History of First Ward Cemetery. Syracuse "Journal" Saturday, September 10, 1938. Head Stones in Old Cemetery Tipped Over After Boy's Death, City Would Develop It as Park Four-year-old Francis M. Thomas, son of Mr. and Mrs. Terry L. Thomas of 827 Lemoyne ave., was killed last Friday when a monument fell upon him in old First Ward cemetery, and his funeral was held Sunday. During the night of the day following his funeral, persons went into the cemetery and toppled nearly all of the remaining stones that could be tipped over, supposedly to prevent other boys being hurt or killed. No one knows who did it except those who toppled the stones, so far as can be found out, but little effort is being made to determine who the persons were. It has been put down as the work of boys, but there is a suspicion it was not boys' work. The cemetery is bounded by Grant blvd., Lemoyne ave., Bear st. and Second North st. It was the burying ground of the early settlers of the village of Salina of all religious denominations, and in it are the graves of soldiers of the revolution. WORK DISCONTINUED In 1925 work of removing the stones was begun, but there was such a protest from descendants of the Salina pioneers that the stones were replaced. Without a fence around it, the cemetery became a playground for boys of the neighborhood, and stones kept toppling, while now and then a boy was hurt. Sentiment seems to have become settled after the death of the Thomas boy there last Friday, and it would appear that persons went into the cemetery Monday night, systematically tipping over all stones that might have endangered other boys. On Tuesday morning between 30 and 40 stones were scattered on the grass. Then William A. Barry, commissioner of parks and as such caretaker of the old cemetery, put men at work restoring order, but not replacing stones. Tops of remaining monuments which might have toppled were taken down and placed on the graves at the bases of the monuments. Those which had been topped over Monday night were placed on graves in the same way. The work still is going on. BURY THE STONES "What we would like to do," said Commissioner Barry yesterday, "is to bury all stones in the graves and then beautify the whole cemetery, at the same time landscaping it to prevent games being played in it. This could be done by planting trees and shrubs, making flower beds and placing walks thru it." It may depend upon the sentiment of those whose ancestors are buried there. The 1925 plan called for placing all stones in a group in the center of the cemetery, covering them with earth to create a mound and have flowers on that, at the same time placing a monument there with a bronze tablet giving the names of all persons known to be buried there. A fairly complete record made by Rev. Dr. William M. Beauchamp, is in the public library. Thursday Sept. 15, 1938

Thanks for this! This must the be cemetery I had mentioned!!! I never knew the name of it! Thanks for the story and sharing it. Dianne ----- Original Message ----- From: <cartwheel1@juno.com> To: <gen-nys@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 5:09 PM Subject: Re: [GEN-NYS] cemeteries removed or made over > History of First Ward Cemetery. > Syracuse "Journal" Saturday, September 10, 1938. > > Head Stones in Old Cemetery > Tipped Over After Boy's Death, > City Would Develop It as Park > Four-year-old Francis M. Thomas, son of Mr. and Mrs. Terry L. Thomas of > 827 Lemoyne > ave., was killed last Friday when a monument fell upon him in old First > Ward cemetery, and his > funeral was held Sunday. During the night of the day following his > funeral, persons went into the > cemetery and toppled nearly all of the remaining stones that could be > tipped over, supposedly to > prevent other boys being hurt or killed. > No one knows who did it except those who toppled the stones, so far as > can be found out, but > little effort is being made to determine who the persons were. It has > been put down as the work > of boys, but there is a suspicion it was not boys' work. > The cemetery is bounded by Grant blvd., Lemoyne ave., Bear st. and Second > North st. It was > the burying ground of the early settlers of the village of Salina of all > religious denominations, and > in it are the graves of soldiers of the revolution. > WORK DISCONTINUED > In 1925 work of removing the stones was begun, but there was such a > protest from > descendants of the Salina pioneers that the stones were replaced. Without > a fence around it, the > cemetery became a playground for boys of the neighborhood, and stones > kept toppling, while > now and then a boy was hurt. > Sentiment seems to have become settled after the death of the Thomas boy > there last Friday, > and it would appear that persons went into the cemetery Monday night, > systematically tipping > over all stones that might have endangered other boys. On Tuesday morning > between 30 and 40 > stones were scattered on the grass. > Then William A. Barry, commissioner of parks and as such caretaker of the > old cemetery, put > men at work restoring order, but not replacing stones. > Tops of remaining monuments which might have toppled were taken down and > placed on the > graves at the bases of the monuments. Those which had been topped over > Monday night were > placed on graves in the same way. The work still is going on. > BURY THE STONES > "What we would like to do," said Commissioner Barry yesterday, "is to > bury all stones in the > graves and then beautify the whole cemetery, at the same time landscaping > it to prevent games > being played in it. This could be done by planting trees and shrubs, > making flower beds and > placing walks thru it." > It may depend upon the sentiment of those whose ancestors are buried > there. The 1925 plan > called for placing all stones in a group in the center of the cemetery, > covering them with earth to > create a mound and have flowers on that, at the same time placing a > monument there with a > bronze tablet giving the names of all persons known to be buried there. A > fairly complete record > made by Rev. Dr. William M. Beauchamp, is in the public library. > Thursday Sept. 15, 1938 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GEN-NYS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message