Mill Street Cemetery (Old Mill Street Cemetery)

The cemetery is the resting place of early settlers including Revolutionary War and War of 1812 veterans. This year, 2025, a Pomeroy Foundation Patriot marker will be installed honoring those who served in the Continental Army.

The cemetery has been a part of the village since its very early days. The first settler in what later became the Village of Sodus was John Holcomb. He settled here in November 1809. He offered to donate 3 acres of a plat of land for a burial ground on the hill overlooking the village from the east, but the early settlers turned down the offer because the site was “too far out” (McIntosh 176). Sadly, before Mr. Holcomb and his wife Chloe left for Ohio in the fall of 1816, they buried their 11-day old son in the cemetery in April.

Around 1812, the site of the cemetery was donated by Enoch Turner. Mr. Turner owned what is now the Main Street area around the intersection of Maple Avenue and Main Street and Mill Street and Main Street. He built the first hotel, the Northern Exchange, around 1810 on the northwest corner. Two years later, he built the Southside Hotel, later known as the Sodus Hotel across the street.

One of the earliest burials was that of Benjamin Blanchard who died on January 15th, 1812.

The oldest person buried here is John Buys who died in May 1831 at the age of 95. His house on Lake Road had a secret room used as a station for the underground railroad. Later, his property was known as the Horn Farm (Buys).

Shortly after John Holcomb arrived here, Rev. Byram Green and his brother, Dr. Joseph Green settled in Sodus (first called East Ridge) in the summer of 1810. Green’s Hill and Green’s Corners are named after their family. Their father, Captain Joseph Green, is buried in the Mill Street Cemetery. Other war veterans buried here include Revolutionary War soldiers Phillip Demorest and Lemuel Higgins whose daughter Elizabeth was married to Byram Green. Rev. Green served on the NYS Assembly and Senate and then became a member of the U. S. House of Representatives. (He and his wife are buried in the Sodus Rural Cemetery.) The War of 1812 veterans buried here include Andrus Onderdonk, David Foster, Dr. Samuel Green, John Cox, Freeman Axtell, John Axtell, Timothy Axtell, Wiiliam N. Lummis, William Stone, Samuel Morse, Benjamin D. Gardner, Craig Gordon, William Fulton, William Noble, and Moses Seeley (Are 1.)

From the records, the last burial took place in July 1909 when Mrs. Mary Olin, the second wife of Dr. Solomon Olin, was buried in the cemetery next to her husband. Hers was the first burial to take place in the cemetery in 37 years. Her husband had been buried here many years before in 1865 (The).

Over the years, changes have taken place on the site. By 1857, the cemetery was neglected. One of Sodus’ most prominent citizens, Lewis Clark, organized the project to install a stone wall and gate to improve its appearance. According to documents in the Lewis H. Clark collection, this project was supported through donations from local citizens that totaled $317.05 (Clark Amount). In his estimate for the job, Sam Featherly proposed that “…the mortar for the body of the wall shall be in the proportion of one bushel of lime to four bushels of sand or gravel and that the mortar for the pointing shall be in the proportion of one bushel of lime to three of lake sand that is equally good” (Clark  Sam). Mr. Featherly also promised to dig a trench that was one foot deep and to fill it with well packed stone. For good measure (and probably to ensure that he would get the job), he also promised to donate $10.00. According to a handwritten invoice in Mr. Clark’s papers, Mr. Featherly got the job (Clark Sam).                              

By 1929, the cemetery was again neglected. That year, Mrs. Benjamin Carpenter visited Sodus. Her grandparents, Mehitable and Stephen Kellogg Fairbank, were buried in the cemetery.  Her father, Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank, was born and lived in Sodus until his late teens. He later moved to Chicago where he owned and operated the largest soap and baking products business in the world. As a result of her family connection, she offered to donate $50 for repair work and to purchase an iron fence and gates if an association was formed and would establish perpetual care. In the spring of 1930, in response to Mrs. Carpenter’s proposal, Highway Superintendent Toor and his crew cleaned up the site and straightened some of the old markers (Work). Today, there are no remnants of the stone wall or an iron fence if one was ever constructed.  

In recent years the cemetery needed attention again. In 2006, Town of Sodus Historian Sandy Hopkins and Daryl and Amanda Verstreate headed the project to restore the crumbling markers of the Revolutionary War and Civil War veterans. Daryl and Amanda were essential in the process  researching and obtaining the markers. Daryl was a member of the Sons of the American Revolutionary War (SAR) and the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW). Amanda was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). In order to preserve other markers, they were laid flat.

Dead trees, shrubs, and an overgrowth of vines were removed in 2017 in preparation of the Village’s Centennial celebration in 2018.

In the last few years, Sandy and John Hopkins have uncovered many markers where the grass had grown over them. The Village of Sodus Street Department maintains the area in the summer months. This year, the Village of Sodus has commissioned the sign for the cemetery. The sign and the Pomeroy Patriot marker will again draw attention to this resting place.  Those passing by will know this is a site that honors early soldiers and settlers.

For a list of the people buried on the site and to read many of their epitaphs and to view the 2018 Village of Sodus Centennial tour, go to https://waynehistorians.org/Places/site.php?site=622.

Sources:

“Are Your Relatives Among Them.” The Record, 16 May 1924, p. 1, http://sodus.advantage-preservation.com./ Accessed 5 March 2025.

“Buys, John.”  Find A Grave #105942766, Old Mill Street Cemetery, Sodus, New York, accessed 2 March 2025.

Clark, Lewis H., “Amount Break Up,”1857, Lewis H. Clark Collection, Archival Room-Sodus Community Library.

Clark, Lewis H., “Sam Featherly letter,” 1857, Lewis H. Clark Collection, Archival Room-Sodus Community Library.

Clark, Lewis H. “Sodus Village.” The Wayne County Alliance. 28 July 1897, p. 3, http://sodus.advantage-preservation.com./ Accessed 4 March 2025.

McIntosh, Prof. W. H. History of Wayne County New York With Illustrations 1789 – 1877, Everts, Ensign, and Everts, Philadelphia, PA., 1877, p.176.

The Record. 10 November 1938, p. 3,  http://sodus.advantage-preservation.com./   3 March 2025.

“Work in Mill Street Cemetery Is Completed.” The Record. 18 April 1930, p. 1, http://sodus.advantage-preservation.com./   Accessed 3 March 2025.

Sandra Hamilton

Town of Sodus Historical Society – President

Village of Sodus – Deputy Mayor

March 2025