Historic Sites

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Sodus Village Old Cemetery aka Old Mill Street Cemetery

Historic Site #:12-054   (Exists)   Type: B1 Town:Sodus
Site Name:Sodus Village Old Cemetery aka Old Mill Street CemeteryGPS Coordinates:43.234998, -77.061789
Address:20 Mill Street Sodus New York
Description:
This cemetery contains the remains of early pioneer families from Sodus


 
Photo from Google Maps
 
Historic narrative:

Records indicate 71 burials here.

Located on Mill Street in the village of Sodus.

This cemetery contains the remains of early pioneer families from Sodus


People of historic note, buried here:


A soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War:

Lemuel Higgins (unknown - 2 Nov 1824)  See photo above


Timothy Axtel (unknown - 20 Oct. 1842)  See photo above

The following information comes from www.historicsoduspoint.com

A gristmill was built on Second Creek for which two dates have been given: 1794 and 1805. It was built by Timothy Axtell (who fought at the Battle of Sodus Point) for Judge Nicholas. After the Shakers bought the tract of land in 1823, it became known as Shaker mill.

The man with no gun: Battle of Sodus Point

 

A victim of his own patriotism was Timothy Axtell who lived, it is thought, near Alton. He had no gun, so rushed to a neighbor’s to borrow his. The man was not home and the wife refused to loan the gun. Timothy grabbed it off the hooks over the doorway just the same and ran on his way. Later on, the neighbor, whose name has been kind enough to erase from the pages of history, sued Axtell in Justice’s Court at Canadaigua, and poor Timothy had to pay 6 1/4 (half a shilling) damages for his trespass. The trip to Canandaigua and back was not a slight undertaking in and of itself in those days.”


Dr. Joseph Green (28 Oct. 1754 - 12 Jun 1835)

The following information comes from http://townofsodushistoricalsociety.org/villages/sodus/early-history-of-sodus-1809-1900s-page/

Dr. Joseph Green is believed to be the second resident of Sodus.

About the same time, (summer of 1810), Dr. Joseph Green and his brother, the Rev.  Byram Green, residents of Williamstown, Massachusetts, came to this section and built four log houses on the north side of Ridge Road (now West Main St.) just west of the present intersection of West Main and Rotterdam streets.  Byram  fought in the Battle of Sodus Point and was elected to Congress in 1843. The two brothers returned to Williamstown and then came back in the spring of 1811, bringing more of the Green clan, (19 in all) and built two more log houses on the south side of Ridge Road west of the present intersection of West Main and Newark Streets.  In 1812, when the village became known as East Ridge, it consisted of eight log houses: the Green and Holcomb houses mentioned, a log house belonging to a Mr. Shelby on the north side of the Ridge opposite the present north terminus of Elmwood Ave., a frame schoolhouse near the southeast corner of the present Main and Mill Streets, and a log tavern at the southwest corner of those streets. The section of the village at the intersections of West Main, Newark and Rotterdam Streets is still known locally as “Green’s Corners.”


To find an individual buried here, click this link:

 https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2203921/old-mill-street-cemetery


To find a list of everyone buried here, click this link:

 http://wayne.nygenweb.net/cemeteries/sodusviloldcem.html



References:

Find a Grave web site

NYSGEN web site

Historic Sodus Point web site

Town of Sodus Historical ociety Early Settlers web page

Mill Street Cemetery Tour YouTube Video

Cleaning Headstones YouTube Video