Greenhill Cemetery
Greenhill Cemetery is a cemetery in Amsterdam, New York founded in 1857.
Green Hill Land Purchases
In November 1857 the citizens of Amsterdam, New York, convened to form an Association for the purpose of procuring and holding lands to be used exclusively for a cemetery.
At the meeting John J. Schuyler was appointed Chairman and Samuel Belding Jr. Secretary. It was then resolved to form the Green Hill Cemetery Association. It was also resolved that the affairs of the Association were to be managed my a 9-member Board of Trustees. By ballot were elected John J. Schuyler, Derick W. TenBrook, Stephen Sanford, Hoel S. McElwain, S. Belding Jr., John McDonald Jr., Leonard Y. Gardinier, Charles Devendorf and Joseph W. Sturtevant. The Trustees immediately examined several localities in the vicinity for the lands of the Cemetery. Days were spent surveying, digging pits to test the quality of soil, opinions were sought and weighed. All of the results were submitted to Burton A. Thomas, Esq./Civil Engineer “a man of cultivated taste and large experience”. As a result, the Cemetery was located.
A contract was then drawn for the purchase of 14 acres (57,000 m2) of land and 36 people advanced money to the Association for the purchase and ornamentation of the grounds. The funds were to be refunded from the avails of the subsequent sales of lots. Early in the spring of 1858 the premises containing 14 acres (57,000 m2) were conveyed to the Association from Joseph Cornell for the sum of $2,800. On October 31, 1865 the second parcel of land was sold to The Green Hill Cemetery Association again from Joseph Cornell. The property containing 22 and 87/100 acres of land was purchased for the sum of $7,218.
Notable burials
Notable people buried in the cemetery include U.S. Congressman John Knox Stewart.
References
Deeds are recorded in the Montgomery County Clerks Office: Book 70 page 78 and Book 79 page 163
Coordinates: 42°56′16″N 74°11′08″W / 42.93778°N 74.18556°W