Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Cemetery

Location

5 Sams Point Rd, Pine Bush, NY 12566, USA

Lat/Long

41.670280651438, -74.382968388417

Grant Recipient

Cragsmoor Historical Society

Sitting amidst the scenic hamlet of Cragsmoor is a small cemetery of roughly 50 burials, though, as of 2024, many of those interred within remain unidentified. The cemetery was acquired by the Cragsmoor Historical Society along with the Cragsmoor Federated Church in 1998, the latter of which had taken over ownership and maintenance of the cemetery after it was donated by the Kier family in 1920.

Cragsmoor, including the property where the cemetery sits, was known as the Mance Settlement—named after a prominent local family–throughout much of the 19^th century. Several members of the Mance family are interred within, including the earliest known burial in 1857 of Aintje Mance. Though hers is the earliest confirmed interment, it’s highly plausible the burial grounds were used prior to that. One of the most unique gravestones in the cemetery is that of James Mance, which has been described as the “boulder monument.” Local legend holds that only James Mance could lift the large stone unassisted, and that it was placed on his grave in remembrance of the impressive feat.

In 1932, a survey of the cemetery and legible inscriptions was conducted by William D. Haight and J. Wilson Pouch, which was published in Old Gravestones of Ulster County. Ongoing research and interpretation continues through the work of the Cragsmoor Historical Society.