GWA Chamber of Commerce
Public Cemeteries
The GWA Chamber of Commerce is pleased to host content about area public cemeteries, provided as a service to the communities supported by the Chamber. A public cemetery is a burial ground open to the general public, offering burial plots and services to the community at large.
The oversight of public cemeteries and enforcement of the laws and regulations that apply to them is the responsibility of the New York State Cemetery Board. The Division of Cemeteries within the Department of State helps the Cemetery Board carry out its responsibilities to oversee establishment, maintenance, and preservation of burial grounds for approximately 1,800 not-for-profit cemeteries in New York State.
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New York State public cemeteries are non-profit corporations with a board of directors (trustees) who are elected by the cemetery’s lot owners. A lot owner is a person who owns the right to have a body or cremated remains buried, entombed or placed in a burial lot, a mausoleum, a columbarium or other designated space (cemeteries sell these rights but do not sell the land where the final resting place is located). These public cemeteries operate for the benefit of their lot owners and are regulated by New York State.
Oatka Cemetery
The Oatka Cemetery supports the needs of the Town of Wheatland NY area community, providing a serene and tranquil space for the reflection and connection to loved ones, while upholding the traditions upon which the cemetery was established over one hundred years ago. The Oatka Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. The Oatka Cemetery is located at 411 Scottsville-Mumford Road (Route 383) in the eastern portion of the Town of Wheatland, west of the Village of Scottsville.
Oatka Cemetery Association
The cemetery is operated by the Oatka Cemetery Association, a not-for-profit corporation managed by a volunteer Board of Trustees on behalf of the cemetery lot owners. The Board is responsible for hiring a caretaker, electing Officers for various required functions and making sure the cemetery grounds and business are properly operated, maintained and meet all of the required NY state and Federal regulations for cemeteries and non-profit corporations. Those interested in volunteering or contributing to help support the Oatka Cemetery (including a position on the Board of Trustees, as available), please contact the Oatka Cemetery Association as indicated below.
Phone inquiries for the Oatka Cemetery may be directed to the Cemetery Caretaker at (585) 455-2511.
Cemetery History
The Oatka Cemetery was officially established in 1883, although the first burial at this location actually occurred much earlier in 1804, just a few years after the first settlers came to the area. Some of the early graves are those of older people who had come west from New England with their adult children. Others are the graves of children who had died of diseases or because of lack of good medical care. Members of the Sheffer family, first settlers in Wheatland, are buried in this cemetery. Isaac Scott and his wife Lydia, who were the first settlers in the village of Scottsville are also buried in this cemetery.
Cemetery Records
Many records for the original parts of the cemetery are available online through the Gen Web website for Monroe County NY. Additional cemetery records and maps are available from the Town of Wheatland Historian.
Mumford Rural Cemetery
The Mumford Rural Cemetery supports the needs of the Town of Wheatland NY area community providing a peaceful and well-maintained setting as a dignified space for families and friends to honor their loved ones. The cemetery includes several large stately trees, with additional mature, tall trees surrounding the cemetery on three sides and a beautiful stone wall presiding along the front near Flint Hill Road. The Mumford Rural Cemetery is located at 1324 Flint Hill Road, in the western portion of the Town of Wheatland, just outside the Hamlet of Mumford.
Mumford Rural Cemetery Association
The cemetery is operated by the Mumford Rural Cemetery Association, a 501(c)(13) not-for-profit corporation with oversight provided by a volunteer Board of Trustees, functioning as a mission-based organization to maintain and manage the operations of the cemetery.
The Cemetery Association can be contacted by phone at TBD.
Cemetery History
The first burial at the site of the Mumford Rural Cemetery took place in 1805. At the time the cemetery had no fence or markers - the area had not even been properly cleared. A title to the property dated 1828 shows that the two Caledonia Presbyterian churches jointly owned the cemetery. An addition to the original cemetery was made in 1857 and was referred to as “the new ground.” The Mumford Rural Cemetery Association was formed in 1881, and the property deed was transferred to that organization. Another ten acres were added to the cemetery in 1881 by the new cemetery association.
A small chapel was built at the cemetery in 1908. It was constructed of bog limestone, a type of stone unique to the Mumford area that had been used in building the Mumford Presbyterian Church. In 1929 the beautiful stone wall was built along the front the cemetery. It was designed by Rochester architect James Tyler and constructed by Wells Rulifson. It was given by Vallance and Alexander Hamilton in memory of their ancestors who were buried there. Another feature of the Mumford Cemetery is the figure of a Civil War soldier atop a tall granite column. It was placed by two brothers of Gordon Meldrum, a seventeen-year-old resident of Caledonia who died in the war. Engraved on the monument are words written by Caledonia poet and songwriter John Hugh McNaughton.
Cemetery Records
Some of the records for the cemetery are available online through the New Horizons Genealogy. Additional cemetery records and maps are available from the Town of Wheatland Historian.
Wheatland Rural Cemetery
The Wheatland Rural Cemetery (formerly known as the Wheatland Baptist Cemetery) is a beautiful historic cemetery in the Town of Wheatland. It is the earliest cemetery in the Town of Wheatland and contains the graves of many of the earliest settlers and prominent residents of the Town. The cemetery was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. The Wheatland Rural Cemetery is located at 1 McGinnis Road, in the Belcoda neighborhood of the Town of Wheatland.
Wheatland Rural Cemetery Association
The Wheatland Rural Cemetery Association maintains the cemetery and arranges for burials. It is overseen by a volunteer Board of Trustees.
The Cemetery Association can be contacted by phone at TBD.
Cemetery History
The first burial in what eventually became the Wheatland Rural Cemetery occurred in 1811. In 1881 a corporation was formed and called the Wheatland Baptist Cemetery Association. The Belcoda Baptist Church closed in 1870, the property was sold, and the church building was sold and dismantled. The proceeds from the sale went to the cemetery association for the care of the cemetery. Six area men set up a constitution, named themselves trustees and set up the boundaries of the cemetery and a process for electing future trustees. A boulder marked with a memorial plaque was placed on the site of the original church and dedicated in 1917.
Cemetery Records
Many records for the cemetery are available online through the Gen Web website for Monroe County NY. Additional cemetery records and maps are available from the Town of Wheatland Historian.
Garbuttsville Cemetery
The Garbuttsville Cemetery is one of the earliest surviving cemeteries in Monroe County and is an intact country cemetery that reflects the history of the once thriving industrial hamlet of Garbuttsville (now known as Garbutt). The cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. The Garbuttsville Cemetery is located on Union Street, just north of Scottsville-Mumford Road in the Garbutt neighborhood of the Town of Wheatland.
Garbuttsville Cemetery Association
The Garbuttsville Cemetery Association maintains the cemetery and arranges for burials. It is overseen by a volunteer Board of Trustees. Those interested in volunteering or contributing to help support the cemetery, please contact the Garbuttsville Cemetery Association as indicated below
The Cemetery Association can be contacted by phone at (585) 202-9180.
Cemetery History
The cemetery was established in 1827. John Garbutt, the first supervisor of the Town of Wheatland and a former member of the New York State Assembly is buried in this cemetery. John Talcott Wells, the inventor of the famous Wells Truss System for Buildings or Bridges is also buried in this cemetery. Many of the graves reflect of the Garbuttsville Cemetery reflect burial dates before 1920.
Cemetery Records
Many records for the cemetery are available online through the Gen Web website for Monroe County NY. Additional cemetery records and maps are available from the Town of Wheatland Historian.
