submitted by Fran Egbert, Rensselaer Land Trust
The Rensselaer Land Trust sponsored a tour of the old Stephentown Center Baptist Church Cemetery on Sunday, September 26. About twenty participants explored the burial ground on Calvin Cole Road, which contains the grave of a Revolutionary War Soldier and beautifully restored stones from the early 1800s.
Pat Flint, President of the Stephentown Historical Society, described the cemetery’s history, one of 74 small rural cemeteries in Stephentown which the Society is seeking to restore. She also showed rubbings of gravestones in the cemetery that were done by Society members in 1988.
The cemetery’s site on a small knoll captures the peaceful essence of rural life and death. Participants also hiked the surrounding property. Fall foliage along an old road brought forth the first signs of winter with the blossoms of witch hazel. An old mill site along the creek is a reminder of how industry once lined the streams of the Rensselaer Plateau. At an old beaver pond, hikers spotted a great blue heron and signs of a variety of wildlife.
The property is preserved by the owner through a conservation easement held by the Rensselaer Land Trust, a non-profit land trust dedicated to the preservation of natural areas and open space in Rensselaer County.
The Stephentown Historical Society is working to preserve the town’s rich rural heritage through the restoration of its small rural cemeteries. If you are interested in these efforts, contact information is available at www.renstrust.org and www.stephentown-historical.org.
