The History of the Fort Plain Cemetery Association

The Fort Plain Cemetery Association was formed on March 4, 1864, under the NYS Act Authorizing the Incorporation of Rural Cemetery Associations for the purpose of procuring and holding lands to be used specifically for the burial of the dead and for the safety, permanence and government of the cemetery. Prior to 1864 there were several poorly kept burial grounds throughout the village.  A large burial ground was located on the property of the Dutch Reformed Church on Sand Hill.  When the congregation of the church disbanded in 1832 the property was sold to Peter Harder who then in turn sold the property to the village.  By 1832 the old church/village cemetery no longer had any lots available and the village began looking for another site.  The Wagner and Crouse families sold several acres of land to the village bordering what today is Clyde Street.  By 1842 lots were being offered for sale to residents and by 1854 most of the graves in the old Fort Plain Cemetery were removed to the new cemetery off Clyde Street (formerly called Cemetery Hill).  In 1864 the village ceded ownership to the Fort Plain Cemetery Association.

At the time the association was formed there was much interest in the rural cemetery movement which promoted the idea that communities develop cemeteries into park like settings that would allow descendants of the deceased to visit the graves of their loved ones in pleasant surroundings.  The first president of the Fort Plain Cemetery Association was Theodore Farley, a local businessman.  Trustees chosen were Alexander Ayres, James Congdon, James Cronkhite, Alfred Cary, William Crouse, Simeon Tingue, Morgan Snyder and Peter Diefendorf.  From 1870 to 1890 there were several cemetery superintendents appointed but it was under the superintendency and vision of William Rapp in 1890 and then his son, Herbert, appointed superintendent following his father’s death in 1922  that the Fort Plain Cemetery was transformed into the beautiful cemetery that it is today.

Around the turn of the 19th Century many additions were made to enhance the function and beauty of the Fort Plain Cemetery.  In the 1880’s water was brought into the cemetery and a beautiful fountain was constructed in Section L .  In the early 1900’s the Cemetery Association felt that a chapel should be erected on the grounds of the cemetery but funds were not available.  In 1906, Mrs. Henry (nee Maria Nellis) Harper Benedict donated the money for the chapel to be named in honor of her mother, Catherine Nellis.  In 1907 The Catherine Nellis Memorial Chapel was dedicated.  In 1919 the Lipe family donated funds for the construction of the Wagner Street entr

ance gates in memory of the Lipe/Sponable Families. Funds for  the middle gates were donated by Mrs. L.F. Groff in memory of the Groff Family.  In 1920 Violet Tullock donated money for the building of the Rest House in memory of her parents Phillip and Lany Nellis and also donated money for the erection of the Soldiers Monument on the Grand Army of the Republic Lot in Section 11.  In 1922 the Cemetery Association gave the American Legion the lot by the Lipe/Sponable Gates to be dedicated to those soldiers and nurses from the Fort Plain area who were sent to France during World War 1.  In later years lots were set aside to memorialize deceased members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and deceased members of the Fort Plain Fire Department and Women’s Auxillary.

Under its present Board of Trustees and the Superintendent, the Fort Plain Cemetery Association continues to carry out the vision of the rural cemetery movement and the late William C. Rapp.  There are approximately 17,000 memorials/burials in our very large and well-maintained cemetery.  The Association, in its efforts to look to the future and keep up with modern burial customs, is presently building a columbarium which should be completed by the Fall of 2021.