Three Southampton Town-Owned Cemeteries are located within
the hamlet of Hampton Bays: The Hampton Bays Historical & Preservation Society
is steward to these cemeteries. Recognizing that the cemeteries are of
hamlet-wide concern and interest, the society formed a Cemetery Task Force
comprised of thirteen members from various local civic organizations in November
2007.
The committee members were informed of the ongoing research
work taking place for all Town owned cemeteries by the University of
Pennsylvania. This project began three years ago through the urging of Dr. Henry
Moeller, then Historian to the Town of Southampton and the leadership of Linda
Kabot, then Town Councilwoman. Zach Studenroth, architectural historian and
director, Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, outlined the various phases of the project
and enlisted the U of PA to complete the survey of gravesites. To date all of
the cemeteries have been studied, their tombstones photographed with a detailed
description of the data contained on the stones, a condition assessment of the
stones, and their exact location.
This information is now on CD as well as in
paper format in the Southampton Town Clerk’s office vault.
This is a small family cemetery that once was privately
owned, but now is a part of the Hampton Bays Park District under the stewardship
of the Hampton Bays Historical & Preservation Society. The Fournier house, to
the north, was built circa 1783. The Fourniers, father and son or two brothers,
(historians disagree on the relationship) fought in the Revolutionary War, were
captured, imprisoned and escaped by boat to eastern Long Island. In Red Creek
they hid out from the British and later built a small home which remains to this
day a part of a larger home next door to the cemetery.
The University of Pennsylvania study indicated that the
Fournier Cemetery had 45 marble headstones ranging in date from 1802-1901. Their
condition is listed as generally good, with several broken and leaning stones—
two on the ground. There are trees on the site that threaten the integrity of
several stones.
The historical society has a map that shows the name and
location of each gravesite.
Reverend Cuffee, an ordained Shinnecock Indian minister in
the “Strict Congregational Convention of Long Island, served the Indians of
Montauk, Cold Spring and Shinnecock starting around 1798 when he was ordained by
the New York Missionary Society. His ministry centered around an Indian chapel
located east of the Shinnecock Canal and the chapel is depicted on a map dated
1797.
A subsequent 1829 map drawn by Burr shows the chapel in the same location
as the 1797 map. Although local legend has Reverend Cuffee preaching at Canoe
Place, there is no evidence to substantiate this account. In fact, it appears
that the Canoe Place Chapel was not built until circa 1830—long after Cuffee’s
death, March 7, 1812. There is a deed on file in the Southampton Town Archives
that shows Reverend Cuffee lived on property he owned in Red Creek.
In 1870 when the railroad was progressing eastward through
Good Ground, Vincent F. Seyfried, “The Long Island Railroad,” reported that an
injunction was filed to prevent the rail line from running through the old
Indian Burying Ground in Canoe Place. The railroad’s right of way was turned so
that it only ran through a small portion of the western corner of the cemetery.
Some or all of the Native American remains in that area were re-interred at the
Shinnecock Reservation. Some believe that Reverend Cuffee’s remains were also
transported to the Shinnecock Reservation at that time.
The monument to Reverend Paul Cuffee bears the following
inscription:
"Erected by
the New York Missionary Society in memory of the Rev. Paul Cuffee an Indian of
the Shinnecock tribe who was employed by that Society for the last thirteen
years of his life on the Eastern part of Long Island where he labored with
fidelity and success. Humble, pious and indefatigable in testifying the gospel
of the grace of God he finished his course with joy on the 7th of March 1812
aged 55 years and three days."
The University of Pennsylvania
study indicated that this site had “...one marble marker dated 1812 that is in
fair condition, but the site is neglected.”
This cemetery is a small family plot located within the
Suffolk County Hubbard Park. The earliest gravestone dates 1819; there are eight
to ten burial sites—all badly vandalized in the 1960s. Although the park is
under the ownership of Suffolk County, the cemetery is Southampton Town-owned
with the Hampton Bays Historical & Preservation Society acting as steward for
the cemetery. The University of Pennsylvania’s report indicated that there are
“eight headstones of marble and granite located in a small fenced graveyard in
which the historic stones have been vandalized.”
