History of Milford Center Cemetery

In the Beginning          The first known mention of the Milford Center Cemetery is found in the Early History of the Town of Milford and other parts of Otsego Co. From 1773 to 1903 by Ezra Stevens.1 Mr. Stevens writes;  Milford Centre Cemetery “This plot of land was donated to the public by the first settler at Milford Centre, Thomas Mumford, in 1753 for a public burying-ground & a road two rods wide which no one has any legal right to interfere with or molest. In addition to the above a certain piece was reserved for the Mumford family but the remainder to the public.”      It is obvious that the date 1753 is a typo.  Thomas Mumford did not arrive in Milford Center until January of 1784 after having purchased 400 acres in 1783.  So the exact year of when the cemetery was first designated as “burying grounds” is not known for sure. Thomas Mumford, his wife Elizabeth, along with many family members are interred in the Milford Center Cemetery.         Thomas Mumford              It was on March 12, 1866 that a meeting was held at the “Baptist Church in Milford Center” for the purpose of organizing a Cemetery Association.  It was voted that the name of the association be the Milford Center Cemetery Association, with E. William Clark chosen as the first president, and William H. Seeger as the first Secretary.  This was made legal a few days later by justice of the peace William H. Branch on March 26, 1866.          The Milford Center Cemetery Association is legally  established March, 26 1866         The earliest burial that we have on record  is Julia Ann Mumford who died on March 29, 1812 at the age of 3 years 14 days.  She was the daughter of George and Ruth Mumford, the granddaughter of Thomas and Elizabeth.  Tragically the second earliest burial on record is Jeremiah Mumford, also a child to George and Ruth Mumford.  He died Dec. 12,1815 at the age of 16 years, 6 months and 16  days.  Just a note of interest. George and Ruth were the first couple to be married in Milford.  Ruth is interred in Milford Center Cemetery, having died March 20, 1829.  George died Feb., 7, 1837 in Ohio. He is buried in the Mumford Cemetery in Geauga County,  Ohio.   -  SDF               Julia Ann Mumford                         Jeremiah Mumford              1.  Interestingly Ezra Stevens is said to have been buried in the Milford Center Cemetery but the Cemetery has no record of him being interred here.  He died at age 92 spending his last years at the Otsego County farm, which was also called the “almshouse” or the poor house.  The following is from The Freeman's Journal (Cooperstown, NY), Mar. 22, 1911, Page 7; "Ezra Stevens, one of the oldest residents of the town of Milford, who died in Middlefield on Wednesday, was buried in the Milford Center Cemetery on Saturday."  Ezra’s wife, Anna Stevens (1825-1892) and sister are interred in the cemetery and their grave is marked with a stone. It is possible that Ezra Steven’s final resting place is in the Milford Center Cemetery, and because he was destitute there is no stone to mark his grave,  but where his remains are buried is a mystery.                              This is the oldest picture that we have of Milford Center Cemetery.  By comparing headstones we have determine that this picture is circa 1911. The picture was taken of the Farrington Family plot and is facing East. The open area below the ridge in the background is what is referred to locally as the stump lot. This would have been pre dam. This photo was posted on Find a Grave by Family Hunter. Its source was Linda Wright.                 Here is the same view today.  FYI, the headstone on the ground has been repaired and is now upright.             This is the house on the corner of NY State Hwy 28 and Bob Wilson Road taken sometime in the 1920's.  At the time it was the home of Mary Edson.  You can see the cemetery in the background to the left of the house.  Picture courtesy of Rusty and Dotsey (Edson) Fay.        The Crypt     At one time the old crypt in Milford Center Cemetery would stand out very prominently as one would approach the cemetery from the west.  It sits atop of the knoll a few yards to the left of the grave of Thomas Mumford. At the time it was constructed (1887) it would look out over the field that stretched out below it.  Today, due to the growth of trees, its presence often times goes unnoticed even though it is on top of the hill to the right of the entrance to the cemetery. It is the only crypt in the cemetery.                As mentioned the crypt was erected in 1887. It holds that remains of two couples, a sister and brother and their spouses.  The passing of time has made one of the four engravings non legible.     The top left of the crypt holds the remains of Rev. Ozias Ellerson M.D. Dr. Ellerson was born October 8, 1831.  He died on Jan. 15, 1892 at the age of 60.  It is of interest that the engraving on the crypt has his death as Jan. 15, yet the New York state death index for 1892 lists him as dying on Jan. 13.  He was a pastor with the Methodist Episcopal church.  From what I could discover he pastored a church in New Jersey, as well as one in the South Hill section of Worchester, NY.  He pastored at South Hill from 1858-59.  This church closed in the early 1900s and no longer exists. It also appears that he pastored a church in New York City as well.         At the bottom left of the crypt are the remains of Catherine Boles Westcott Ellerson.  Catherine was born on Feb. 4, 1833. She died on Aug. 15, 1918 at the age of 85.  She and Ozias  had one child, Addie.  Addie died in her mid 20s.  Where she is buried is unknown, though when she was 23 she was living with her parents in New York City.  Addie was also the name of Catherine’s sister-in-law who is laid to rest next to Catherine.  Catherine was the daughter of  Otis and Sally Morris Westcott.  Otis, a very successful farmer, was a prominent and well to do citizen of Milford.  He owned a farm in Portlandville that consisted of about 274 acres. It would have been on what is now County Rt. 44.  Catherine’s mother, Sally Morris was the granddaughter of Josiah and Johanna Morris.  Josiah was the founding pastor of the Milford Center Community Bible Church, originally the First Baptist Church of Milford,  located just up the road from the cemetery.  Both Catherine and her brother Monro have the middle name of Boles.  This was their great-grandmother’s Johanna’s maiden name.  I will also point out that Catherine’s grandmother’s maiden name on her mother’s side was Ellerson.  It is not clear if this is any family relation to Ozias, though in all likelihood there was.      Laid to rest at the top right of crypt is Catherine’s younger brother Monro.  Born on July 11, 1836.  Some have given the spelling of his name as Monroe, but the spelling on the crypt is Monro.  As noted he shared a middle name Boles, with his sister.  From census records it appears that Monro grew up in Milford on his father’s farm. He would later married Adelaide “Addie” Epps.  According to Ezra Steven’s history he owned a store in Portlandville.  In the 1870 census he is listed as being a “produce dealer”.  At some point he and his wife moved to Oneonta, where in the 1875 census they are listed as borders. He is listed as a retired farmer. Which seems odd given the fact that he was only 41 years old.   Monro died in Oneonta on May 9th 1891 at the age of 54.  Rev. Dr. Ellerson would be laid to rest next to him a little over 8 months later.        At the bottom right of the crypt lay the remains of Monro’s  wife Adelaide “Addie” Epps Westcott. Addie was born in Jefferson NY in 1843, the daughter of Joseph and Mary “Polly” Epps.   She was apparently raised on a farm, as her father is listed owning his own farm in Jefferson.  Addie died on May 7, 1886, at the young age of 42-43. Seeing as the crypt was not erected until 1887, one wonders what they did with her remains between the time she died and the crypt being erected.  She would have been the first of the four to be laid to rest in the crypt at Milford Center Cemetery.  -  SDF          Rev. Ozias Ellerson M.D   Catherine Boles Westcott Ellerson   Monro Boles Westcott    Adelaide “Addie” Epps Westcott     Grave Robbers!!    In my work of making a list of all those interred in Milford Center Cemetery I have come across some interesting, and strange bits of information.  One of the stories I came across was the fact that there was once a grave robbery committed in the cemetery. Of course in modern times it would be rather difficult to rob a grave as we now place the caskets in burial vaults. Vaults began to be used widely in the 1920s-30s. Steel was abundant and steel vaults became the norm. Concrete became the norm later on as steel was needed for the war effort in WWII.  In order to get to a casket an individual would have to remove the lid to the vault.  The vault weighs over 2000 pounds.  I would say that just the lid itself is well over 250 pounds.  Without machinery it would be extremely difficult to get the lid off the vault to get to the casket.  