Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society

Kimberly Schleimer explained as she scrubbed lichens from a gravestone from the 1700s at Monfort Cemetery that such projects have to be handled with care.

 

“We have learned that if you use anything too powerful, you’re going to damage the stone further,” Schleimer, 20, a college intern for the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society said while using water and a soft brush on the engravings, “The goal is to preserve the history of the town and to honor the people buried here.”   Schliemer used the summer to begin the cleaning process, recruit volunteers and to catalog the grave markers.  

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Town of North Hempstead Historian Ross Lumpkin, who also serves as a trustee of the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society, initiated a joint effort of the organizations to preserve the cemetery not only out of respect but also as representative of Long Island’s part in the American Revolution and in the establishment of the town.  Thanks to support from the TNH and matching funds from a New York State Preservation Grant, the TNH hired Studenroth and his associates to provide the TNH a Phase 1 conditions survey of the burial ground that is allowing for prioritization of restoration work based a multitude of factors including deterioration, size of the marker, historical significance and location within the landscape.   Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society played a key role in fulfilling the grant requirement for a public-private collaborative component to the application.

 

On August 15, a volunteer group attended a training day workshop sponsored by the TNH and led by Burial Ground Preservationist’s expert Zach Studenroth who taught them specific techniques to clean stones and to right small stones that have tilted over time.   Studenroth emphasized the care that needed to be taken to preserve the site’s fragile, significant history.   Under Lumpkin’s direction, the group has begun cleaning and righting the 144 headstones that have been damaged by factors including age, composition and weather effects.  The Port Washington Public Library, led by history librarian Elizabeth Agramonte and library director Keith Klang, has enthusiastically joined the effort.

 

With the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution only two years away, the preservation of the gravesites of the 12 patriots of the American Revolution buried at Monfort, including the town’s first Supervisor Adrian Onderdonk, is a top priority for the group.   CNPHS volunteers Barbara Cohen, Patricia Ryan Lampl and Anthony Filorimo have co-chaired the Monfort Restoration Project committee dedicated to raising the funds necessary to achieve preservation goals and to develop the site to become a center for both learning and commemoration.

 

Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, who attended the workshop along with Town Councilperson Marianne Dalimonte, said, “Repairing and restoring burial grounds like these take a great deal of time, effort and resources, so the Town is very appreciative of the many volunteers who have joined together with us in this preservation effort.  A caring community is very important to accomplishing these goals.”