Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Cemetery

Location

284 Hinman Rd, Cortland, NY 13045, USA

Lat/Long

42.630407, -76.276303

Grant Recipient

Town of Summerhill

One of the earliest cemeteries in the area, the Hathaway Cemetery, is located on the southeastern outskirts of the Town of Summerhill.

The first known burial to take place in this cemetery was in 1823. According to her headstone, Phebe Hopkins Brown, was born in 1779. She was the wife of Liberty Brown and passed away on November 23, 1823 at the age of 44. The last known burial was that of Clarissa Brown Lake. Born in 1814, she married Reuben Lake and died at 89 years old on April 6, 1903.

Among the other burials at this cemetery is Archibald Bowker, a Civil War soldier who died during his service. Bowker was born in 1847 to Jasper Bowker and Ann Smith and lived nearby in Summerhill. The New York State Civil War Muster Abstracts indicates that Bowker enlisted in February of 1864. According to the US Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries records, he was a private in the 111^th Regiment of New York Volunteers. Bowker served for short time before he was wounded and later passed away on August 2, 1864. He was originally interred in Arlington, Virginia but was exhumed and moved to the Hathaway Cemetery. He was only 17 years old when he died.

Despite no burials since the early 1900s, the cemetery continues to be visited often by descendants of those interred here.