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Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery

Cemetery in Poughkeepsie, New York

Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery
Postcard showing entrance to Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, c. 1907
Details
Established	1853
Location	Poughkeepsie, New York, US
Coordinates	41°40′59″N 73°55′55″W / 41.6831°N 73.9320°W / 41.6831; -73.9320 (Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery)
Size	165 acres[1]
Website	Official website
Find a Grave	Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery

The Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery is a rural cemetery located in Poughkeepsie, New York and includes the gravesites of several notable figures.^[2] It also has a crematory. The forty-four acres of land used for the cemetery were purchased by Matthew Vassar.^[3]

Some of its architectural features were designed by J. A. Wood. His work includes the cemetery gates and gatehouse, the Frost Mausoleum, and a monument for Matthew Vassar's nephew, John Guy Vassar.^[4]

Hamilton and Schuyler families[edit]

Several relatives of Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father of the United States, are buried at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery:

• Allan McLane Hamilton (1848–1919), psychiatrist
• Louis McLane Hamilton (1844–1868), cavalry officer in the Civil War and American Indian Wars
• Philip Hamilton (1802–1884), lawyer, Judge Advocate (Navy Retiring Board), youngest son of Alexander Hamilton
• Philip Jeremiah Schuyler (1768–1835), politician (House of Representatives and New York State Senate), brother of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, Angelica Schuyler Church and Margarita Schuyler Van Rensselaer.

Notable burials[edit]

Other notable individuals interred at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery include:

• Theodorus Bailey (1758–1828), politician (Member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate)
• Stephen Baker (1819–1875), politician (Member of the US House of Representatives)
• Jane Bolin (1908–2007), judge (New York City Domestic Relations Court)
• Harvey G. Eastman (1832–1878), educator (founder of Eastman Business College) and politician (New York State Assembly)
• James Emott (1771–1850), politician (Member of the US House of Representatives and New York State Assembly)
• Margaret Hamilton (1902–1985), actress, played the Wicked WitchinThe Wizard of Oz^{[note 1]}
• Frank Hasbrouck (1852–1928), lawyer, county judge, Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department
• Dustin John Higgs (1972–2021), American convicted murderer executed by the United States federal government^[5][6]
• Charles Johnston (1793–1845), politician (Member of the US House of Representatives)
• Anandi Gopal Joshi (1865–1887), first female Indian doctor, buried under the name "Anandabai Joshee" with the Carpenter family.^[7]
• John J. Kindred (1864–1937), politician (Member of the US House of Representatives)
• Henry A. Livingston (1776–1849), politician (New York State Senate)
• Johnny Miller (1905–2008), gyroplane pioneer, test pilot and airline pilot
• Samuel Neilson (1761–1803), Irish nationalist
• Homer Augustus Nelson (1829–1891), politician (Member of the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate and New York Secretary of State)
• Edmund Platt (1865–1939), politician (Member of the US House of Representatives) and member of United States Federal Reserve
• Charles H. Ruggles (1789–1865), politician (Member of the US House of Representatives) and judge (Chief Judge United States Court of Appeal)
• James Fields Smathers (1888–1967), inventor
• William Wallace Smith I (1830–1913) and Andrew Smith (1836–1895), founders of Smith Brothers Cough Drops
• John Thompson (1809–1890), politician (Member of the US House of Representatives)
• Smith Thompson (1768–1843), Associate Justice United States Supreme Court and politician (United States Secretary of the Navy)
• Rip Torn (1931–2019), actor^[8]
• Isaac Van Anden (1812–1875), publisher of the Brooklyn Eagle
• Matthew Vassar (1792–1868), brewer, merchant, founder of Vassar College

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Friends of the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery