Old West Farms Soldier Cemetery
West Farms, Bronx, New York City, New York, United States
Standing on a stone pedestal on sloping ground and almost hidden from view by the trees which surround it, the bronze statue of a Union Army soldier maintains a lonely vigil over the oldest public veterans' burial ground in the Bronx, Old West F arms Soldier Cemetery. Here, among shade trees in a modestly landscaped wire-fenced enclosure, the remains of forty veterans of four wars lie beneath well marked stones in a quiet, sequestered and historic place of about two-thirds of an acre.
There is not a building in this Cemetery, but there are handsome tombstones, some honoring the last resting places of those who made the supreme sacrifice in defense of the Union.
The first interment, in 1815, was that of Samuel Adams whose family owned land in the area. A nearby street bears the name. The last interment was that of Pvt. Valerito Tulosa, a World War I veteran. Among the many veterans of four wars buried there are two from the War of 1812, thirty-five from the Civil War, two from the Spanish-American War and two from World War I.
The Sixth New York Heavy Artillery, which recruited several companies from West Farms for the Civil War, is well represented in this Cemetery as is the New York Duryea's Zouaves. Several of the bodies were originally interred on Harts Island where a marker still stands. Noting a few of the well known veterans, there lie here Captain John Butler, 2nd Light Dragoons, War of 18125 Captain William R. Raspberry, 6th N.Y.H.A., who was killed in the battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, during Sheridan's ride; August Weicking, originally in the Navy, serving on the Merrimac before she fell into the hands of the Confederates, and later transferred to the Army, Fifth N. Y. Regt.; Samuel Pierce, whose family once owned much land on Tremont Avenue; and Pvt. Alexander DiFrancisco, 327th Ambulance Co., 82nd Division, awarded the Silver Star, who received a special citation fur Bravery under fire in World War I, a copy of which is engraved upon his stone.
This section of the Bronx received its name in 1663 when Edward Jessup, a Quaker, and John Richardson, both from Connecticut, purchased the land from the Indians. They named the area West Farms to distinguish their property from the settlement at Westchester Village. West Farms Cemetery was founded in 1815, on land purchased the year before by John Butler, who had plots laid out for a private burial ground. The Butler family retained control of the Cemetery until 1954, when the City assumed possession on a "quit claim" deed.
The burial ground has been maintained by a Civil War Memorial Committee which was reconstituted about 1950. During the early part of the century there was a cemetery committee composed of inhabitants of the Bronx, among them General John Floss Delafield. In 1909, they erected the Civil War monument and supplied the three Nineteenth Century field pieces in the Cemetery.
Due to vandalism and the elements, the statue was removed from the monument about 1950, and its whereabouts was unknown until located by the newly created committee. The statue was reclaimed, repaired, and restored to its present site and rededicated on November 18, 1959. The improvements on the grounds were made possible by the existing Civil War Memorial Committee.
- From the 1967 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
Old West Farms Soldier Cemetery
West Farms, Bronx, New York City, New York, United States
Standing on a stone pedestal on sloping ground and almost hidden from view by the trees which surround it, the bronze statue of a Union Army soldier maintains a lonely vigil over the oldest public veterans' burial ground in the Bronx, Old West F arms Soldier Cemetery. Here, among shade trees in a modestly landscaped wire-fenced enclosure, the remains of forty veterans of four wars lie beneath well marked stones in a quiet, sequestered and historic place of about two-thirds of an acre.
There is not a building in this Cemetery, but there are handsome tombstones, some honoring the last resting places of those who made the supreme sacrifice in defense of the Union.
The first interment, in 1815, was that of Samuel Adams whose family owned land in the area. A nearby street bears the name. The last interment was that of Pvt. Valerito Tulosa, a World War I veteran. Among the many veterans of four wars buried there are two from the War of 1812, thirty-five from the Civil War, two from the Spanish-American War and two from World War I.
The Sixth New York Heavy Artillery, which recruited several companies from West Farms for the Civil War, is well represented in this Cemetery as is the New York Duryea's Zouaves. Several of the bodies were originally interred on Harts Island where a marker still stands. Noting a few of the well known veterans, there lie here Captain John Butler, 2nd Light Dragoons, War of 18125 Captain William R. Raspberry, 6th N.Y.H.A., who was killed in the battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, during Sheridan's ride; August Weicking, originally in the Navy, serving on the Merrimac before she fell into the hands of the Confederates, and later transferred to the Army, Fifth N. Y. Regt.; Samuel Pierce, whose family once owned much land on Tremont Avenue; and Pvt. Alexander DiFrancisco, 327th Ambulance Co., 82nd Division, awarded the Silver Star, who received a special citation fur Bravery under fire in World War I, a copy of which is engraved upon his stone.
This section of the Bronx received its name in 1663 when Edward Jessup, a Quaker, and John Richardson, both from Connecticut, purchased the land from the Indians. They named the area West Farms to distinguish their property from the settlement at Westchester Village. West Farms Cemetery was founded in 1815, on land purchased the year before by John Butler, who had plots laid out for a private burial ground. The Butler family retained control of the Cemetery until 1954, when the City assumed possession on a "quit claim" deed.
The burial ground has been maintained by a Civil War Memorial Committee which was reconstituted about 1950. During the early part of the century there was a cemetery committee composed of inhabitants of the Bronx, among them General John Floss Delafield. In 1909, they erected the Civil War monument and supplied the three Nineteenth Century field pieces in the Cemetery.
Due to vandalism and the elements, the statue was removed from the monument about 1950, and its whereabouts was unknown until located by the newly created committee. The statue was reclaimed, repaired, and restored to its present site and rededicated on November 18, 1959. The improvements on the grounds were made possible by the existing Civil War Memorial Committee.
- From the 1967 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report