First stop was to Mount Hope Cemetery, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. This cemetery is quite old, going back to the mid-19th century and is non-sectarian. Inside the cemetery, there are large plots that have been sold to certain Jewish organizations, but are still cared for by the cemetery. The two exceptions to this are Temple Israel of New York City and the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, which run Temple Israel Cemetery and Westchester Hills Cemetery, respectively.
The office staff at Mt. Hope are usually very friendly; however, they request that you limit your research to 3/persons a visit. You can also write to them for information on as many people as you like; the only catch is that it costs money to write.
But, I was looking for information on two graves today, so I was safe. The first gravesite was for Albert Knapp, who was my great-grandmother Gertrude O'Connor's 2nd husband. He was a 30+ employee of Anaconda Wire Co. and died May 10th, 1950. Unfortunately, the cemetery told me that a stone was never put in for his grave and that there were no stones even around his plot to guide me. That was a bit disappointing. I also requested the grave location of Harold and Gertrude Jacobus. My great-great-grandmother, Katherine Tator Maund, had a sister, Grace Tator, who married Roswell Jacobus from New Jersey. Roswell and Grace had seven children, of which Harold was one. Harold died May 13th, 1976 and Gertrude died November 29th, 1993.
After walking around for 10 minutes in Section 100, I found their headstone and was quite suprised.
Not only are Harold and Gertrude buried there, but a John Jacobus is buried there as well. According to the stone, John was born in 1933 and died in 1998. Harold and Gertrude did have a son John (Jack) and I have come to the conclusion that he is the only person that this could be.
Most of my family is buried in Sec. 97, which is only a few rows down from this stone, and no one had ever seen this stone. Amazing to think that this has been overlooked for over 30 years!
I also traveled to Oakland Cemetery in Yonkers today; the writeup on that trip will be up soon.
Bryan
