Saint Mary's Cemetery - Dunkirk NY
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 42° 28.338 W 079° 19.032
17T E 638331 N 4703589
Saint Mary's Cemetery is located at 10880 Bennett Road (Route 60)
Dunkirk, New York 14048. It is also known as Dunkirk Cemetery, German Burying Ground, Old German Cemetery, Potter's Field.
Waymark Code: WM1AQ5D
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 09/23/2024
Views: 0
From the website below:
"In 1850, the fledgling St. Mary's church in Dunkirk acquired the land for a cemetery and the first burial took place in August, 1851. At about the same time, the village of Dunkirk appropriated $235 for the Dunkirk Cemetery, but it is not clear whether this was to purchase the land for a cemetery or maintain what was already there. The old Town of Dunkirk Cemetery is located in the Northwest corner of St. Mary's Cemetery (along Bennett Road, toward the city limits) and was also known as Dunkirk Cemetery, German Burying Ground, Old German Cemetery and Potter's Field. It was used primarily by the members of the various German evangelical churches (i.e. German Protestants) in Dunkirk. By 1900, several graves had been removed to new family plots in Forest Hill Cemetery in Fredonia and these are so noted in online Forest Hill records. In July, 1969, the Dunkirk Town board officially sold the Dunkirk Cemetery to the adjacent St. Mary's Cemetery for $1.00.
Prior to 1903, St. Mary's Cemetery was the only consecrated ground for Roman Catholic burials in northern Chautauqua County, New York. In Dunkirk, the first burial at St. Hyacinth's Cemetery (Polish) was in 1903, St. Hedwig's Cemetery (also Polish) in 1913, and Holy Trinity Cemetery (Italians) in 1914. The Sicilians in Fredonia established St. Anthony church in 1907 and its cemetery by 1908.
St. Mary's Cemetery continued to be used primarily by the families of St. Mary's church (Irish) and Sacred Heart Church, which was established by St. Mary's German families in 1858 and originally dedicated to St. George. A new building was completed in 1876 and dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1975, St. Mary's and Sacred Heart parishes were combined into the new St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish but the cemetery name remained the same."
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