Control of Our Palisades Cemetery Comes Home
After 65 years, ownership of the Palisades Cemetery has returned to the community. On December 12, 2014, David Englander and Michael Shapiro drove to the city, carrying a modest check, and returned with a deed to the Palisades Cemetery signed by the widow of Adolpho Luca, the last owner. The cemetery is now owned by a non-profit cemetery corporation administered by a Board of Directors: Carol Knudson, Joan Salomon, Lee Sneden, Michael Shapiro and Alice Gerard, all of whom have been associated with the efforts made in the last few years to preserve the cemetery and return its ownership to the hamlet of Palisades.
This happy resolution came about because of the work of Palisadians who cared about their cemetery. There are many abandoned cemeteries in Rockland County, and ours could easily have become one of them. Luca, who bought the cemetery as an investment in 1964, did not maintain the cemetery grounds and had stopped selling plots. Since many of the descendants of the early families, buried in the oldest part of the cemetery, had left the hamlet, their graves were for a long time neglected and overgrown. During the 1950s Archer and Helene Stansbury, who were related to many of the old families, came to the rescue and for many years gave the old graves tender loving care.
Lee Sneden, who grew up in Palisades and has been actively involved with the cemetery for many years, wrote about the Stansburys’ work: “I believe that one person, Helene Stansbury, should be remembered as the Palisades native who along with her husband Archer Stansbury set the example of carrying out personal responsibilities for a cemetery that had faded into what had to be seen as abandonment. Over centuries the Palisades Cemetery had been owned by Palisadians and maintained voluntarily by surviving members of the families and friends of deceased Palisadians. By the mid 1950s all had changed significantly. The cemetery had moved into ownership by non-residents and old friends and surviving family members had joined the post WW II exodus to retirements in the southern and southwestern states. The cemetery was in serious disrepair.
“Helene and Archer stepped in to do cleanup work and enlist other local people to join in. When Archer died in 1978 Helene took over leadership on her own. By 1982 she led a small but determined group into an ad hoc organization named Palisades Lot Owners Tribute (P.L.O.T.). Failing health caused Helene to retire in 1992 and leadership was handed to Lee Sneden. Money contributions from many of the 80 people on the mailing list sustained the hired labor to remove invasive tree growth, mow grass, etc., but over the years attrition reduced the amounts of contributions and the number of contributors. Several years ago financial contributions were down to only 17 persons. Although a seed had been planted by Helene, the future of the cemetery was very much in doubt.”
Palisades residents Laura Ebmeyer, Jennifer Shapiro and Bill Knudson were active members of P.L.O.T. Bill took over much of the responsibility for maintaining the cemetery, working closely with Lee Sneden. After Bill’s death his daughter Carol Knudson carried on his work, becoming treasurer for P.L.O.T. Because of the funds collected by P.L.O.T. over the years, the present group of directors had help in raising the money to purchase the cemetery.
Members of the Palisades Historical Committee were also involved in preserving the cemetery. In 1982 the disintegrating sandstone tombstone of Molly Sneden, who died in 1810, was replaced with a new granite tombstone. In 1998 the Historic Committee and P.L.O.T. cooperated to restore the sandstone tombstone of Jonathan Lawrence Jr., our Revolutionary War hero.
If you are interested in more information about the cemetery’s past, an article in the October 2012 issue of 10964 gives a detailed history of the cemetery and its ownership. You can find the story online at www.palisadesny.com That article was the beginning of a campaign to bring the cemetery home, at first involving Lee Sneden and Alice Gerard, and soon including attorney David Englander. David’s tact, patience and legal skills were invaluable in persuading Luca’s daughter Robin Wilson to sell the cemetery to our newly formed corporation. Throughout, we had the help of the New York State Cemetery Board, which oversees cemeteries in New York State. There is work to be done before we will be able to sell plots in the cemetery. Among other things, we have to identify the grave plots sold in the past and fulfill various legal requirements, while continuing the caring maintenance of the cemetery. We hope to have more information by the May issue of 10964, and at that time will also give details of a planned cemetery tour. We are grateful to all who worked together over the years for the survival of our Palisades Cemetery.