NY Cypress Hills Cemetery, Where Union and Confederate, Black and White Rest Together in Brooklyn

More scenes from Memorial Day 2019 at Cypress Hills.

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If I am not mistaken that is the Ringgold Monument at the top of the hill. If so, my GGGrandfather’s grave is about in the 1st row.
Regards
David
 
The placement of graves was a surprise to me. I had been in Brooklyn to have lunch with Michele and had been in a hurry to get home to beat the snow (I live 40 miles east on Long Island). I knew there were Confederate prisoners of war buried there and I felt that with so little time to take pics, it made more sense to find the presumably smaller Confederate burial ground. When I got there and read the signage I realized there was NO Confederate burial ground and that this was a pretty unique place.
The burial by date of death made it possible for me to locate my gr gr uncle's grave in Cypress Hills I only had to look through about 5 rows in his section to find the barely legible headstone. I could have been searching for weeks otherwise. After a nearly two year process of having to correct written records, the headstone was replaced.
 
Sandi I hope you got the same feelings I had standing in front of my GGGrandfather's grave. Here was a SW Virginia boy lying in grave in Brooklyn! He was far from home and his loved ones when he died and will see them again on "The Day of the Lord"!
Regards
David
 
Sandi I hope you got the same feelings I had standing in front of my GGGrandfather's grave. Here was a SW Virginia boy lying in grave in Brooklyn! He was far from home and his loved ones when he died and will see them again on "The Day of the Lord"!
Regards
David


I did.

No one in the family knew where he was buried. I stumbled across the National Cemetery Interment Control form on Ancestry which had all the information on location. When the records were transcribed ages ago into the VA computer database they spelled his name wrong and had the wrong branch of service. I went to the cemetery with a copy of the control form in hands found the section and then the rows for deaths in the year he died. I was about to give up hope. I sat down to look at a headstone that was very worn, pulled out the paperwork again, and took a swig from my water bottle. As I took a drink, I caught a glimpse of the stone in the row behind where I was sitting and it was my uncle's headstone. It was almost like he wanted me to find him. Uncle Frank was a 19 year Navy man, an early submariner. He was the quintessential bachelor uncle known by his nephews as Uncle Friday for showing up on Friday after payday with treats and toys. He was a hero with a letter of commendation from TR Jr. in his personnel record for helping rescue 33 men off a grounded tanker in Block Island Sound during rough weather & heavy seas with nightfall rapidly approaching. When I visit. I sit down and tell him about my Navy career and his other nieces and nephews..

He was the son of my Civil War ancestor, Martin Dannenfelser.
 
The burial by date of death made it possible for me to locate my gr gr uncle's grave in Cypress Hills I only had to look through about 5 rows in his section to find the barely legible headstone. I could have been searching for weeks otherwise. After a nearly two year process of having to correct written records, the headstone was replaced.
Great to hear.
 
Sandi my GGGrandfather's last name is mispelled on his stone. Instead of Litton it has Litten. Seems trivial to some but a man (or woman) ought to have their name spelled correctly on their grave maker.

By the by, @Pat Young not only found his grve and took pictures for me but even drove me there when I was in Queens for the US Tennis Open in 2019. Thank you again Pat for your graciousness.
Regards
David

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The burial by date of death made it possible for me to locate my gr gr uncle's grave in Cypress Hills I only had to look through about 5 rows in his section to find the barely legible headstone. I could have been searching for weeks otherwise. After a nearly two year process of having to correct written records, the headstone was replaced.
Great to hear.
Sandi my GGGrandfather's last name is mispelled on his stone. Instead of Litton it has Litten. Seems trivial to some but a man (or woman) ought to have their name spelled correctly on their grave maker.

By the by, @Pat Young not only found his grve and took pictures for me but even drove me there when I was in Queens for the US Tennis Open in 2019. Thank you again Pat for your graciousness.
Regards
David

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Hopefully we will see each other again!
 
Sandi my GGGrandfather's last name is mispelled on his stone. Instead of Litton it has Litten. Seems trivial to some but a man (or woman) ought to have their name spelled correctly on their grave maker.

By the by, @Pat Young not only found his grve and took pictures for me but even drove me there when I was in Queens for the US Tennis Open in 2019. Thank you again Pat for your graciousness.
Regards
David

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My uncle's was correct on the stone and on the interment control form, it was just barely legible on the stone plus there were a lot of chips and chunks out of the side edges & back of the stone. It was all of the written documentation that was incorrect except for the interment control form.. he was a Torpedoman 1c in the Navy. The record had his as a Sgt. in the US Army. Last name was Dannanfelser. The record had it as Damenfalter. First and middle names were correct as were dates of birth and death in the written record. It took a very conscientious retired Marine CAPT who works for LI National Cemetery to get all of this done - and the new stone ordered.
 
Sandi my GGGrandfather's last name is mispelled on his stone. Instead of Litton it has Litten. Seems trivial to some but a man (or woman) ought to have their name spelled correctly on their grave maker.

By the by, @Pat Young not only found his grve and took pictures for me but even drove me there when I was in Queens for the US Tennis Open in 2019. Thank you again Pat for your graciousness.
Regards
David

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That's great. If you are ever up this way again, give me a shout.
 
Pat Young,
I was in NYC in December and made a point of getting to Cypress Hills. It was a great experience getting to find my g-g-g-grandfather's resting place and seeing the surroundings. I was struck by how tight the headstones were with each other, especially when compared to the more recent military burials along the edges of the burial ground. Makes me think that the soldiers were laid shoulder-to-shoulder in a common trench, probably without caskets? Thanks again for sharing all your research and knowledge and for taking those pictures several years ago.

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