But back to our story.        It occurred back in 1884.  According to an 1855 census David Sitterly and his wife, Elizabeth lived on a farm in Milford with their five children, Julia, William, John, Isaac, and Georgian. At the age of 62, David, while living with his son, died.  (I assume it was John, he is the only son buried in Milford Center. David and Elizabeth’s daughter Julia Sitterly Brewer is also buried in the family plot). As the article below notes, David died on Friday December 19, 1884.  (The article states that he died on Saturday. However according to the NYS death index he died on the 19th which in 1884 fell on a Friday.  I believe that David may have died either very late Friday night or very early Saturday morning.  This of course has no bearing on the story).  David is then buried the following Monday in the Milford Center Cemetery. It appears that at some point in the evening of Monday the 29th or the early morning of  Tuesday the 30th ghouls dig up his body. We read that  the next day, Tuesday the 30th, a body of an “aged man” is found by some boys, face up in a swamp, in the snow, off of Chestnut street in Oneonta.  The body is found to have a broken neck.  The body is identified by Mr. Sitterly’s son, as being his father. Suspicion falls on some Albany Medical college students that “have been about Oneonta”.  The article notes, “Considerable excitement and great indignation exist over the affair”  It appears no arrests where made.      I have included some picture of where the grave site is.  One can see that they are right next to the road. So access would have been easy enough.  There would have been no cars at the time, so I assume that they must of used a horse cart for their get a way.  Why they dumped the body in Oneonta one can only speculate. Also how did David Sitterly’s neck get broken? These mysteries will remain unsolved.    The article below was from the Dec. 30, 1884 edition of the Stamford Mirror, and is located in the Stamford Village library history room. I also want to thank Karen Cuccinello  from Stanford NY for this find and for posting this on find a grave.  Thank you Karen!!!  -   SDF                The Tragic Tale of the Dingman Family        On the furthest southwest corner of the Milford Center Cemetery there stands a tombstone about 6 feet in height.  At some point in the past the top had broken off.  This past summer the stone has been cleaned and lichen removed.  It marks the Dingman family burial plot.  There are six names engraved on the stone.  Parents and four siblings.  Though one of the siblings is not buried in the plot. As one reads the names and the dates of birth and death, one is moved by the fact that 1864 was a very sorrow filled year for the Dingmans.  It was that year that Jacob and Eunice (Squires) Dingman would lay to rest 3 of their 10 children.         Jacob and Eunice were farmers. Jacob was originally from Rensselaer, New York, while Eunice was a local Milford girl.  They lived on what is today called Upper Dutch Hill Road. In their time it was known as Christian Hill. They had by 1851, 10 children, 7 boys and 3 girls. I am sure they were a typical farming family.        One would imagine that the Dingmans were quite aware of what was going on in the nation at the beginning of 1861.  It was on April 21, of that year, some 900 miles away from the Dingman homestead, that the first shots of the America Civil War were fired.  It was a war  that would bring much grief to the Dingmans.         Peter Dingman was a young man of 17 when those first shots were fired.  He was the eighth child of 10 in the Dingman household.  Whether he had a deep sense of patriotism or was a young man looking for adventure outside the small town of Milford, NY,  we will never know.  But on October 8th 1861, Peter enlisted into the Union Army.   On the 21st of that month he mustered in (reported for duty), most likely in Albany. Peter’s record states he was 18 when he enlisted, however, he may have lied about his age.  He could not have been 18 if he was born in 1844 as indicated on his tombstone and census records.  Further, if he were age 18 in 1861 he could not have died at age 20 in 1864, as all the records indicate. The evidence points to Peter only being 17 when he left Milford to join the Union Army.   Peter began his military career with the 19th Infantry Regiment.  