History

A Brief History of Woodland Cemetery

Woodland Cemetery was established in 1854 by a group of concerned immigrants from Northern Europe (primarily Germany) as a final resting place for their families. The original organizational agreements specifically stated that the “Lot or Plot holder (or owner) was responsible for the care of their Lot or Plot (and later of single graves sold in the single grave section).”

With that stated in the original documents, the founders of Woodland Cemetery never sought to establish any form of individual perpetual care for Lots, Plots or graves, depending on the families to care for their loved ones. And as the relatives of those interred either died or moved away, the Cemetery fell into a terrible state of overgrowth and deterioration. In 2003, the Cemetery, which had sold over 10 acres of burial sites and interred more than 19,000 remains in a history of 150 years, had an endowment of only $25,000 in a fund that was established in 1937. Per the non-profit laws of the State of New York, only the income from that fund and a portion of the sale of new graves can be expended for maintenance.

So the Cemetery was tasked with maintaining over 13 acres of wooded land and thousands of burial sites with the only annual income being the interest earned on $25,000. At that time, the Cemetery was perilously close to becoming “abandoned”.

But a small group of volunteers, most of whom had family buried in the Cemetery, joined together to form a new group of Trustees to try and “bring the Cemetery back to life”. With the aid and instruction of the New York State Commissioner of Cemeteries, a decision was made to market and sell a small section of the unburiable land in the Cemetery to raise funds for the Cemetery’s endowment fund, which is now called the “Permanent Maintenance Fund”. That process, which required a petition to the Attorney General of New York and approval of the State Division of Cemeteries and the New York Supreme Court, took more than 7 years to complete.

However, after the sale, the money was still not available to be spent on renovation. Again, only the interest earned on the money could be expended for maintenance.

So a new initiative was begun to sell graves and generate revenue to pay for repairs to the Cemetery.

The Cemetery is managed by volunteer Trustees. The Cemetery has no paid staff, and no “on-site” presence, except for burial days. We contract with 3rd party companies for grave openings, grass cutting and other maintenance activities. We also depend on additional volunteers for “clean up days” and rubbish removal.

In the last 5 years, the Cemetery has sold more than 200 graves with interments. A portion of those proceeds is deposited (as required by law) into the Permanent Maintenance Fund, a portion goes to the State of New York, and the balance can be used for maintenance. These sales and burials have allowed us to improve perimeter fencing, improve signage, remove almost 100 invasive trees, and pave the main roadways.

As the Cemetery moves into its future, we depend on the Plot-holders for maintenance of the individual plots, as was specified in the original organizational documents, and the Trustees will continue to use earnings from the Permanent Maintenance Fund in prudent measures to improve the overall site.