enslaved a number of people. Local history stories over the years have said that men enslaved by Yelverton sculled the ferry.
Yet the exact circumstances of the burial of slaves atop one of the bluffs near the landing are not conclusive. How did they die, when, and where? Kelley continues to pursue research that could shed light on these questions.
It wasn’t that this cemetery was unknown, but its visibility — to history and to the community — was sporadic at best over the decades of the 20th century into the 21st century. In her research, Kelley says, she found that the first mention of the burial ground having the graves of enslaved people comes from Warren Sherwood, a man who wrote a history of the Town of Lloyd in the late 1930s. He referred to a burial ground on top of the hill, the “Abram Elting cemetery containing graves of slaves.”
In fact, the burial site at one time had a marker, as Kelley discovered. The Mid-Hudson Post published an article on June 22, 1977, with the headline, “Slave Graves Have Markers.” The article reported that the Town of Lloyd had put a sign on this parcel atop the bluff as part of a campaign to clean and mark old cemeteries. Donated by the Jaycees, the sign had in large letters, “Abram Elting Cemetery,” with smaller letters centered underneath, “Slave Graves Also.” The market apparently no longer exists. The article describes the location where two stonewalls meet on the plateau.
Having these pieces of a puzzle and tentatively plotting out the burial ground’s possible location, Kelley and Janso reached out to Diamond at SUNY New Paltz. Diamond’s focus and teaching include Northeastern archaeology, North American archaeology, physical anthropology, and historical archaeology in a career that has spanned several decades. His archaeological reconnaissance in the City of Kingston in 1990 resulted in the discovery of an 18th to 19th century burial ground for African and African American individuals within the city. (The Pine Street Burial Ground in Kingston is now held by the coalition Harambee, and the Kingston Land Trust protects this sacred ground in perpetuity.)
In Janso’s words, he wanted “the best of the best” in enlisting Diamond for the project. “It’s a community project, and our budget is zero. He (Diamond) was gracious enough to come out,” Janso says. In spring 2021, Diamond and John A. Rayburn, a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at SUNY New Paltz, used ground penetrating radar at the site. They found soil disturbances and stains likely due to burials.
Next, Diamond set a return date for the autumn and organized what he called a “SWAT-team dig” to go to the site on October 23, 2021. The team was comprised of Diamond’s students as well as a SUNY New Paltz graduate now in graduate school who returned specifically to participate, Kelley, and Janso. The group dug two long troughs, approximately eight to ten inches deep. Based on their findings, they marked off the burial site’s boundary lines. They also delicately unearthed artifacts such as a spike as they examined the soil. They may have found the tops of grave shafts, but roots presented a real problem, according to Diamond. A huge double tree at the site hindered the group’s ability to go deeper, as its roots were all through the ground. Trees “like disturbed ground” to anchor and spread, as Diamond pointed out.
Following the work, the SUNY students compiled and completed a full report about the site that Diamond has submitted to New York State’s Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS).
The dig provided an excellent in-the-field experience for students whose ability to do so together had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Broderick Reilly, who took part in the excavation, called it a great experience. “For the first time, you are touching something that hasn’t been touched in hundreds of years,” Reilly says, adding, “This has been there so long and not been touched. You’re turning something forgotten into something that’s remembered.”
Reilly was moved by the site’s natural beauty, on a plateau with a view of the river in the distance. This vista felt as one with the peacefulness of a burial site. On the day of the dig, as Diamond confirmed the findings of the burial site and explained them, Reilly says he was moved: “It takes your breath away a little. It’s exciting to find and yet it’s someone’s resting place.” For the students, he says, confirming the burial place for enslaved individuals “brings a sense of restorative justice. It’s a resting place, and it deserves a peace to it.” The experience has helped shape the SUNY New Paltz graduate’s career path: Reilly currently works at Tracker Archaeology Inc. in Monroe and plans to study historical archaeology in graduate school.
The town has been proceeding with the site’s preservation, putting a natural-looking wooden fence around it that fits in with the forested land. This will be complemented by a gate and a sign to mark the cemetery. Once the warmer weather arrives, the town intends to offer limited access by appointment through the Town Historian’s office, according to Kelley, who would like to present its history to visitors on those occasions. She plans to post further information on the Town of Lloyd website when the time comes.
A walk with Kelley and Janso through the wooded area to this burial ground reveals how they feel the import of acting as stewards of this cemetery. Janso recalls how he “was emotional” on the day that the team excavated the burial ground. As Kelley says, the feeling of this place as sacred ground just comes up. It’s in the quiet, surrounded by trees that have been here a long, long time. Nothing could make up for the evil and deprivation of freedom these enslaved residents endured. This is one tangible step to make the enslaved people who lived and died here at New Paltz Landing – finally — remembered and visible as part of the community.
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