But to quote one source, “This regiment was accepted by the State and organized as a regiment of infantry for two years' service; it served as infantry until December 11, 1861, when it was converted into a regiment of artillery and designated the 3rd Regiment, Light Artillery, under which title its records and service are given.”  So all of Peter’s records have him listed as serving as a Private with the 3rd NY Light Artillery Regiment, Battery Co.  M, under Captain James V. White.  To explain what “Light Artillery” is I quote from an article by James Morgan.   “"Light", in this context, has nothing to do with the size or weight of the guns used, but refers only to speed. With the cannoneers individually mounted, a battery could travel much faster - was, so to speak, lighter on its feet ... In short, "light" artillery is "horse" artillery.”  If it was adventure that Peter was hoping for he did not find it in the Army.  In looking at the 3rd NY Light Artillery records it appears that the only time that Peter’s battery saw action during his enlistment, he was in sick in the hospital.  His military record states that he is “sick in the hospital at Hatteras Island N.C.” in February of 1863.  He may have been back with His Battery on April 9, when they saw action during the Battle of Washington, N.C. But we cannot say for sure.  He was listed as being back present with this his regiment on April 30, 1863.  It is clear that Peter was not fully recovered as his record indicates that he was back in the hospital in May of 1863.  He was then officially “Mustered Out” on June 29, 1863, from the General hospital at New Bern, N.C.  Sadly Peter never recovered from whatever illness he had acquired in the Army.  He died at age 20,  March, 23, 1864.  Nine months after he returned home from the army.  The “New York Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865” states, “died at home from disease contracted in the service”.  We have no way of knowing what exact illness Peter had.  If I had to venture a guess I would say Tuberculosis, as this was the only long term disease that was very prevalent among the soldiers during the Civil War.  Be it as it may, Peter was one of the approximately 400,000 who died of disease during the US Civil War.  Jacob and Eunice laid to rest their son, the first of three children they would lose in 1864.          In the New Testament of the Holy Scriptures, James 4:14 declares this truth, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (KJV).  We are all but vapors, preceded by  billions, and billions more after.  But each of these vapors are a person.  Each has a story. I think of all the billions of stories that never got to be told.  Lost to all with the exception of our Creator.  Thus it is with Louisa Dingman.  She came into the world on the 18th of June, 1846.  Born the 9th of 10 children to Jacob and Eunice. Most likely born on the family farm on Upper Dutch Hill Rd.  Her tombstone has the wrong year for her birth, which is not uncommon.  If the stone carver made a mistake there was little that could be done at that point. It may have been a case where the carver was given the wrong date, again not an uncommon thing.  We know from census records that Louisa was born in 1846, not 1841 as noted on her tombstone.  It has also been assumed by some that she was the wife of Peter, as her name appears under his.  Neither Peter nor Louisa were ever married.  They were siblings, not husband and wife.  That is about the end of what we know about the life of Louisa Dingman.  I know for me my mind is filled with questions.  What color were her eyes? Her hair? What did her laugh sound like?  We will never know these things.  We do know that Louisa died at a young age.  She died on July 30, 1864, at the age of 18, just four months after the death of her brother.  In my mind I ask the question, did she die of the same disease that took her brother’s life? I am sure the cause of death did not matter to Jacob and Eunice, who laid to rest their second child in four months time.  1864 was indeed a tragic year for them, but the cup of their sorrow was not yet full.         Elijah Dingman was a farm boy.  Born on April 2, 1841 (though his gravestone lists his birth as April 2, 1842, census records indicate that he was born in 1841, this would also matches his service record).  He had blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion.  He was a tall man for the time, measuring 5’11” , the average height of a Union solider was 5’8”.  All that information comes from his service record.  Ten months after his little brother had enlisted in the army, Elijah did the same.  