Canarsie Cemetery — Part Of The Past, Present And Future

This monument stands as a memorial not only to veterans of the Civil War, but to all who served the country.

By Dara Mormile

Traces of Canarsie’s history are rapidly disappearing, but one old piece of land, Canarsie Cem-etery, continues to represent a historical part of the community.

The 125-year-old facility on Remsen Avenue near Avenue K has over 6,000 graves and is presently one of the sites included in the ceremonies during the annual Canarsie Memorial Day Parade.

The cemetery was originally behind the Methodist Protestant Church of Canarsie, on East 92nd Street. At the time, an area between the church and the cemetery — now known as Church Lane — was called “The Road To Lotts’ House,” named for John Lott, a justice of the peace. During the 1830s, a meeting in the house led to the changing the name of the house of worship to Grace Church.

Dutch settler John Remsen realized that more space was needed for a larger cemetery so he donated property to be used as a burial site, at the present site, for local residents in 1843 to the Town of Flat-lands.

Ira Kluger, president of the Canarsie Historical Society, said those buried near Grace Church were moved to Canarsie Cemetery when it opened in 1880. Officials later urged that the site remain a non-sectarian burial ground for people of all faiths and nationalities.

A few elaborate mausoleums can be seen around the serene grounds of the cemetery, along with graves of famous forefathers of the community.

The city took over the 13-acre cemetery in 1889 when the five boroughs were incorporated into a municipality. In 1982 and 1988 the city put the cemetery up for sale, but, according to the New York City Department of General Services, there were no takers because of many unclaimed graves. The city later reclaimed some of the abandoned graves and the cemetery underwent some rehabilitation, thus helping it maintain its rich history.

Still under the city’s ownership, less than half the cemetery, the back portion, is unusable because of water in the ground from Indian Creek, which Kluger says the city insufficiently filled despite hopes it would be used for additional space.

The cemetery has been used for burial plots of prominent Canarsie families, such as the Van Houtens, Skidmores and Schencks. Lester Stillwell, who co-founded the Canarsie Courier in 1921, as well as local historians John Green, Edwin Roland and John Denton are also interred there.

Activist William Warner, who was involved in the development of the Canarsie Railroad and considered the community’s first millionaire, is interred there. The Warner family lived in a mansion on Rockaway Parkway across from what is now Canarsie High School, according to Kluger. John Cashmore who was Brooklyn Borough President from 1940-1961, is also there.

In the 1880s, a veterans’ memorial was created to pay tribute to the Grand Army of the Republic. Some World War I veterans who resided in Canarsie are also buried there, such as Albert B. Abeler and James Wanser. These veterans were among those honored when trees were dedicated to them many years ago in front of P.S. 115.

While cemetery records confirm many burials, some plots lack markers or have illegible headstones due to weathering, thus making information difficult to identify. A groundskeeper at the cemetery said that in the early 1900s families might not have been able to afford headstones and temporary markers placed on various lots are no longer there.

Kluger said burial plots can no longer be reserved for future use and that in order to restore parts of the land that are fading or falling apart, a private group would have to buy the land and take care of it.

“Since the city took over, they have not made the efforts to preserve many parts of Canarsie Cem-etery’s history,” he said.

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