He entered into the service at the age of 21 as a Private.  Enlisting on August 6, 1861, he mustered in on August 23 of that year.  He was attached to the 121st New York State Infantry Regiment, Co. I.  He was part of the Sixth Army Corp. commanded by Major General John Sedgwick, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade.  Unlike his brother,  Elijah saw plenty of action.  His first battle would have been at Crampton Gap, MD.  The 121st NY was not directly involved in the battle itself, but was moved to the front after the battle to round up Rebel stragglers and for guard duty.  This was in September of 1862.   In May of 1863 Elijah would find himself in his first major battle, the battle of Salem Church, VA.   It was this battle that the 121st NY would suffer more causalities than any other battle of the war.  At least 96 dead, 157 wounded, and 23 missing.  Two months later in July of 1863 Elijah would find himself at Gettysburg, PA.   Here I quote the  report of Brig. Gen. Horatio G. Wright, U.S. Army, commanding the First Division.  “The corps here halted for about two hours, when orders came for it to move up with all dispatch, and support the Second, Third, and Fifth Corps, then actively engaged on the left center of the line. On our arrival, a portion of our line was falling back before the determined attack of the enemy's columns, and the Third Division and the Second Brigade (this was Elijah Brigade), of my division, were promptly moved into position, while my First and Third Brigades were massed and held in reserve. This timely arrival of re-enforcements, with the determined resistance made by the troops already in position, and which had borne with such heroic valor and so severe loss the brunt of the battle, forced the enemy to retreat, and put an end to the contest of July 2.” It appears that Elijah did not participate in any direct action at the battle of Gettysburg.        Over the course of the next year Elijah would participate in numerous battles.  Rappahannock Station, VA,  Wilderness, VA, Spotsylvania Court House, VA, Cold Harbor, VA,  Petersburg, VA,  (This is where his Milford neighbor Charles Wesley Keith would be killed).  We cannot be sure exactly where Elijah was when given the news about the deaths of his little brother and little sister.  We do know he would have been somewhere in Virginia.        On the 14th of October 1864  Elijah found himself beside a stream known as Cedar Creek, about a mile south of the small town of Middletown, Virginia, located about 80 miles west of Washington D.C.  From firsthand accounts, the weather was pleasant.  Warm in the day, cool at night.  The days leading up to the battle of Cedar Creek, AKA The Battle of Belle Grove,  seemed to have been pleasant for Elijah and the men of the 121st.  But all hell would break loose in the early morning of October 19, 1864.  According to the dairy of Dewitt Clinton Beckwith, it was a cool and foggy morning.  In those early morning hours Rebel troops, under the command of Confederate Lt. General Jubal Early, launched a surprise attack on the Union army encamped alongside Cedar Creek. Chaos ensued. The Union soldiers were routed and forced to fall back.  General Early failed to press the attack, and Union Maj. General Philip Sheridan was able to rally his men to form a new line of defense.  In the afternoon Sheridan counterattacked and it was Early’s troops turn to be routed.*  The 121st New York Infantry lost 10 soldiers on the field that day.   One of them was a 22 year old Milford boy by the name of Elijah Dingman. Elijah would be the only causality from Co. I.  Jacob and Eunice Dingman would not get to see their boy again.  He was laid to rest in the Winchester National Cemetery, in Winchester VA, about 15 miles north of where he died serving his country.  Elijah’s name, along with his birth and death dates were placed on the family grave stone in the Milford Center Cemetery.  Veteran markers  and flags pay honor to both Elijah and Peter for their service to our nation.         In the time span of just seven month, between March and October 1864, death would claim three children of Jacob and Eunice Dingman.  I am sure it was a year that they would not forget.  And that is the tragic tale of the Dingman family.   -  SDF     *There is an excellent firsthand account of the Battle of Cedar Creek given by Beckwith.  It can be found in The History of the 121st New York State Infantry  By  Isaac O. Best           Dingman family stone      Final resting place of Elijah Dingman in Winchester, VA